I'i'' 1 '■■ I 'i. ! : >! I i li 1 •|||4 1 I I, 'i 1:1: Hpm fork I'tate (EalUgj^ of Agrtrulturt At (UnrttpU IniurrHttg 3tl(ara, N. g. SItbrarg GIFT OF P..ROF, K,E.M1M... DAIRY INTERESTS ABROAD. A PAPER BY Mr.F.B.Thurber, Describing recent English and French Dairy Fairs, together with methods of manufac- ture pursued abroad, and considerations affecting the foreign market for American Dairy products. READ AT THE INTERNATIONAL DAIRY FAIR. NEW YORK, DECEMBER Blh, XS'Ze. a Cornell University y Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240031 20601 DAIRY INTERESTS ABROAD. A paper hy Mr. F. B. THtrRBBK, describing recent EngliBh and French Dairy Fairs, together with methods of manufacture pur- sued alroad, and considerations affecting the foreign market for American Dairy products. Bead at tlie International Dairy Fair, mw York, Dec. StJi, 1878. During a recent trip to Europe, I attended two dairy fairs — that of the British Dairy Farmers' Association, held in London, October 10th to 14th, and that of the French Society for the promotion of Dairy Industries, held in connection with the Exposition, at Paris, October 15th to 19th, and thinking that some account of these, together with observations in regard to foreign markets, to which a large portion of our dairy products go, might be of interest to American dairy-men, I have roughly embodied the result of my observations in a paper, for the imperfections of which I crave your indulgence. The British Dairy Farmers' Association Is a comparatively new or- ganization, established in 1876, for the improvement of the dairy hus- bandry of Great Britain. Its organization is somewhat upon the plan of our American organizations, which have done so much for the dairy interests of tlie United States ; and indeed, I believe that the informa- tion furnished by Professor Arnold, and other advocates of improve- ment in our American dairy industry, assisted in forming the British organization. AGKiCULTtJKAL Hall — the building where the exhibition was held, is a structure very similar in its arrangements to the American Institute Building, New York, although of a more elaborate and permanent char- acter. This was the third annual exhibition, and included an extensive show of poultry, pigeons, &c., in addition to items more nearly con- nected with the dairy. The exhibition of live stock was extensive and very fine, there being of cows and heifers alone 193 entries, and of bulls 40 — the principal varieties being short-horn, pure and mixed breeds ; Ayrshire, Jersey and Alderney, Guernsey, Kerry and Brittany breeds; among which were some of the finest specimens in the United Kingdom. Of goats and kids there were 86 entries, and considerable interest was manifested in these little animals, whose popularity I am told, as milk-producers is steadily growing. Of Cheese there were 151 entries— the principal English varieties being Cheshire, Cheddar and Stiltons, although there was a good representation of other English varieties, such as Wiltshire, Derby and Leicester. Of American or Canadian Cheeses, there was a much smaller show than might have been expected, considering the magnitude of this interest, and they were of comparatively poor quality, owing, I presume, to the fact that they were principally of August make— those of September manufacture having as yet hardly had time to reach the English market. The first prize in this class was taken by Messrs. Hodgson Bros. , of Liverpool, who I am informed were also successful in taking the first prize the year previous. The English cheese, with the exception of the Stiltons, were in fine condition, and generally of very good quality. Most of them were uncolored,and the taste of the judges, while requiring richness, seemed also to demand rather more firmness in texture than our best American cheese usually have, a feature to which I shall again allude further on. Of foreign cheese there were specimens of Austrian, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian, Swiss, Swedish and Norwegian, among which were some very good examples of their respective schools, including a number of interesting novelties. The exhibition of butter was not very large, and was evidently con- sidered subordinate in importance to the cheese exhibit. Still there were 116 entries, of which 79 were English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh, 13 of French, 7 of Danish, 3 of Italian, 3 of Austrian, 2 of Swedish and Norwegian, 1 German, 1 Swiss, and 1 American, the latter by no means a creditable one. Of all of these a large portion were entirely fresh, being destined for immediate consumption, and this fresh butter usually commands the highest market price. The custom of using butter fresh, or allowing each person at table to add salt according to individual taste, appears to have origi^ated in France, and owing, I presume, to the French cuisine being generally recognized as the standard, has been quite extensively adopted by first- class hotels and restaurants on the Continent and in Great Britain, and the taste, thus formed, also now prevails to a considerable extent in 'first- class family trade. The great mass of the English people, however use their butter salted, as in this country ; and this is true, also in all dairy countries manufacturing for export, or where keeping qualities are required. With exhibits from so many different countries, there was naturally 8 a gfeat variety of package : the fresh French batter being generally packed in conical lumps weighing from 00 to 75 lbs., wrapped round with cloths, and placed in wicker baskets. Of course such a package as this would only answer for cool weather and short transportation. The French "cured" or salted butter was quite generally packed in firkins or kegs. The other foreign varieties, both fresh and cured, were principally packed in firkins, kegs and tubs of all sorts and sizes, although there was a sprinkling of rolls, prints, and other fancy styles. Most of the exhibits were of very good quality, but were evidently destined for immediate consumption. There was quite an extensive exhibit of dairy utensils, both for butter and cheese makinjr, milk cans for transporting milk, &c. Also a very interesting collection of models or drawings for buildings for dairy farms. Ten different sets of plans, applicable to different-sized dairies, were exhibited by as many different architect.?, and it is evident that much attention is being given by English dairymen to providing the best and most economical facilities in this respect. There was also considerable show of oil-cake and meal, together with various mixed cattle foods, which are used to a much greater extent in Great Britain than in this country. Prof. Voelcker, Mr. W. T. Carring. ton, Mr. J. Chalmers Morton, and other authorities in dairy matters, seem to agree that feeding of this kind is an important auxiliary, even during the Spring months, when the grass supply is the most luxuriant, as it tends to make the percentage of cream contained in the milk more uniform, and give a better average result in the quality of both butter and cheese. THE FRENCH DAIRY EXHIBIT. This, as before stated, was held in connection with the Exposition, at Paris, and, although considered an occasion of considerable import anoe to French dairy interests, did not, as a " show," approach in extent and importance, that of the British Dairyman's Association. The specimens exhibited were ranged in a line, several hundred feet long, outside of the Main Exhibition Building, ex|)Osed to the air and dust : and the cattle show had already been held earlier in the season. There was, however, quite an extensive show of cheese : principal- ly of the small, soft, French varieties, such as Camembert, Brie, Mont d'Or, Neufchatel, &c., intended for immediate consumption ; al- though there were also good specimens of Roquefort, and Gruyfire, of French manufacture. There were also a few specimens of Parmesan and other Italian varieties, and one solitary exhibit from the American continen^-tliat of tke " Canadian Cheese Co." which was also enter- prising enough to have an exhibit in the Canadian Agrioaltural Depart- ment within the Exposition Building, where they kept a cheese on sample, giving away small bits to all who passed by. The quality, however, was not creditable to our American continent- it being evidently of early summer make, and, although rich, very strong, rank, high-colored, and certainly not well calculated to favora- bly impress visitors to the Exposition with the merits of cheese from this side of the water ; still, those who made the exhibit, should be commended for their enterprise, if not for the quality of the goods. The Butter part of this Exhibition was almost entirely French, al- though there were samples of preserved butter in tins from Sweden, Denmark and Ireland. The French butter was principally fresh, and shown in conical lumps, placed in baskets, similar to the French butter described in the English Exhibition. There were also a considerable variety of rolls and fancy prints shown. Most of the exhibits were from Normandy, although other parts of France were also represented ; and the best exhibits were made in the name of societies ; although the different specimens were labelled with the names of individual makers. DAIRY METHODS. How Cheese and Butter are made in different countries. Before proceeding to discuss the prospects of American dairy pro- ducts in foreign markets, it may be interesting to glance at the pro- cesses pursued in making leading varieties of Cheese, and also Butter, in other dairy countries. These are principally taken from valuable papers in the Journal of the British Dairy Farmers Association, and the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, and I am under obligation to Mr. Pegler and Mr. Jenkins, the Secretaries respectively of these organiza- tions for many attentions and much valuable information. Of these, perhaps one of the most peculiar and interesting is that of Roquefort, in France. The French Roquefort cheese hag a reputation which extends as far back into dim antiquity as the time of Pliny, who mentions it in one of his works. It IS made from the milk of sheep and goats princinallv from that o the former. In 1866, 350,000 out of a flock of 400 000 suo plied the milk for 7,150.000 pounds of cheese. The very fertile pa^s turage of these animals is an immense plain, eight or ten leagues across In the evening, after the return of the sheep^from the pastures they ^iflH Ir •?/''* *^°' ""^ ^?,"1^eforebeingmilked, after which they wm yield the milk more readily, and are milked as ranidlv <«. t!;= -ki Prom May 1 to the middle o^f July the yieldtf milk'^llfe "r^eTfand eaoli animal gives nearly one pint After the shearing the flow of milk diminishes. The Larzac breed of sheep, from the milk of which the Roquefort cheese is made, have unusually large udders ; this is at- tributed to the "practice of beating them with tlae hand as soon as the milk ceases to flow, in imitation of the manner in which the young lamb seeks to get more milk. The evening s milk is heated almost to boiling, and set aside. In the morning it is skimmed, heated to 98 deg., and mixed with the morning's milk for coagulation. After the curd has been divided, by stirring with a paddle, and the whey drawn off, it is well kneaded with the hands, and pressed, in layers, into moulds with perforated bottoms, and usually a thin layer of mouldy bread is put in between each layer of curd, the object being to hasten the ripening of the cheese by sup plying the germs of the green mould peculiar to cheese, the technical name of which is Pencillium crustaceiitn. The bread for this purpose is usually made before Christmas, of equal parts of summer and winter barley, with considerable sour dough, and a little vinegar. The mould- iness is not sufficiently developed in it viuder three months, unless hast- ened by warmth. When mouldy enough it is ground, sifted, moistened with water, and kept from contact with the air until wanted. The curd remains in the moulds under preessure three or four days, after which the cheeses are wrapped in dry linen and put to dry. They remain in the drying-room three or four days, after which they are taken to the village of Roquefort, where the ripening is completed in a very peculiar manner. This village is situated in a deep, narrow gorge, with high precipitous walls of limestone rock that overhang the houses, and often immense boulders may be seen between the houses, which have some time fallen from the rock above. This wall of rock is filled with caves and fissures, from which currents of cold air issue without cessation, and it is in vaults constructed in these fissures that the ripen- ing of the Roquefort cheese is carried on ; and it would appear that the peculiar characteristics and excellent quality of this singular kind of cheese can only be obtained by ripening in these vaults. The currents of air are quite cold, so that even in the hottest weather their tempera ture is kept at from 41 to 44 deg. Those vaults, which are so situated that the currents of air flow from south to north, are believed to yield the best cheese, and they are consequently held in the highest estima- tion. The cheeses are brought in at all seasons by the shepherds, and are bought by the proprietors of the vaults ; sometimes these purchases are made several years in advance, so sure is the demand for the cheese when ripened. They are caretully examined when brought in, and classified according to merit. Salt is then sprinkled over them, and they are piled up one on another for two or three days ; then the piles are taken down, the salt and brine rubbed in, piled up again, and left for a week. They are then scraped and pared, pricked through and through with needles driven by machinery in order to accelerate the moulding, and after this they are left in piles again for fifteen days, till they become dry and firm in texture, and begin to be covered with mould ; this mould by its brilliant whiteness, its length — the filaments being sometimes 5 or 6 inches long — its succulency, and the thickness of its coating, indicates the quality of the cheese on which it grows, and the suitability of the vaults in which the ripening is perfected. Another of the celebrated cheeses made on the Continent of Europe, and which is exported to a considerable extent, is the Swiss Gruyfere. 6 1 say Swiss, because it originated in that country, but iS now exten- sively manufactured in France and Germany, and also to some extent in other countries. This is made mostly in huts, called chdlets, high up among the Alps, in the time during which the pastures on the mountain-sides are acces- sible and the huts habitable, say from the melting of the snow in May to the end of September, when men and animals descend for the winter into the sheltered valleys thousands of feet below. The chdlets are located in the midst of the mountain pastures, on a spot safe from ava- lanches, and generally near to a small spring or pond of water when such are available. Provisions from the valleys are carried up weekly to the chalets, and it is under such diificult and romantic circumstances that a cheese is made which for hundreds of years has been considered almost if not quite, the best on the Continent. The milk, partly skimmed, or not, according to the quality of cheese desired to be made, is put into a great kettle and swung on a crane over a gentle fire, where it is allowed to attain a temperature of 77 deg. F., when the kettle is swung off the fire and rennet is added to the milk. When ccagttlation has advanced far enough, the curd is cut into as iine pieces as is practicable with the large wooden knife which is used for the purpose. The kettle is then swung over the fire again, and the curd is taken up in small quantities in a porringer and poured back through the fingers, whereby it is still more finely divided. Great im portance is attached to this division of the curd, in order that each par- ticle may be fully exposed to the action of the heat in the " cooking " pro- cess which ensues up to a point when a temperature of 90 deg. has been attained. The kettle is then immediately swung off the fire, and the waste of curd and whey stirred for some fifteen minutes longer ; and if the cooking has been properly perforAed the particles of curd have the appearance of bursted grains of rice, swimming in the whey. The curd is then collected in a cloth, and great care is taken to expel all the whey. The salting of the cheese is also considered a delicate and im- portant process. The salt is rubbed from time to time on the outside of the cheese, care being taken to discern when enough shall have been absorbed. One authority states that, in the manufacture of the best cheese, the salting process is sometimes continued for one or two years at intervals of a week. The GruySre cheeses are commonly 3 feet in diameter and weigh over 100 lbs. A successful cheese of this kind is like a soft yellow paste, which melts in the mouth, and it is filled with cavities about the size of a pea, one or two, say, in each square inch of cheese. " ^ The small round Dutch cheeses known to the trade as " Edam " are called after the place of that name, a small but flourishing town near Amsterdam, in Holland. In size and shape resembling cannon balls and when dry nearly as hard, they have perhaps been made more widely known by the story which has passed into the literature of the age that during the siege of one of the cities of Holland the supply of can' non balls gave out, and Edam cheeses were used as a substitute Perhaps more important to American Dairymen will be the methods pursued by English Dairymen in making the principal varieties of Cheese consumed in that great cheese-consuming country-a country t which we must continue to look for a market for a very large portion of our product, and, as stated elsewhere, whose tastes we must consult if we would obtain remunerative prices. The more important varieties are Cheddar, Cheshire and Stilton, and the following concise yet compre- hensive description of the most approved processes of manufacture is by Mr. John Chalmers Morton : CHEDDAR CHEESE. (a.) The Cheddar Cheese shall be described as it was carried on upon the farm of the late Mr. Harding:, of Marksbury, Somersetshire, who was one of the best makers in England, and who did good work for cheese-making in Ayrshire and other counties and districts which he and Mrs. Harding visited on the invitation of Agricultural Societies and others, for the purpose of giving instruction in the manufacture of this kind of cheese. The morning's and evening's milk are together brought to a tem- perature of about 80° Fahr. If the night has been warm, a tempera- ture of 78'^ will give as great effectiveness to a given quality of rennet as one of 83° or 84° would give if the milk had been at a lower tem- perature for some hours of a cold niffht. The evening's milk, having been placed in shallow vessels during the night to cool, and having been stirred at intervals during the evening, is skimmed in the morn- ing, and the cream, with a portion of the milk, is heated up to lUO° by floating it in tin vessels on the boiler. The whole of it is then poured through a proper sieve into the tub — into which the morning's milk is being also strained as it arrives — so as to raise the whole, as I have said, to from 78° to 82° Fahr. This tub may be a large tin vessel, cap- able of holding 150 gallons, and provided with a false bottom and sides, enabling hot or cold water to be passed under and around its contents. The rennet, made from two or three dozen veils, in as many quarts of salt water, and allowed to stand three weeks, is added — half a pint to 100 gallons — and the curd sets in about an hour. The small veils of Irish calves, which are killed at a week old, are preferred, and thtey should be 18 months old before use. The curd is slowly cut with a single long blade to and fro throughout its depth, in lines forming a a 4:-inch mesh upon the surface, and the whole mass is gently turned over from the bottom with a skimming-dish and the hand. The whole is then again worked throughout with a " shovel breaker " — a four- fiugered paddle, with wires across the fingers — great care being taken to do it gently, so that the whey shall not become too white. The curd is thus broken up into pieces not much larger than peas, and at least half an hour is taken in the process. Hot water is then let into the space around and below the cheese-tub, and the whole is raised to 100° Fahr. ; and this, too, is done gradually, so as to raise the whole by de- grees, not heating any portion to excess. This also takes half an hour. The hot water is then drawn off, and the curd is stirred by the hand and a skimming-dish for another half hour in the midst of its hot whey, being at length reduced to a mass of separate bits the size of small peas. The whey, after settling for half an hour, is then removed — ladled, syphoned, or drawn — to its vat, where it stands about 6 inches deep, and is skimmed next day, yielding a butter, vyhich should not exceed in quantity 6 to 8 ounces per cow per week. The curd stands jhajf an hour after the whey is drawij off, and it is then cut in four or 8 five pieces and turned over and left for half an hour, after which it is again cut and left for a quarter of an hour. After this, according to Mr. Harding, it should be in the slightest degree acid to the taste. If al- lowed to become too acid, it will not press into a solid, well-shaped cheese, but will be apt to sink abroad misshapen. It is now torn into pieces by hand, and left to cool ; and thereafter it is packed in succes- sive thin layers in the vat — a cylindrical or wooden vessel 13 Inches or more wide and 12 inches deep — whence, after being pressed for half an hour, it is taken out (it is then probably midday), and broken up by hand, and allowed again to cool. Then — when cool, and sour, and dry, and tough enough (all this, of course, being left to the judgment of the maker) — it is ground up in the curd-mill ; 3 lbs. of salt are added to the cwt. of curd, and the whole is allowed to cool, and, as soon as cold, it is put in the vat and taken to the press. It is then probably 3 P.M. The pressure on the cheese maybe 18 owt. The cloth is changed next morning. A calico coating is laced on it the second day, and on the third day the cheese may be taken from the press, placed in the cheese-room, bandaged, and turned daily, and afterwards less frequently. The cheese-room should be kept at nearly 65° Fahr. The cheese will. not be ready for sale for three months. The process lasts nearly all the day, but it is believed to produce the best cheese in the world ; and its use is everywhere extending. Taking its name from a single parish, it now prevails all over North Somerset- shire, and Is gradually extending into Wiltshire. Many dairies in Gloucestershire adopt the system ; some of its characteristic details are followed in Cheshire ; and it is well known in Lancashire, Ayrshire, and Galloway. The Cheddar cheese is made of various sizes, generally 13 inches wide and a foot high, but sometimes larger in both dimensions, and from 70 to 130 lbs. in weight ; the object being to make all the milk of one day on a farm of 30 or 40 cows into a single cheese. CHESHIRE CHEESE. (b.) Cheshire Cheese, like the Cheddar is made only once a day. The evening's milk is placed, not more than 6 or 7 inches deep, in tin vessels to cool during the night, on the floor of the dairy ; it is skimmed in the morning, and a certain portion is kept for butter — in early summer only enough, perhaps, for the use of the house, but in autumn more, and in some dairies at length nearly all the morning's cream is thus taken for churning The skimmed cream, with a portion of milk, is heated up to 130° of Fahr. by floating the tins which hold it on the boiler suffi- cient quantity beiug taken to raise the whole of the evening's and morn- ing's milk together to 90°, or thereabouts. The rennet is made the day before it ia used ; 13 or 14 square inches of veil, standing in a pint of salt water, kept in a warm place, making rennet enough for 100 gallons of milk. The Irish veil is used, as it is obtained from very young and wholly milk-fed calves. The curd is set in about 50 minutes ; it is then cut with the usual curd-breaker, a sieve-shaped cutter, very slowly. The whey is syphoned pumped, or lifted out as soon as possible ; but before it is all removed a portion is (on some farms where the Cheddar system is followed^ heated and returned to the tub, and the curd is left in this hot whev for half an hour. The whey is then drained away and the curd is left to get firm. When firm enough to stand on the hand in cubes of about a pound weight— this is an intelligible indication— without breakincr 9 asunder, it is lifted out on the drainer (a false bottom of rods), in a long tub wilb a stopcock to it, and tbere, left covered up for 45 minutes, after which it is brolieu up and well niixed by hand with 3^ to 4^ lbs. of salt per cwt. It is then allowed to stand with a light weight upon it for about three quarters of an hour longer, and is turned over once or twice during the time, being cat for the purpose into squares with a knife. It is then twice passed through the curd-mill, and at length put into the vat, a cloth being pressed first into the place by a tin hoop, and the salted curd being packed gently by hand within it. The vats will hold a cheese of 70 or 80, up to 100 lbs.; and tin hoops, placed within them, are used to eke them out and give capacity for a larger quantity of curd, if necessary. After standing in the vat, with a weight upon it, from one to two hours, according to the state of the weather, it is turned over and put, still in its vat, into an oven — a warm chamber in or near the brickwork of the dairy-chimney — where it re- mains at a temperature of 90° to 100° during the night. Both when in the press and here the cheese is skewered, skewers being thrust into it through lioles in the vat, and every now and then withdrawn, so as to facilitate the drainage of the whey. The cheese is taken out of the vat next morning and turned upside down in a fresh cloth. It is in the press three days, and it is turned in the press twice a day, being dry- clothed each time. It is then taken out, bandaged, and removed to tlje cheese-room, where it is turned daily, or at length only occasionally, until it is ready for sale. In some dairies all skewering is dispensed with, and no pressure is used at the time of making, nor for two days afterwards ; but the whey is allowed to run out of its own accord. Cheese manufactured in this way requires from 5 to 7 days in drying, but afterwards matures more quickly for market. The cheese varies considerably in quality throughout the y ear,the earl- ier make of March and April being considerably less valuable than that of summer and early autumn. Some of this varying quality is owing to the quality of the milk, the cows being house-fed; but more of it is, in all probability, owing to the necessity of holding a portion of curd over from day to day, when the quantity is insufficient to make either one, or or it may be two, fuU sized cheeses daily. In such cases it is common to make one full-sized cheese, and hold the remainder of the curd over till the next day, keeping it wrapped up on the drainer or pan, and grinding it up in the curd-mill along with the curd of the next morning. The quantity of cheese made varies from 3f to 4 cwt. per cow per annum on good farms. The quantity of butter made weekly in a good dairy is hardly half a pound per cow in the early summer from both whey and milk ; in tbe autumn, the milk being richer, considerably more may be made without diminishing the quality of the cheese. STILTON CHEESE. Stilton Cheese — manufactured chiefly in Leicestershire — is made from milk enriched by the addition of cream, and the curd hardens into cheese without pressure. The cream of the night's milk is added to the new milk of the morning, and the rennet is mixed with it when the whole is at the temperature of 84'^ Fahr. , enough being used to make it coagulate in an hour and a half. If it comes sooner it will be too tough. The curd is not drained of its whey in the ordinary manner, but is re- moved in slices with a skimming-dish, and placed upon a canvas strainer ; the ends of which, when it is full, are tied up and the whey 2 10 gently pressed out. It is then allowed to drain until next morning, when it is removed and placed in a cool dish, whence, cut m thm slices, it is put in a hoop made of tin, about 10 inches high and 8 mcnes across, and