It

forty-four bushels of wheat at sixty pounds per bushel on the same quantity of land. will thus be seen that the gross product of this farm of 187 acres is considerably more than 20007. per annum, indeed, it is estimated at 127. to 137. per acre.

I would almost hesitate to quote such figures if they rested only on my own estimate, but they are the careful calculations of the three gentlemen who are the judges of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and their authority may be regarded as almost final, or at least as the most trustworthy that modern science has enabled us to procure. The judges say with great truth, "The noticeable point in Dearnford Hall Farm, and one which it is desirable should be fully recognised by dairy farmers, is the fact that Mr. Nunnerly makes a larger return by good dairy practice than would be possible by selling milk under the most favourable conditions." The land is not by any means rich, it is a light sandstone drift, and in places indeed it is rather poor, but the liberal treatment makes it what it is. And the trim hedges and the neatness that are apparent to any passer-by shows that it is kept by one "who by his plough would thrive."

It will naturally be asked what is the cost of all this, and the books are ready with an answer. The money paid for labour was 3217. 58. 2d., and the outlay for purchased cattle-food and manures was 650l., and if the rental was 450l. a year there is a margin which even a prosperous tradesman might wish for.

The second prize of 507. was granted to Mr. J. Batho, of Winston, near Ellesmere, who occupied a farm of 290 acres under Lord Brownlow. His chief business was the production of cheese for the Cheshire markets, and indeed it must have been almost difficult to decide between the two farms. The buildings are very well arranged, and there is what we hardly ever see in England, a wind-engine, 3-horse power, and as the buildings are open to every wind, it is found useful for grinding, chopping, and pulping. These engines are familiar to every traveller along the low countries of Holland. The dairy is provided with a warm chamber, in which cheeses are placed in cold weather for two or three days, when newly made, to assist the process of ripening.

The cheeses after being pressed are carefully bound with calico and tissue-paper on the top, and the cheese-room is warmed by pipes and hot air; a tank in this cheeseroom which is filled with whey communicates

by a pipe that is regulated by a tap with a vat in the piggeries. Pigs are a very important item in the economy of the farm during cheese-making, and no foreign competition has sensibly affected their value. There is one cow of six years which is chronicled by the judges as being something far beyond the common, she produced 11,000 lbs. of milk in 1883, which is equal to 1,100 galls., and the judges say "calculating that a gallon of milk will produce a pound of cheese, we have 9 cwt. 3 qrs. 8 lbs. of cheese, a most extraordinary production." In this farm, when the weather is very hot, the practice is to let the cows rest in the roomy houses and great Dutch open barns, and only let them out at sun-down. There would indeed seem to be some reason in this, for we always see on hot days that cattle are not feeding they are either standing in water, if there is a convenient brook or pond, or else they are under trees to escape the sun and flies. There is one interesting circumstance that Mr. Batho mentions, one gallon of milk will produce about a pound of cheese. This is indeed the general estimate, but in the autumn when grasses and leguminous plants are at their ripest, sixty gallons of milk will produce seventy-seven pounds of

cheese.

Neither of the farms spoken of produce what is called the best Cheshire dairy, but they make good medium quality. They are not exactly in Cheshire, but so near the arbitrary line that separates it from Shropshire, that they are quite within the range of the cheese district.

A Londoner will often be surprised if he traces the cheeses to their homes, to find what a number of halls there must be in Cheshire, but the reason is that at one time there were a great number of smaller landed proprietors, in fact wealthy yeomen as we should almost call them now, and their estates have become absorbed by the greater landowners. A black and white gable, or a tall stack of chimneys is often all that is left of the old hall, but sometimes more important buildings are converted into farmhouses, and fine old panelled rooms, banqueting halls, and even chapels, speak of the wealth and dignity of former owners.

Moreton Hall in the eastern part of Cheshire is a noble example of one of these. It is built round a quadrangle, and this quadrangle is quite as perfect as it was when Elizabeth sat upon the throne. There are great bow windows in it, and rich carvings, with many quaint legends, and as we enter into it over the bridge which spans the moat,

we find ourselves so completely transported into a relic of the past, that it is almost impossible to avoid a momentary exclamation of astonishment.

The cheese from Moreton Hall is prepared very much on the same principles as that at Dearnford, and is the white and slightly sour cheese for the Manchester market. But as they also make Cheddar for the same customers, I was curious to know how far this was possible. I wrote to the principal cheese factor in Cheshire, a gentleman who is regarded as the greatest authority in the county, and his answer has just come to

three boys, with a little extra help at harvest --the total outlay in labour is only 23s. per

acre.

