OUR DAIRIES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 592, 17 March 1882, Page 2

OUR DAIRIES.

No. 9.—Mr James Reid's,

It is a ploasant walk through genial Mr Bates' fine flats, up the Wainui Valley, and then past the manuka bush, to Mr James Reid's prettily situated farm. I he house, which is recently erected, is very handsome and commodious, and was built principally of timber from Mr Reid's own land. The view from the front windows is very bold, including the North Head, while from the back can be seen the eternal hills, clad with green pasture or greener bush to their summits. Round the house are a variety of fruit trees, and some capital walnuts in full bearing. A new orchard, however, is being made at the back of the house, in order that the supply of fruit may be very plentiful. The chimneys and other brickwork about the house are made of bricks manufactured out of the clay taken out where the ground was levelled for the house. Tliese bricks are of excellent I quality, and only cost 45s per 1000. There are between 400 and 500 acres in Mr Reid's farm, and moat of the land is of excellent quality. The major part of it is divided into four paddocks. Two of these are us<;d as day paddocks and two as night paddocks. These paddocks are occupied on alternate weeks, so that each paddock has a week's rest and a week's work. The stockyar.l, which is the best we have yet seen on the Peninsula, has four gates, one opening into each of these paddocks, ho that the cows can be turned into either without any trouble. The j place is thus easily worked from a centre, and all Mr Reid has to do in the morning when he wants his cowe in, is to open the gate of the night pndoWc in use and send his dog round, and they are soon all in the yard. In the stockyard is a small pen, in which a bull or any troublesome cattle likely to worry the quiet milkers can be confined. Besides the four large paddocks there are of course some smaller enclosures about the homestead. The fowls have a paddock of their own through which a creek ?uns» and the pigs are well housed, but nothing is allowed to run about damaging the garden in the usual shiftless manner. There is also a small paddock for the Lullb which are kept awa3* from the cows. There are two bulls, both shorthorns and Mr Reid snys that he believes one strain of the shorthorn blood produces excellent milkers. Of the cattle brought out by the Messrs Hay he says that the stock of some of the bulls were splendid milch cows, particularly mentioning one th'it Mr Win. Boag had. He says that Mr Boag told him (und after years of experience he ip convinced he is right) that if you bre.l from the right sort of shorthorns they were the very best milkers you could keep. The farm is lightly stocked cariying only 130 head of cattle, some GO pheep and a few horses, which is a light impost considering the quality of the land, but its owner believes in plenty of feed, and 50 bags of cocksfoot were this year (to use his own expression) " taken from under the feet of the cattle." There are 50 cows being milked this season, and about 30 calves have been reared, Mr Reid's system of feeding calves differs from most of the other fanners. His general plan is to give them two gallons of milk a day for two months, and at the end of that time give them as much whey as they will drink. Another system of his is to let a calf run with a poor milker for a certain time and then take it away and substitute another youngster. In this way he makes one cow rear four calves in a season, and on one occasion he actually j knew one to rear five. He has one cow that has reared no less than 28 calves during her life in this way, and he knows of another that has reared 29. Mr Iteid supplies meat to a good many people in his neighborhood, and kills sheep twice a week and a bullock every now and then. The offal h of course given to the fowls and pigs, by which little corn is eaten. As at Mr McDonald's, water is brought to the house from a higher level for use in the dairy. In this case it comes not from a spring, but from a creek. The pipes through which the water runs are underground, and lead it cool and clear to its destination. When Mr Reid first thought of this scheme he proposed to use the usual piping, but finding it was exceedingly expensive, he determined to try fern trees, the centre of which being hollow, while the outside is extremely hard form good natural pipes. The experiment was nn entire success, and wo recommended this inexpensive method of loading water from a higher level, to our Peninsula friends who are not in a position to purchaso iron or lead piping. The milkshed is most commodious and well drained. It contains ten or twelve stalls (we forget