pierced with holes. A clean cloth is placed withm the hoop, and as the slices are laid in, a small quantity of salt is sprinkled between the alternate layers. It remains in the hoop, covered up, hut without pressure. Next day the cheese is taien out of the hoop and clean cloths are applied ; after which it is inverted and replaced, and pricked with skewers through the holes of the tin hoop, to facilitate the extraction of the whey. In four or five days the curd becomes firm. During this consolidating process the cheeses are kept in a place where the tempe- rature can be maintained at about 100°. When the cheese has become firm enough, it is pared smooth and firmly bound up in a strong fillet of canvas, wrapping it round several times. The binders and cloths are removed every morning ; cracks are filled up with curd ; and ulti- mately the coat becomes hardened, and the cheese is removed to the drying room. I cannot leave this portion of my subject without quoting from a paper on cheese-making by Dr. Voelcker, F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society, and a member of the British Dairy- farmer's Association. Although written for English cheese-makers, it is so lull both of scientific knowledge and plain common sense, that I am sure American cheese-makers, although chiefly employing the fac- tory system, which, as yet, is but little used in Great Britain, may pro- fitably consider it : NOTES ON CHEESE MAKING. By Db. Augustus Voelckbr, F. R. S '■ Allhougli cheese-making is not a very complicated process, requir- ing the rnastery of intricate scientific principles, it is nevertheless an art which is practised in perfection by comparatively few dairy farmers, and open to great improvements. Success in cheese-making depends not so much on a great amount of technical knowledge as upon practi- cal skill, dexterity in manipulations, painstaking hard work, patience and cleanly habits. ' Some men and women have a natural tact of readily mastering technical details, and in practii-ing with the greatest nicety, unwearied attention, and regard for scrupulous cleanliness, the different manipula- tions to which milk is subjected in making cheese Irom it ; whilst others to use a homely expression, do not take kindly to cheese making either from want of dexterity, or on account of laiy or slovenly habits" which appear to be lugraiued into their constitution. No amount of'experi ence will ever make men or women first-class cheese-makers if thev do not naturally possess habits of great cleanliness, manipulative skill and do not take pride in performing, with unremitting attention T,er' serverance, steady alacrity, downright hard work, for such is the work devolving upon the cheese-maker if he wants to turn out first-clast cheese whether he be assisted by labor-saving machinery or denendent entirely upon his manipulative skill. Treatises on cheese-makT- are all very g-ood in their way but they can never impart to the ope7ator hose desirable habits to which allusion has been mide; and at the best they only afford useful hints to experienced cheese-makers, but are not 11 Calculated to teach an inexperienced hind an art which depends so much on practical slcill and industrious and good habits as that of cheese-makiug. For these reasons I disclaim at the outset of this paper any intention on my part to write a systematic treatise on clieese-niaking. or to give minute directions for making Stilton, Cheddar, Cheshire, and other varieties of cheese of the best qualities, or giving receipts for preparing rennet, or describing the internal arrangements of cheese-factories, or giving information on similar matters of dairy practice. My intention in penning these pages is mainly to direct attention to some points which are either altogether overlooked or too much neglected by cheese-makers and to give prominence rather to the principles involved In the art than to enter into the details of the practice. " In the first place, I beg to offer a few observations relating to the in- fluence of pasture and food generally upon the quality of milk. In the opinion of a good many dairymen first quality cheese cannot be produced on some pasture land; and some go even so far as to maintain that only on the rich grass land of Somersetshire first-rate Cheddar cheese can be made, and tliat out of Cheshire only second quality Cheshire cheese is produced. Nobody at all acquainted with the business of a dairy farmer win bein doubt as to the great influence of the character ot pasture land and food generally upon the quality and quantity of the milk pro- duce, and the richness, flavor, and general quality of the cheese which is made from It. But at the same time we know, as a matter of fact, that first-rate Cheddar is made In some parts of Scotland, in Derbyshire and other English counties, besides Somersetshire. America as is well k\\own to the trade, supplies Cheddar cheese which rivals in quality that produced in the best dairies of Somersetshire. These facts plainly show that locality has not so much to do with the quality of particular de- scriptions of cheese as is often believed. The more prominent or charac- teristic properties of Cheddar, Stilton, Cheshire, Wiltshire, and other cheeses, indeed, do not depend to any marked degree, upon the nature of the pasture land prevailing In difEerent counties, but to a much larger extent upon the methods of cheese-making in ordinary use in different localities. Again, the undeniable fact that in one district, and upon land of precisely the same character, one dairy turns out first quality cheese, and in another but second or third rate cheese is made, clearly shows that skill in manipulation, care and attention, and facilities or incon- veniencies in storing and ripening cheese, exert a much more powerful influence upon the quality of cheese than locality or the character ot the pasture. The food upon which dairy stock is kept, however, unquestionably exercises a certain influence on milk. It is, therefore, reasonable to expect certain pastures to be naturally better adapted for the production of rich cheese than others. Thus good old pasture not only produces richer milk than grass from irrigated meadows, but likewise a better quality of cheese, all other circumstances being equal in both cases. There is good reason in the almost universally-received opinion that on some land good cheese can be made with ordinary care and attention, whilst on other land it is difficult, notwithstanding all care and atten- tion, to bring about a like result. It is, comparatively speaking, easy to make good cheese on old pastures which have not been manured to any extent for years, but much more skill is required to make fairly good cheese from heavily-manured land, or grass from irrigated meadows, and unquestionably the herbage greatly affects the flavor of the cheese. The reason of this difference, I am inclined to think, is that the grass 12 from irrigated meadows or heavily-manured pastures is of coarser, mote succuleut, aud generally less matured character thau the more slowly growiugr and more perfectly ripened produce of old pastures. Stilk of cows fed upon irrigated meadow grass or heavily-manured land turns sour more readily thau that of cows fed upon old pastures ; and conse- quently it is more difficult to make good cheese from the former than thau the latter kind of milk. Moreover, the aroma of the herbage upon which dairy stock is fed passes into the milk to a large extent, and from thence into the cheese made from it. Speaking generally, the quality of natural or old pastures becomes deteriorated when by means of large dressings of dung the produce is greatly in- creased. Irrigation produces a like effect. On examining the herb- age of different pastures, a greater number of species of plants will generally be found on old, unmanured grass land or natural pastures than on heavily-manured or irrigated meadow land, and the scanty herb- age of the former description of land, it will be noticed, includes some of the finer grasses and a number of leguminous plants which do not occur on heavily-manured grass-land, producing heavy grass crops of a coarser character. Everybody knows how readily a turnipy flavor is communicated to butter made from milk of cows fed upon turnips, and that the fragrance of grass-butter depends in a great measure upon the character of the pasture, being much more delicate and aromatic when cows are fed upon pastures producing rather scanty hay crops, but ex- hibiting a great variety of grasses, including some of the more delicate sweet-scented species, in addition to fragrant herbs, such as wild thyme, lotus, clovers and other legumiuous plants, that are either altogether ab- sent or only sparingly represented in pastures yielding, through the in- strumentality of dung, large quantities of grass of a coarse description. As butter enters into the composition of the better kinds of cheese to the extent of fully one-third of the weight of the cheese, and the flavor and delicacy of butter is so much affected by the herbage upon which the dairy cows are kept, we must naturally expect similar differences in the flavor and delicacy of the cheese which is made from milk of the cows fed upon pastures differing greatly in regard to the herbage. Thus much with regard to the influence of the pasture upon the flavor and delicacy of cheese. The preceding remarks naturally lead to the consideration of the varied character of milk. The principal constituents of milk, as is well known, are curd or casein, butter, milk-sugar, and mineral