Put the milk into a large tub, warming a part till it is of a degree of heat quite equal to new; if too hot the cheese will be tough. Put in as much rennet as will turn it, and cover it over; let it stand till completely turned, then strike the curd down several times with the skimming-dish, and let it separate, still covering it. There are two modes of breaking the curd, and there will be a difference in the taste of the cheese according as either is observed: one is, to gather it with the hands very gently towards the side of the tub, letting the whey pass through the fingers till it is cleared, and ladling it off as it collects; the other is, to get the whey from it by early breaking the curd; the last method deprives it of many of its oily particles, and is therefore less proper. Put the vat on a ladder over the tub, and fill it with curd by the skimmer; press the curd close with your hand, and add more as it sinks, and it must be finally left two inches above the edge. Before the vat is filled, the cheese-cloth must be laid at the bottom, and when full, draw smoothly over on all sides. These are two modes of salting cheese; one by mixing it in the curd while in the tub, after the whey is out, and the other by putting it into the vat and crumbling the curd all to pieces with it, after the first squeezing with the hands has dried it. The first method appears best on some accounts, but not on all, and therefore the custom of the country must direct. Put a board under and over the vat, and place it in the press; in two hours turn it out and put a fresh cheese-cloth; press it again for eight or ten hours; then salt it all over, and turn it again in the vat, and let it stand in the press fourteen or sixteen hours, observing to put the cheese last made undermost. Before putting them the last time into the vat, pare the edges if they do not look smooth. The vat should have holes at the sides and at bottom, to let all the whey pass through; put on clean boards, and change and scald them. 546. TO PRESERVE CHEESE SOUND Wash in a warm whey, when you have any, wipe it once a month, and keep it on a rack. If you want to ripen it, a damp cellar will bring it forward. When a whole cheese is cut, the larger quantity should be spread with butter inside, and the outside wiped to preserve it. To keep those in daily use moist, let a clean cloth be wrung out from cold water, and wrapt round them when carried from the table. 547. TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE