CHESHIRE, one of the western counties of Eng land, is bounded on the north by the livers Mersey and Tame, which separate it from Lancashire ; on the east by the counties of Derby and Stafford, in which direction the division is marked chiefly by a chain of hills, and by the rivers Goyt and 1)aner; the southern side unites with Shropshire and Ffintshire ; and the western border is skirted by Denbighshire, Flintshire, and the estuary of the Dee. The dimensions of the county are estimated by Mr Wedge at about 221 miles on a medium in breadth ; and in length, from W. S. W. to E. S. E. near ly 40 miles. This statement, however, is plainly inaccu rate, the extent of the county, from Bretland Edge, on the Yorkshire side, to Kiddington Green, bordering on Flintshire, being upwards of 50 miles. Its form is rather inclined to an oval, with two projecting necks of land ; one about 20 miles in length and 6 in breadth, running out into the Irish Sea, between the estuaries of the Dee and Mersey, and called the Wirral : the other is included in the Macclesfield hundred, and extends from Stockport, between the counties of Derby and York, about 15 miles in length, rarely exceeding 4 miles in breadth. This county is in general flat ; but some con siderable hills rise near its eastern borders, which are connected with those of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and extuid about 25 miles in length, from Congleton to the N. E. corner of the county. An interrupted ridge of high ground, composed entirely of sandstone, also crosses it from N. to S. on the western side, extending from Frodsham to Malpas, and including the high grounds of Delamere Forest, the hill of Beeston, and the Peckforten hills. There are a few other hills about Macclesfield, and some on the Shropshire side. A chain runs north and south through the peninsula of Wirral. The rest of the county is nearly level ; and the principal part of it consists of arable, meadow, and pasture land. The soil is various ; but clay, sand, black-moor or peat, seem to predominate, the subsoil being commonly clay or marl. The most prevalent stone of the county is the red grit rock, of which most of the towns and villages are built. Large woods are rare ; but as hedge rows abound in the generality of farms, the quantity of timber that is produced is considerable, particularly of oak trees, from which the tanners obtain a valuable supply of bark.
The tenure by which land is held in Cheshire is almost universally freehold ; yet, in some manors, there arc a few copyholds, or what may be denominated customary freeholds, paying fines and rents certain. Leasing for lives, which was formerly a very constant and general practice, is yet continued by a few landholders; but the most common term of leases is 11 years, with a restric tion on the tenant to a certain quantity of tillage, (usualli about 1 of his farm,) and a particular rotation of crops. The extent of farms is on the average from 150 to 300 acres : some few contain upwards of 500.
The principal object of attention with the Cheshire husbandman is the dairy. In former periods, the county was much celebrated for its produce in wheat ; but in later times it has been noted chiefly for its cheese. Stra bo and Pliny affirm, that the art of cheese-making was introduced into it by the Romans, but this is improbable front various circumstances; and we are certain that the Roman armies on the continent received a great supply of cheese from this county soon after they had secured the possession of it. The quality and flavour of the Cheshire
cheese arc well known : the following are sonic of the principal particulars as to the mode of its manufacture. In a dairy farm of 100 acres, from 10 to 14 acres arc un der oats ; from 6 to 8 are occupied with fallow-wheat, and the like quantity is laid out in summer-fallow ; the remainder is appropriated to pasture and hay, the amount of the latter being about 12 acres. The judicious dairy farmer is very scrupulous in the breeding and rearing of calves, and in the management of his cows, both during the summer and the winter. The quantity of cheese made annually front each cow varies from 50 to 500 or more pounds ; the produce depending in a considerable degree on the nature of the land, the quality of the pas ture, and the mode of wintering : in general, the ave rage may be stated at about 30') lbs. The quantity of milk, according to this estimation, yielded daily by each cow, is about 8 quarts, which is commonly supposed to produce one pound (16 oz.) of cheese. The Cheshire cheese is generally made with two meals' milk ; but often towards the latter end of the season, (which con tinues nearly 22 weeks,) with 4, 5, and 6, the cheeses being usually made very large. The most common size is 60 lbs.; a weight susceptible of every excellence to be found in the cheese of this county. Of those large cheeses, two are made in some of the dailies daily. The evening's milk being preserved till next morning, it is skimmed, heated, and incorporated with the new milk, when the whole, together with the cream, being mixed in a large tub, and the proper quantity of rennet and co louring being added, it is left for about 1 hours to coagu late. When the cheese is come, or the milk is properly coagulated, the curd is broken into very small particles, which are left to subside, and the whey is poured off. This process is repeated till the whey is nearly expelled. Then the curd is placed in a vat, and occasionally sprin kled with salt, of which some dairy women use about three handfuls to a cheese, making it a rule to put the greatest quantity near the middle. The vat is filled very full, and the whey repeatedly squeezed out, before it is placed in the press, as it is very material to expel all the whey, keeping the vat at the same time quite full of curds. The cheese is commonly taken twice or thrice from the vat, to place fresh cloths, pare off the cclgc, and turn it ; and sometimes it is immersed in hot whey, which is supposed to harden its coat. After remaining in the press two or three days, it is next conveyed to the salting house, where it is put in a salting tub, in which having continued for about three days more, it is next placed on the benches for about eight days, being well salted all over, and turned every day. For six or seven days subsequent to this process,it continues to be turned twice daily. Then it is washed in warm water, wiped dry with a cloth, and when dry, smeared over with whey butter, and placed in the warmest part of the cheese room, where it is left to acquire the proper age and con sistence.