matters or ash constituents. In the preparation of cheese we separate by means of rennet the curd or casein, and with it, according to the quality of the cheese, more or less of the butter, and a small quantity of mineral mat ter contained in milk. Thus in the whey remain milk-sugar and the most of the mineral matter. Space does not permit me to record the variations in the composition and quantity of milk, and the different causes which produced these variations. I may observe, however, briefly, that whilst the pronor tion of butter in different samples of milk varies exceedingly poor milk containing sometimes as little as 3 per cent, of butter, and rich milk over 4 per cent, the relative proportions of curd, of milk-sugar, and of ash though liable to certain fluctuations, do not greatly dfffer in aood in different, or even poor milk. 6""^. '"- The quantity and quality of food, and other varying circumstances which affect the composition of milk, thus exert their influence mai^lv on the proportion of butter ; and as this is certainly the most valuable ingredient of cheese-and as 1 lb. of butter sufiices for about 2 bf of 18 good, saleable cheese — we can readily understand that in one dairy a considerable quantity of cream may be taken off the milk, and yet a better quality and more cheiise can be made than in another dairy from the same quantity of milk from -ivhicli no cream has been removed. Attention has already been directed to the flavor of milk, and its lia- bility to turn sour when it is produced from rank, immature herbage. Milk not only differs naturally in regard to flavor and keeping quality, but it is likewise prone to absorb bad smells when it is kept in ill-ven- tilated or damp places, or in close proximity to pigstys, water-closets, or underground house dra;ins. Milk thus tainted imparts a bad flavor to cheese, and even may spoil it altogether. Too much attention, therefore, cannot be bestowed upon the treat- ment of milk before it is admitted into the cheese-tub. It is a matter of great importance to cool down milk as rapidly as possible after milk- ing, and to get rid by this means of the peculiar animal flavor which characterizes newly-drawn milk. This especially is needful when the evening's milk is kept until next day, and made into cheese with the morning's milk. In many dairies a portion of the cream is removed from the milk, and the partially skimmed evening's milk being added to the new morning's milk, the cream will be equally distributed in the milk. But when the evening's milk is not ekimmed and whole-milk- cheese is made, care should be taken to amalgamate thoroughly the cream with the milk by gentle agitation before rennet is added.' I need hardly say that the milk must be carefully strained through a cloth before it is placed into the cheese-tub, and that the utmost attention must be paid to scrupulous cleanliness, and the avoidance of anything calculated to taint the milk. In good dairies no utensil is allowed to remain for a moment in an unclean condition ; as soon as it is empty it is rinsed out with clean water — if necessary, scrubbed — and finally scalded with boiling-hot water. Cleanliness, indeed, may be said to be the first qualification of a good dairy-maid. With regard to the materials of which the pails and cheese-tubs are made, metallic vessels appear to me preferable to wooden ones, for tin pails, and tin or brass cheese-tubs can be more easily kept clean, and, unlike a porous material such as wood, they do not absorb milk, which will generate acidity or taint milk that is placed into wooden tubs or pails. Some people maintain that milk which has acquired a faint degree of acidity is none the worse for cheese-making. This may be so ; never- theless I believe the fresher milk is, and the less its natural condition has been disturbed, and the sweeter, or neutral, the state of the cheese and of the whey also is preserved throughout the process of cheese- making, the finer the flavor of the cheese — if the operation has, how- ever, been well conducted and the cheese been ripened properly. I have seen some of the finest Cheddar cheese made from sweet milk under conditions which allowed the whey to run oflfin a perfectly neu- tral state, so that I could not detect the faintest trace of acid by delicate litmus paper. There is no necessity whatever to harden the curd after its separation from a portion of the whey by scalding it with sour whey, nor to keep the curd in the whey until it has turned slightly sour. The sweeter, or chemically speaking, the more the neutral state of milk can be maintained, and the more rapidly the whey is removed from the curd, the less chance it has to turn acid— I would repeat, the 14 finer the flavor will be, other circumstances being favorable for the pi'o- duction of good cheese. I lay stress upon this point because many dairy -men, guided by an old habit, consider it a matter of necessity in order to turn out {food cheese, to scald the curd with some sour whey, or to allow the whey to turn acid by keeping the cheese in it at an ele- vated temperature for some considerable time. In my judgment, tliis is altogether a mistake. The beneficial effect which is prodiiced on the texture of the curd by scalding it with soar whey, or allowiag it to remain in the whey unl,il it becomes slightly acid, and at the same time raising somewhat the temperature of the contents of the tub, is due entirely to the increase in temperature and has nothing to do with the acid of the whej'. This beneficial change may therefore be as well effected by steam or hot water as by heated sour whey, or rather, I should say, is preferable than to introduce your whey into the manufacture of cheese, and to conduct the process of separation of the curd from the milk, and its subsequent consolidation into a state fit to go into the presses, by grad- ually raising the temperature either bj' warm water or steam in a man- ner whereby a minimum amount of acidity is generated iu whey. Milk is rarely so perfectly sweet that the whey which separates from the curd when it is made into cheese does not turn slightly acid with more or less rapidity ; but it it were practically possible under all cir- cumstances to make cheese without the whey turning in the least acid, the quality of, the cheese would be all the better for it, for acid is neither required for effecting a proper separation of the curd from the milk, nor for hardening it, and it certainly does not improve the taste of cheese. And I fearlessly maintain that all the remarks which are found in papers and books with regard to the necessity of allowing a certain amount of acidity to be generated in the curd and whey in the cheese-tub are due to misconceptions, and not worth the paper upon which they are printed. Having disposed of the fallacy to encourage the use of sour whey in the making of cheese, I would next direct at- tention to some of the more striking properties of casein, or curd, which are concerned in the manufacture of cheese. Curd, in a practical sense, or more strictly speaking, the mixture of casein and butter which cheese-makers call curd, is a very peculiar and delicate substance, which is greatly affected by the temperature to which it is exposed. A good many years ago I made a special study of the deportment of curd at different temperatures, and as the particulars of rny investigation have a direct bearing on the practice of cheese making, it will not be out of place to reter briefly to some of them. To new milk, cooled down to 60 deg. F., I added a very large excess of rennet, and found that it took three hours to complete the prepara- tion of the milk iuto curd and whey. The curd was very tender and the whey could not be properly separated from it. Milk at 6.5 deg. F. ou addition of rennet curdled in two hours • but the curd, as before, remained tender, even after long standing. At 70 to 72 deg. P. it only took from half an hour to three-quarters of an hour to curdle the milk, and the curd now separated in a more compact condition. The process was more expeditious and the curd in better condition wliea the temperature ranged from 80 to 84 detr F At 90 deo- F the renuet curdled the milk in twenty minutes, and'at 100 deg. F an excess of rennet curdled the milk in about a quarter of an hour, separating the curd m a somewhat too close condition. 