The processes of cheese manufacture are few and simple, though there are many persons who would never excel in it. Of course much of what is written will appear too elementary to some readers, but there are doubtless others to whom even the rudiments of cheese-making are hardly known. Milk, in a general manner of speaking, may be said to consist of casein (or curds) and whey. Casein is the solid white part of milk, and though it contains other substances

Doveton.
tall

hand: "I am strongly
inclined to the opinion
that as good Stilton and
Cheddar cheese could be
made in Cheshire as else-

where if it was a matter of study and the systems of the places precisely adopted. Still it is a question if these modes would pay better than the very best descriptions of Cheshire cheese." In the same journal there are many other reports of farms which are in wealth and prosperity, but they are, for the most part, farms for raising milk and fattening stock. One farm rented by Mr. Griffen from Lord Hatherton, Prestonvale near Penkridge, seems to have special merit, but it is more of an arable and pasture than a cheese farm. But labour is extremely well managed on this for though there are 285 acres, they are worked by six men and

it is quite accurate enough to call these curds casein.

The whey is such active principle as is left of the milk, and is the sweet drink that most children remember affectionately through life, after they first taste it at a farmhouse. The great desideratum in the manufacture of cheese is to separate these two substances thoroughly, for if whey is left in the cheese it causes it to bulge out at the sides, and leaves a decomposed flavour which we may recognise in dairies of inferior value.

As soon as the evening's milking is completed and stored in a vat, it is cooled down as quickly as possible, and in some of the

more complete dairy farms there is a zinc cistern with a false bottom which is filled with cold water to reduce the temperature. In many farms about half the cream is taken away for churning, and the morning's milk is added directly after. The cold water is run off the false bottom of the vat, and hot water substituted until the temperature is raised to about 90°, and then rennet and anatto are added. Rennet, it may be said for those to whom the terms in cheese-making are strange, is the mild acid that separates the curds from the whey. Other acids would do the same, but this is incomparably the best.

Rennet is formed from the viscera of a calf, and at one time Cheshire farmers made it each day from the prepared skins, but now it may be purchased ready made in bottles, at the chemist's, and this is not inferior for all practical purposes to the rennet which farmers make, and it is more convenient.

After it has acted properly, the curds are formed in solid blocks, and the whey is run off. This is all done within an hour, and then the curds are carefully cut up to let the whey still further drain off. Here again delicacy is needed, so as not to let the rich part of the curds mix with the whey, and impoverish the cheese. Indeed if the whey is properly run off it should be as clear as Rhenish wine, and very like it in appearance, though this would involve a very high standard of excellence indeed in the skill of dairymaids.

The curds are now salted, and the cheese formed into its shape and pressed, and in seven days it is removed to the store-room. After being there for from seven weeks to three months, according to the quality, and more particularly according to the taste of the consumer, it is ready for market.

These of course are only short outlines of the methods used in making Cheshire cheese, and even they differ to some extent on different soils, and in different dairies.

The most scientific cheese-makers now object to the orthodox method of driving skewers into the newly-formed cheese to let out whey; not that the iron hurts it, but this form of tapping is apt to let out much more than they want, and robs the cheese of richness. The whey shows this by its thick whitey consistency, which contrasts with the clear liquid that first left the vat.

The finest cheese in Cheshire comes from the neighbourhood of Beeston Castle, and most of that which is made in this district is bought for the London market. It is supremely indifferent to foreign competition,

and does not vary in value. This part of Cheshire is very beautiful, and if only it were out of England it would attract thousands of visitors to its health-giving valleys and hills.

.

Beeston Castle and hill singularly resemble a fortress on the Rhine, and have associations of greater interest to Englishmen, but if anything were wanted to complete the resemblance it is supplied by the neighbouring hill of Peckforton, which rises on the right hand of the picture, and is crowned by the princely residence of Peckforton Castle. They do not, as too often those of Rhineland did, "frown on each other, for they have one owner who is deeply interested in all that concerns the welfare of his tenants. The castle was built by the Earl of Chester on his return from the Holy Land. At one time it belonged to the Black Prince. Richard II. garrisoned it, but fled before Henry IV., leaving his treasure, 100,000 marks there. Brave old Admiral Bunbury once lived here; his effigy in armour may be seen at Bunbury Church, one of the noble edifices of almost cathedral dimensions that are so often seen in this charming county. He was one of those who gallantly went out to meet the Spanish Armada, and he died in 1601 at the great age of 102. He was knighted for his services after the Spanish fleet was dispersed, so that he must have been in his eighty-ninth year at the battle.

Here the sweet meadow grasses grow, and the wild thyme and lotus and many kinds of clover flourish in a natural state, making the summer air fragrant with their pleasant scents.

To apply heavy liquid manures to such lands would be to spoil them, for rank grasses would soon flourish and elbow their more delicate neighbours out of the pastures. The milk which is obtained from the farms round Beeston Castle, Cholmondely and Malpas, is easily converted into fine cheese by simple care and almost elementary knowledge.

Mr. Aston, who is one of the great authorities on cheese-making, has given a few broad principles that should never be lost sight of, and Dr. Voelcker, F.R.S., the consulting chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society, has confirmed these quite independently.

There is one prevailing requirement among all cheese-makers, and without this all other excellences profit nothing: there should be absolute cleanliness in everything connected with a dairy, the milkmaids, the utensils, the cattle and their byres, and the store