which) and the bah-s are excellent, the cow being imprisoned by pulling a cord which lifts a wooden lever, withor.t any of the usual trouble of putting in At the back of these stalls (the one ridge pole serving , for both,) are a series of sheds well rowrert with a good galvanized iron roof. Tho firtft has an entry from the stockyard, and is fitted with the proper apparatus for hoisting a bullock, this being the place where they are killed. Being of considerable size it is also used as a storeroom for grass seed, etc. The next in order is used for killing sheep, and this has an entrance from tho back, where the sheep are yarded ; and bore also every arrangement ia made for proper drainage and cleanliness. A good carpenter's work shed and an excellent cool and airy room used as a meat-safe, are passed in that order, and lead us into the old kitchen. From there we pass into one of the old sitting-rooms, now used as a dairy, and thence through the present kitchen into the new house. It will thus be seen that one can pass from the yard under cover right into the new house, the range of buildings being continuous, ami all utilised, instead of, as usual, being left to decay directly newer premises are erected. The old dairy used to be where the present carpenter's shop, meat-safe, etc., are now, but was moved into the old house directly that was vacated. Mr Keid says that formerly there was a strong prejudice against having the house so close to the stockyard, but he finds it far better, as it saves the carrying of the milk, and is an incentive to keep it in such a cleanly state as to be perfectly inoffensive. Certainly, both at Mr Reid's and Mr McDonald's, no one can possibly say that the practice is in the slightest degree detrimental, the capital drainage arrangements, abundance of water, and excessive care, neutralising any evil effects that could possibly arise from the proximity of the stockyard to the house. The dairy is rather small but is well arranged. In order to preserve the coolness of temperature necessary, the copper fire is lighted from outside and the steam passes up a wide chimney. The cooler is placed under a window facing the harbor on which the sun never shine 9 at the time it is used. This window is always opened and a slide at the end of the cooler opening into the air lets the cool wind play over the curd when required. Only one double press and four cneßsete are used, but the cheese made are all of large size from 53fbs to 571b3. The cheese room, which it at the back of the dairy is commodious and it is always endeavored to keep it warm enough to keep the mould away. For this purpose Mr Keid intends putting in a stove very nhortly. He says that if the temperature in kept up to 60 degrees the cheese ripens well and no mould comes on the surface, a most important matter, in his opinion. He related to our reporter how, at the Kilmarnock Show, a iiian who took the first prize one year did not get it the next, though he observed the snme system exactly. He spoke of t'lis to one of the judges, who said, " No r'oubt your cheese this year i.s equally good, but it has been too cold kept." Mr Reid makes from 1001b to 1251b of cheese per diem. The How of the ri'ilk i.s of course taken oit by the calves at the beginning of the season, most of the early ones being reared. The cows are good milkers, aa can be guessed by the fact that they averaged mote than « a <iay at first, and now give some 21b a day r.t the end of the (season, Mrs Reid thinks that they will make over eight tons of cheese this yenr from their 50 cows, besides rearing 30 calves. She is of opinion that the Cheddar system of cheese making is far the best, producing more curt! and better choe-e. If the milk is too nwuet at first, a loss is always expeiienced, there being less curd and of poorer quality. The milk is set at night in a large totara tub, with the centre of the bottom raised. The whole produce of the 50 cows is put into this tub and a large tin heater. There in no water used to cool it, as at Mr McDonald's, but it io simply left in the bulk, and yet it has never yet been too acid. In the morning Mrs Reid always tries the temperature of the milk put in the tub the night before. She has often found it at 82dg and yet sweet as a nut. Her rule is, that when it is above 80dg she puts no sour whey, when near 80dj( a little, and when from 75dg to 78dg no less than 6 gallons! She is thoroughly convinced that the sooner the proper degree of acidity is reached the better the curd and the more of it. By this means the necessity of heating so much is avoided and labor is saved, and a higher quality of curd secured. The morning's milk having been mixed with the otherj it is set at 8-idg, and this rule is always observed never mind what the temperature may be When the weather is cold there is a tendency on the part of the cream to rise, and Mrs Reid makes' it a practice to get up during breakfast time and look at the tub to see if the cream lias risen, arid if so. put it gently down with her band just when the milk it* sotting, so that it has no chance of rising again. They use their own rennet. The curd is broken up before it is too solid. It is necessary to take it in time because it must be broken up line, and this must be done without bruising it too much. It i.s first cut with a wooden knife and thon broken up as fine, as poas with a ciml shovel. A little whey is then drawn off ;m<i heated ho as to bring the whole mass to a temperature of 84dg. After it has settled, more whey h heated, and it is brought to lOOrft?. It is then stirred up to a proper consistency, and thi3 ie a nice part, of the operation, as if stirred too much the cheese is poor, and if too little, too much whey is left in the curd, and it 19 spoilt. Experience alone can teach the art of knowing exactly the proper stage at which to leave the curd ; but it should not have fallen from the temperature of lOOdg. One thing is certain, and that is. that at this stage the j least thing will spoil the cheese. The time it is left, of course, depends on tho stag ! of acidity it has reached. The whey being taken oft' by a syphon as much as possible, the curd is relieved of most of the rest of the whey by a cork in the bottom of the tub being pulled out, the liquid passing through a strainer, which stops any loose curd, into a pipe which carries it to the troughs to feed tho calves and pigs. The big tub, or vat, is on rockers so that it can be easily moved. Tiie curd ia then cut across three times each way and the whole piled on tho four oontre pieces. The .middle of the tub's bottom behg raised the whey drains off very easily, when a board is put on the top of the curd and a moderate weight applied. Mere great judgment is required, iur the curd must not be taken out till it is sour enough and in cold weather it has to

be left pome time, though ordinarily 5 to 10 ininutes_ suffices. After being taken out it is left in the cooler almost half an hour, after which it is ground m <\ sa ]ted and again put in the cooler and reduced if possible tn a temperature of G5 degrees before being put in the chessets. Of course in warm weather, in spite of the appliances we have already mentioned, the curd cannot be always got to this low temperature, and then the time for pressing has to be guessed by instinct, as it were. It is left only two days in the chesset, but Mrs Reid thinks three days would be better. Only one dry cloth is used in pressing. The first cloth is left on till night, when the cloth is taken off, in case of any wrinkles, and again put on. In the morning the dry cloth is put on, and left till next morning, when the cheese is taken from the chessets, greased, and slips sewn on, after which it should be left in the press another day, and then taken out and bound. The slips and binding are all taken off after two months, and the cheese is then stored quite bare of any covering whatever. The whole operation of making the cheese is always over by noon, and, as will be seen, this process involves little hard work, every care being taken to treat the curd as gently as possible, and leave all the good qualities in it, instead of violently extracting them. Mrs Reid thinks salting a most important part of the process. If there is too much salt, the cheese is too hard ; if too little, the cheese ia likely to get out of eh ape. She has a very useful table showing the quantity of salt to put to any weight of curd, from a pound to a hundredweight. The curd is weighed by steelyards in a tin box, into which it falls from the mill in which it is ground.

We cannot conclude without thanking Mr and Mrs Reid for their extreme courtesy to our reporter. Every possible ininformation was given him, and it is hoped that this paper will bo of great value to other cheese makers, as the quality manufactured is so good, that Mr Reid has a standing order from Mr McFarlane, of Dunedin, grocer, to send him all he can make, at a penny a pound higher than trie current price given in Akaroa, whatever that may be. As Mrs Reid says, however, any explanation in words, however elaborate, cannot teach the process so well as seeing it carried out, and if a class of young people could be assembled and taught, we are of opinion t would be of great benefit to the county.