15 By heating the whey and curd to 130 deg. F. the curd gets so soft that it runs like toasted cheese, and becomes quite hard on cooling. These experiments clearly show that the limits of temperature be- tween which curd can be improved or become deteriorated in texture are not very wide. Too low a temperature — that is, a, temperature under 75 deg. F. — keeps the curd too tender, and renders it difficult to separate a sufficient amount of whey from the curd to allow the latter to be pressed into cheese that will ripen properly without leaving or acquiring a strong, undesirable flavor. On the other hand, too hiijh a temperature — that is, a temperature exceeding 100 deg. F. — makes the curd unduly hard, in consequence of which the cheese does not acquire in the store-room the mellow texture and fine flavor which the curd assumes in keeping and ripening when a less elevated temperature is applied in its manufacture. The exact temperature to be adopted depends upon the description of cheese which is desired to be produced. When thin cheese has to be made a temperature ranging from. 73 to to 75 deg. F. is sufficiently high before the rennet is added to the milk, and this temperature should be maintained throughout the process by the addition of warm water, or it may with convenience be increased 5 deof. and raised finally to 80 deg. F. , but not higher. On the other hand, if the object of the cheese-maker is to produce thick Cheddar cheese, the temperature of the miik may with great ad- vantage be raised to 80-84 deg. F. before the addition of rennet. Suf- ficient rennet should be added to effect a complete separation of the milk into curd and whey in about three-quarters of an hour. The curd may then be cut into large slices, and a portion of the clear whey be run ofE ; after which the temperature of the whole contents of the cheese- tub may be raised gradually, whilst the curd by degrees is broken into smaller bits, to about 95 deg. F., or at most 100 deg. F. Cheddar cheese is apt to get hard and dry, and not to ripen properly, when it is made at too high a temperature. On no account should the tempera- ture rise above 100 deg., and if kept rather below 100 deg. — say at about 95-96 deg. — the cheese will turn out all the better, if the curd be care- fully broken up, and put into the presses in a perfectly uniform con- dition. Elevation of temperature greatly facilitates the separation of the whey from the curd, and there is thereibre a great temptation ever in tlie way of cheese-makers, who wish to save themselves manual work, instead of completing the separation of the whey by hard manual work, to scald the curd to an injurious degree. This leads mo to remark that cheese is often injured in quality by hurrying on too much the opera- tion of breaking the curd, which results in an imperfect separation of the whey from the curd. When the whey has been imperfectly sepa- rated from the curd, no amount of pressure will squeeze out the excess of whey, and the milk-sugar that is contained in it subsequently will enter into fermentation, and cause the cheese to heave and blister, and at the same time impart to it a disagreeably sweet and strong taste and smell. The sweet taste of such cheese is due to a portion of the sugar of milk, which is the chief constituent of whey ; another poition of the milk-sugar, on entering into fermentation, forms, amongst other pro- ducts, carbonic acid gas, which, in its endeavors to escape, heaves up the semi-solid curd, causes it to blister, and produces the numerous apertures of considerable size which are found in badly made cheese. The danger of leaving too much whey in the curd is especially great in 16 warm weather, for it is then that the fermentation of the sugar of milk proceeds most rapidly. The amount of water which is left in the curd when it is ready to go into the cheese presses is mucli larger, and ought to be larger, when thin cheese, made at about 72-75 deg,, is made tban in the making of thick Cheddar cheese, in which a higher temperature is usually raised, to about 95 deg. F. Thus I found in five specimens of curd, ready to go into the vat, and produced according to the custom of Gloucestershire and Wilt- shire dairy tarmers, who make their cheese, the following proportions of water : Porcentage of water. 1 specimen 50 67 S " 56. 9 i 3 •' 53 40 4 " 62 80 i " 50.01 whilst four specimens of curd ready to go into the vat, and produced according to the Cheddar plan, contained : Percentage of water. 1 specimen 41.53 2 " 41.49 3 " 38 20 4 " 35.80 In the dairies in which these curds were produced no thermometer was used to ascertain whether the temperature was such as to secure fairly uniform jiroducts from day to day, and hence it is not surprising that one day a much harder curd, containing less water and better whey, which the water represents, than another day, when a more tender curd containing more whey was obtained. With reference to the five first named curds I may observe that the best cheese was made from the curd in which I found 50 per cent, of water, that is, the lowest proportion of the five samples. On the other hand, the curd in which I found only 35.80 per cent, of water and which was evidently scalded at too high a temperature, produced a hard cheese of very inferior quality. Too high a temperature not only makes the curd too close and hard but It IS liable also to melt out some of the butter, which passes into the whey, rendering it more or less milky. When the cuid is properly managed the whey is almost as clear as Khenish whine, and scarcely any fatty matter passes into it. Curd requires to be handled very gently, more particularly at first Avheu it IS tender and voluminous. As a rule, dairy-maids break up the curd m far too great a hurry. In consequence of careless treatment some of the curd IS broken into fragments so small that they pass into the whey when it is drawn off, whilst other portions are not sufficiently broken up and remain soft. The result is, that the curd is not uniform in texture when it is put into the vat, and that in consequence less cheese, and of inferior quality, is produced than when the curd is first cat very gently into large slices, and then broken up by degrees into small fragments perfectly uniform as regards texture " Salting the curd i.s a simple operation ; nevertheless care and iuda- ment is necessary in properly salting curd. A certain amount of salt IS used m making cheese, not so much for the purpose of imparting to .vl ?•? f..^'^l"^^t'^«te. f for keeping in check 'the fermentation to which It, like most ammal matters, is subject. If no salt were used 17 the clieese would enter too readily into putrefactive fermentation, and acquire a very stroujf taste and smell. When an extra quantity of cream is put to the milk, it is not necessary, or even desirable, to salt the curd much ; we might even do without salt altogether, for the large amount of fat (butter) in extra rich cheeses, such as Stilton and Cream Cheddar, suiEciently preserves the curd. If salt is employed in excess the cheese does not ripen properly, nor acquire that fine ilavor which depends upon the fermentation proceeding in a sufficiently active degree. The saline taste of old cheese, I may observe, is not due to the com- mon salt used in its preparation — at least not to any extent - but to certain ammoniacal salts which are generated during the ripening pro- cess from the elements of casein and the latty matters, or the butter, in the cheese. These ammoniacal salts have a strongly saline, and at the same time aromatic taste and emell, and as they are products generated in the ripening process of the cheese, and not originally present in curd, we have at once an explanation of the fact that quite young cheese is insipid, and old cheeso tastes strongly saline. In over-salted cheese the process of ripening sustains too great a check, salt being a powerful antiseptic substance, and hence over-salted cheese, after having been kept for six or eight months, has not nearly so saline a taste as under- salted cheese which has been kept for an equal length of time ; for most cases 1^ lb. of salt is a sufficient quantity per cwt. of cheese, and when rich cheeses are made 1 cwt. will suffice. The salt used in dairies should be of the finest description, and should be silted evenly through a fine sieve on the curd, after the latter has been passed through a curd-mill, and thinly spread in shallow leads to cool. This plan of spreading the salt saves a great deal of labor, and is greatly to be preferred to the system of pickling the cheese in brine after it has been made, or of rubbing in salt. When salt is applied, either in solu- tion or by rubbing it into the cheese after it has been in the presses, the outside is apt to get hard and close up too much. It is, of course, de- sirable to give the cheese a good and firm coat, but, at the same time, the pores should not be too much closed, for, if this is the case, the superabundance of moisture in newly made cheese cannot escape %vith sufficient readiness. Thin cheeses may be salted after they have been in the press, inasmuch as they present a much larger evaporating sur- face than thick cheeses, in the making of which the curd is generally, and for good reasons, salted before it is placed into the vat. In the next place, I beg to offer a few remarks on rennet. The quality of rennet has a very powerful influence upon the quality of cheese, and there is no doubt that cheese not unfrequently gets injured by badly- made rennet. Great care should be used in the preparation of rennet. Unless the veils or skins from which it is prepared are perfectly sweet, good rennet cannot be expected to be made. Properly-made rennet is perfectly free from all disagreeable smells, and keeps sweet for any reasonable length of time, and without undergoing any material changes in its power to coagulate milk. The usual practice in Cheshire is to make rennet fresh every morning, by taking a small bit of dried skin, infusing it in water, and using this infusion for one day's making. For Q-loucestershire and Wiltshire, a supply is made from the pickled veils, which lasts for two or three months. The Cheshire farmers, as a rule, object to the Gloucestershire practice, alleging that rennet does not keep sweet when it is made in any quantity from pickled veils, and kept for a month or longer. This objection, however, is untenable, for s 18 1 have myself kept rennet simply in a stoppered bottle, and not hel-. metically closed, for a period of more than twelve years, m a perfectly sound condition, and after these many years find it still apparently as active in curdling milk as when it was first made. ^ . ^, ^ It is hardly necessary to mention that a dilute infusion of pickled veils is not likely to keep sweet for