=Cottage Cheese.=—Of the sour milk types the common _Cottage Cheese_ is the best known. It is made from skim milk which in a warm room will curdle when sour, whether rennet and a starter are used or not. The thick sour milk is heated to anywhere between 100° and 120° and dipped into bags of cheese-cloth hung up for draining. The next day light pressure is applied for 12 to 24 hours, when the curd is kneaded, slightly salted, formed into balls and wrapped in parchment paper or packed into jars. For this purpose paraffined paper jars are very practical. The more the curd is heated in the whey the drier will be the cheese. Often it is improved by allowing the curd to become rather dry and then working new milk or a little cream into it, according to the use to which it is to be put—whether it is for bakers’ stock or for the table. Simple directions for making Cottage cheese are given in Farmers’ Bulletin 850 and A. I. 17, issued by the United States Department of Agriculture from which we reprint the following and copy the accompanying illustrations: [Illustration: Pouring the curdled milk on cloth to drain ] “One gallon of skim milk will make about 1½ pounds of cheese. If the milk is sweet it should be placed in a pan and allowed to remain in a clean warm place at a temperature of about 75° F., until it clabbers. The clabbered milk should have a clean, sour flavor. Ordinarily this will take about 30 hours, but when it is desirable to hasten the process a small quantity of clean-flavored sour milk may be mixed with the sweet milk. “As soon as the milk has thickened or firmly clabbered it should be cut into pieces 2 inches square, after which the curd should be stirred thoroughly with a spoon. Place the pan of broken curd in a vessel of hot water so as to raise the temperature to 100° F. Cook at that temperature for about 30 minutes, during which time stir gently with a spoon for 1 minute at 5-minute intervals. [Illustration: Lifting the cloth back and forth to facilitate draining ] “At the conclusion of the heating, pour the curd and whey into a small cheese-cloth bag (a clean salt bag will do nicely) and hang the bag in a fruit-strainer rack to drain, or the curd may be poured into a colander or a strainer over which a piece of cheese-cloth has been laid. After 5 or 10 minutes work the curd toward the center with a spoon. Raising and lowering the ends of the cloth helps to make the whey drain faster. To complete the draining tie the end of the bag together and hang it up. Since there is some danger that the curd will become too dry, draining should stop when the whey ceases to flow in a steady stream. [Illustration: Pressing the curd ]