_The Dairy._
Mrs. Mansfield, hearing how much her little grandsons had been pleased
with the cows, after breakfast took them into the dairy, to show them
what was done with the milk which those useful animals give in such large
quantities. The dairy was a little room with a brick floor, facing the
north, and kept very cool, by means of a latticed window that let in
fresh air. It was necessary that it should be built in that way, because
heat soon turns milk sour. Round the room were fixed a sort of trays
lined with lead, which then were all filled with milk.
“Grandmamma, what is to be done with this milk?” inquired Arthur.
“It is set for cream,” answered Mrs. Mansfield; “and the cream will be
made into butter.”
_Charles._ How is butter made, pray?
_Grandmamma._ Come here, and I will show you. The milk is poured into
these trays, which are not deep, but broad, so as to cover a large space.
When it has stood some time, the cream or greasy part, which at first is
mixed with the milk, rises to the top in the manner you now see. Then
it is skimmed off with this ladle, and put into a pan by itself. This
is done twice a-day; and when there is cream enough, it is churned into
butter.
_Charles._ Is there any churn here, grandmamma? Sister Kate has got a
plaything churn, but I never saw one fit for real use.
Mrs. Mansfield pointed to a large barrel fixed on a stand, with a
winch handle to turn it, and told him that was the churn. Charles was
surprised, and said it was not at all like his sister’s.
_Grandmamma._ Perhaps not. Sometimes they are made like a pail, with a
long stick to pull up and down; but these I have give less trouble, and,
I believe, are now common.
[Illustration: _Page 14._
_The Dairy._
_London. Published by W. Darton Junʳ. Oct. 5, 1815._]
_Arthur._ Well, grandmamma, how is this used?
_Grandmamma._ The cream is put in through that little square door, which
is then shut quite close; and when the churn has been turned a good
while, it is changed into butter.
_Charles._ So then butter is nothing but cream shaken about? I should
like to see it made.
_Grandmamma._ You cannot see it now, my dear, because Rose churned
yesterday. But I will give you a little cream in a phial: and you may
shake it till you make it into butter.
_Arthur._ Oh, can _we_ make it so? I should like it very much indeed, if
you please, ma’am.
Mrs. Mansfield fetched a phial, and the two boys amused themselves a long
time with their experiment. But they found that with all their pains they
could not turn the whole into butter; their grandmamma told them there
was always some waste; that it was called buttermilk, and given to the
pigs.
Arthur and Charles, quite proud of their success, went to look for
Rose, that they might tell her they could make butter as well as she.
They found her in the dairy, where their attention was drawn to a new
circumstance. Rose was standing before a large tub, full of a white
substance rather thicker than jelly, which she was very diligently
employed in breaking.
They forgot the butter they had intended to boast of, and both began to
ask a variety of questions, which she answered with great good humour.
_Both the Boys._ What is that for? What are you doing now, Rose?
_Rose._ Making cheese.
_Charles._ Making cheese? Well, since I have been at my grandpapa’s, I
have seen things I never saw before.
_Arthur._ But how do you make it, Rose? What have you got there?
_Rose._ Curd.
_Arthur._ What is curd?
_Rose._ It is made from milk, master Arthur. When the cream is taken off,
we take the milk and mix it with rennet, and then—
_Arthur._ Rennet! What is that?
_Rose._ A sour juice that is made by boiling a part of the inside of a
calf. We put a little rennet to the milk, which makes it part into curds
and whey. This thick white part is the curd, and the thin watery part is
called whey.
_Arthur._ Is that the whey people take for a cold?
_Rose._ No. That kind of whey is made with wine instead of rennet; but
the curd parts just in the same manner as this.
_Charles._ I will ask our Sally to let me look at it the next time she
makes whey. But why do you break it?
_Rose._ That there may be no lumps. Wait a little, if you please, and you
shall see how I go on.
She then took a large round bag made of coarse cloth, into which she put
all the curd, and pressed it with very heavy weights in order to squeeze
out as much of the whey as she could. This done, she turned it out of
the bag into a vat which has holes like a cullender, and, leaving it to
drain, then told them the cheese was finished.
“I did not know,” said Charles, “it was so easy to make cheese. But what
is the rind, pray?”
“’Tis the same as the rest,” replied Rose; “only, being left to the air,
it grows hard in time.” Then leading them into another room, she showed
them a great number of cheeses; some were still soft, having been lately
made; others, that had been longer kept, were grown quite hard.
“What is the whey good for?’ asked Charles, as they came back through the
dairy.
“We give it to the pigs,” said Rose.
“So then,” said Arthur to himself as he walked away, “_butter and cheese
are both made from milk; but the butter is the greasy part, and the
cheese is the curdy_.”
“Yes, master Arthur,” said Rose, “you are right, for that is our way
of making butter and cheese in this country: but in many places, where
richer cheese is made, they use the milk without skimming off the cream;
and to make good cream cheese, the cream only is used when skimmed from
the milk.”