a long time, and that rennet is pre- pared in considerable quantities ; with a view of having a supply for several months, it is desirable to make a concentrated infusion, and lo take care to add sufficient salt, with some saltpetre to it to produce a strong brine. At the same time the infusion may, with advantage to its keeping properties, be spiced with cloves or lemon-peel. The Glou- cestershire and Wiltshire practice of making a considerable supply of concentrated rennet appears to me preferable to that prevailing in Cheshire, for, when once the strength of the rennet has been ascertained by actual trial, a measured quantity of the same rennet added to a given quantity of milk will have a uniform efEect upon milk as long as the supply lasts ; whereas, when the rennet is made day by day, there is not the same certainty of obtaining an infusion of uniform strength. Excellent rennet has lately been introduced into commerce in the shape of clear briny liquids, which keep sweet for a long time. Pre- pared rennet, ready for use, certainly ofiers advantages to dairymen, who do not like the trouble of making their own supply, or who have difficulty in buying pifckled veils in prime condition. Made on a large scale, the manufacturer of rennet of necessity is obliged to be very par- ticular in the selection of the veils, and more likely to produce a good preparation than dairy-maids, who often are not particularly careful in making rennet. I believe cheese is olten injured in quality by badly- made rennet, that is, rennet which is either too weak or which has a bad flavor. In conclusion, I submit to the reader a few remarks on the storage and ripening of cheese, which I trust will not be considered void of all interest. In the course of my visits to the cheese-producing counties of Eng- land I have often been struck with the bad situation of dairies and their internal arrangements, and been more particularly struck with the defects which may be noticed in many places in the store or cheese- rooms in which the cheese is ripened. Comparatively speaking little attention is paid to the proper ventila- tion of cheese-rooms, as rather frequently there is no ventilation at all in the rooms in which cheese is ripened; and still more frequently the appliances where they exist, for warming the rooms in cold weather are such as to render it impossible to maintain a fairly uniform temperature in the cheese-room It is a matter of the utmost importance in the rapid production of a well-ripened and fine-flavored cheese, that cheese- rooms should be well ventilated and the air be kept at as uniform a temperature as possible. The ripening of cheese is essentially a process of fermentation, which may be accelerated or retarded by regulating the temperature of the room in which the cheese is ripened for the market. If the tempera- ture sinks below 60 deg. the process of ripening proceeds but slug- gishly, and, on the other hand, if it rises above 75 deg. F. the fermen- tation is accelerated to an extent which is apt to cause the cheese to bulge out at the sides, and to spoil both its flavor and uniform texture. Both extremes — that is, a temperature lower than 60 deg. P. and one higher than 75 deg. P. — should be avoided in cheese-rooms. Por dairies iu which thick cheese is made a temperature of about 73 deg. F. may 19 be maintained with advantage, whilst thin cheese is best ripened in rooms in which the temperature does not rise much above 65 deg. F. I The more steadily a uniform temperature is maintained in the cheese- room from day to day, the more regular the fermentation or ripening of the cheese proceeds, the more quickly it gets ready for the market, and the finer becomes its flavor and texture. For this reason I would strongly, recommend the warming of cheese-rooms by means of hot-water pipes, whereby a uniform temperature may be maintained in all parts of the room with much greater facility and certainty than by a stove'. In every dairy hot water is in constant request, and the same boiler which heats the water for cleaning the dairy-utensils may be connected with iron pipes that pass inxo the cheese-room. Beyond the first cost of the heating arrangements by hot-water pipes little expense is incurred for fuel, and if at the same time the room is provided with good ventilators a uniformly steady and slightly elevated temperature can be maintained without much trouble, and the ripening process be carried on with great perfection. No cheese-room, especially where thick cheese is made, should be without hot- water pipes and the means of effectually ventilating the room, for uniformity of temperature and ventilation of the cheese-rooms are two most important factors in the production of first-quality cheese. As stated at the outset, my aim in writing this paper was not to give special directions for making good cheese, but simply to direct attention to some of the more important points, upon the strict observance of all of which success in cheese-making mainly depends." BUTTER. As regards the methods pursued in the manufacture of butter in other countries, they are not essentially different from our own, except, as before stated, that on the Continent of Europe much of the butter des- tined for immediate consumption is not salted. Both the sweet and sour cream systems, and deep and shallow setting, have their advocates and adherents ; but within the past f e w years the former has made grea t progress, especially in Denmark. Norway Sweden and Germany, and also to some extent in Holland, France and England. Mr. Swartz, of Hofgarden, a Swedish farmer, is generally considered the father of the sweet cream system in Europe, and it is said to have greatly improved the quality of the butter produced throughout northern Europe, which now commands the highest price in the London market. The milk is set in deep cans, placed in a tank surrounded with a mixture of ice and water, so as to reduce the temperature of the milk as much as possible, and generally to about 42° Fahr. The effect of this low temperature is to cause the cream to rise rapidly, so that nearly the whole of it can be got after 13 hours setting. This is thought to be of great import- ance, for the reason that by churning cream absolutely sweet the mini- mum amount of curd is obtained with the butter, and as curd is the in- gredient which most contributes to spoil the taste of buttef after it hafi -20 been kept some time, it is considered tliat the keeping qualities are much improved. I know that this is quite contrary to the opinion en- tertained by some of our best butter makers in the United States, but it would seem to be worth a practical test under the auspices of some of our dairy associations. It seems probable to me, however, that the great improvement which unquestionably has been made within a few years in the quality of butter produced in northern Europe, has been quite as much the result of increased interest in dairy matters and the employment of improved utensils, as it baa been that of the Swartz system. Oleomargarine butter has also, doubtless, helped along the improvement. For some years larjre quantities of this article has been manufactured in Holland and France, and being better than common rancid butter, it naturally drove the makers of poor butter into trying to do something better — actually forced them to make a good article because there was no mar- ket for a poor one — and if it has the same effect in this country, and it seems to be tending in that direction at present, it will have been a blessing to American dairy interests. There can be no doubt but tha it has a legitimate place as a commercial product, the same as lard has ; this is recognized on the other side of the water, where it is everywhere sold for what it is. At the Hamburg Dairy Fair last year there were eleven entries of oleomargarine, and at the recent Dairy Show in Lon- don, while not competing for premiums, it was on exhibition and sale. Oleomargarine can never be a formidable competitor for good butter, and perhaps may not for a long time even compete with poor butter in this country as it has in Europe ; but it is a, fact in the commercial world abroad, and must be recognized as such here. It has no business, however, to travel under false colors, and be sold as butter, as it was in the beginning, and that should be properly regulated by law. Reverting to the general march of improvement in dairy products, it is something surprising to see what has been done within u. few years all over Europe. Government School Farms have been established throughout all the"^ principal dairy countries of Europe, where scien- tific dairy farming is taught, and the most approved appliances are being generally introduced, including many of American origin. Russia, even, is coming to the front as a dairy country, and one of the best cheeses I saw at the London Dairy Fair was an English Cheddar of Russian Manufacture. All this goes to show that American dairymen cannot afford to go to sleep over the situation, nor go on indefinitely spoiling good milk by manufacturing it in an iftejBcienJ and slovenly manner.. The question of 21 FOEEIGN MABKETS foe AMERICAN DAIRY PRODUCTS is one of the most important whicli demands consideration, and I pro- pose to briefly glance at some of the points involved. I may premise these by stating, that while I have little practical knowledge of the manufacture of dairy products beyond that obtained as a boy upon a dairy farm in Delaware County, in New York State, I have, for the most of my life, been engaged in commercial business, introducing and putting into consumption many varieties of food pro- ducts, and am, therefore, able to judge of this part of the subject if not of the other. When catering for the trade of a certain market, the policy of our house has always been to meet the requirements of that market, and to suit the tastes of the people who consumed our goods, rather than to seek to convert them to an appreciation of what we ourselves might consider the best. We have found by experience that altering the tastes of any considerable body of people is an exceedingly slow pro- cess, and that it is a thankless and useless task to educate their palates to a new standard, especially when they are willing to pay for what complies with the old one. If there is one fact which impresses an American merchant more strongly than another, when I'ooking through the English provision market, it is the tremendous range in prices which exists for Butter, Cheese and Bacon. To illustrate this I quote from a recent circular of a London provision merchant : (7^«eS6— Finest Cheddar, 80/ to 84/ per 113 lbs. . finest Cheshire, 78/ to 82/ ; finest American, 52/ to 54/. Butter — Finest Kiel or Danish, 142/ to 146/ per 112 lbs. ; finest Nor- mandy, in baskets, 130/ to 132/ ; Irish, Cork Firsts, 130/ ; Finest American and Canadian, 100/ to 105/. 5acore— Denny's Waterford, 76/ to 78/ ; Wiltshire, choice, 78/ ; Canadian, 53/ to 54/ ; American, 38/ to 43/. In the latter item there is a difference of nearly, if not quite, 100 per cent in price, and this is not on account of the inferiority of our American pork so much as it is the lack of knowledge in preparing it for the English market. Many of our corn-fed hogs are equal to any of the English, yet, when they reach that market are sold for about half what the latter fetch, and a recent advertisement of the British Admiralty for naval supplies ex- pressly stated that American pork would not be accepted. In Butter, while the disparity in price is not quite so bad, yet the differ, ence between 100/ for finest American, and 148/ for finest Kiel or Dan- 22 ish is quite sufBcient to indicate a need for improvement ; while in cheese, the difference between-say 80/ for finest Cheshire and Ched- dar and 54/ for finest American, is certainly sufficient to set thrifty American dairymen thinking how their product may be improved so as to approximate the prices which the best English cheese command ; and when we reflect that a large proportion of American cheese, shipped, early in the season, did not realize over 20/ to 30/ per 113 lbs., we can see how much room there is for improvement. There can be no doubt that the chief reason why so much of the cheese we send sells for a low price, is that many of our American factorymen do not as yet thoroughly understand what will really suit the English taste, and it was with a view of >howing American dairy- men the sort of cheese that was considered worthy of a prize in Eng- land, that I purchased specimens from some of the dairies, which were awarded a premium at the recent dairy show in London. These have been placed by our firm at the service of the managers of this fair, who will doubtless make arrangements so that our cheese manafacturers and factors can inspect and taste them. There can be no doubt of our ability to make cheese in all respects as fine as are produced in the world. And the chief respects in which I think our cheese are inferior to the English, from their stand-point, are that, as a rule, they lack firmness and keeping qualities. The factory system has resulted in making cheese that will quickly ripen, and reimburse the makers for the capital invested in the shortest possible space of time. The same process has obtained to some extent in the factories which have more recently been started in England; and indeed some of the best dairymen in England have been induced by the great competition in prices to make cheese which will ripen sufficiently for the market in five or six weeks, instead of the two or three months which was formerly thought absolutely necessary to attain that result. Many of the best judges, however, deprecate the practice, and think that if continued it will lead to a lower standard of excellence in Eng- lish cheese. Another thing which has undoubtedly prevented American cheese from taking the first rank in Great Britain, has been the large quantity of skim or half-skim cheese which have been shipped to that market. It may safely be said, that if American cheese ever attain a first-class reputation abroad, it will not be from cheese of this sort. Another drawback to popularizing American cheese in England, is, that much of the very best quality we send abroad, is sold to the con- sumer, by the retail dealer, as "English cheese," which it undoubtedly approximates closely in value ; while the poorer grades are sold f'ol' what they really are, namely, "American." If it were possible to so mark our best American cheese, that the consumer would be able to recognize them, I am sure that it would greatly add to the reputation, and enhance the average price obtained for our producit. I have thought that it might pay some of our fancy cheese makers, when selling their product, if they should make an agreement with buyers to arrange with distributors in England, that their cheese should be sold to the consumer as American cheese. There are enough reputable houses in the trade, who would undertake this trouble for a small concession in price ; and, in the end, it would result in great benefit to American dairy interests. The same remarks are true, although in a lesser degree, as regards butter ; but, we can hardly expect to ever equal the price obtained for the best English, Irish and Continental fresh butter, which supply the English metropolitan markets. It is a most difficult matter at any season of the year, and almost im- possible at some seasons, to lay down American butter in the English markets without its losing the fine edge. Besides this, American butter, as well as cheese makers have somefhing to learn in suiting English palates ; and I also purchased single specimen packages of Danish, French, Dutch, Irish, English and Welsh butter, in order that our butter makers, as well as our cheese makers, might inspect sam- ples of goods which bring high prices in the English markets. I am afraid, however, that these have sufliered in the course of transporta- tion, as our own fine butter does when shipped to the other side, and that, therefore, they will not prove as good illustrations of what is con- sidered fine in the London butter market as the cheese will of that branch of dairy manufactures. There is perhaps no branch of American industry in which such great progress and improvement has been made, both in quantity and quality, as there has been in the manufacture of dairy products during the last 15 or 30 years. In 1858 the exports of American butter amounted to $541,863, while in 1877 they were $4,534,616. In the same period our cheese exports increased from $731,910 to $13,700,627; not a bad showing, but there is still great room for further improvement. As an instance that we are not alone, however, in making progress, the following statistics of the increase in the nianufacture of Roquefort cheese in Prance are interesting: In 1850, 1,400,000 kilos. ; in 1860, 3,700,000 ; in 1870, 3,500,000, and in 1877, 4,000,000. What the factory system has done for cheese-making, it is to be hoped 24 it will als(J accomplish in butter-making; and that it can do ttis ia shown by the wonderful improvement made in the quality of Western buiter during the last five years. It is safe to say that within that time it has put more than a hundred millions of dollars into the pockets of Western butter makers and dealers, which otherwise would have been worse than lost, while the benefits it has conferred upon cheese-makers are almost too great for calculation. There is no good reason why America cannot become the great dairy country of the world. If we will but exercise the same skill and energy in this branch of production that we do in many other, we can "send coals to Newcastle," by competing with other dairy countries upon their own ground. Steam has revolutionized commerce, and made the whole world neighbors ; refrigerator cars and ships have abolished climate so far as the transportation of perishable products is concerned, and all that remains is for American dairymen and merchants to do their duty, and they need not fear the result. I cannot close these remarks without saying a word about our home market. Our population is increasing at a rate which, in 1880, will give us close upon fifty millions of people, and in the year 1900 seventy-five to eighty ihillions. The consumption of such a pop- ulation, if directed into proper channels, will be something immense, and although it is difiicult, perhaps something can be done to increase our home consumption of these great staples. We are large consumers of butter now, but as yet the American people use but little cheese ; in every English house, whether mansion or hovel, cheese is as much a staple as bread. The English laborer has his cheese and beer as regularly as our American workingman has his bread and coffee. No dinner, whether that of the businessman or nobleman, is complete with- out cheese. The same is true on the continent of Europe, only the varieties of cheese are there somewhat different. Brillat Savarin, the Judge, the Author and above all, the Bon Vivant, said ; " a last course at dinner wanting cheese is like a pretty woman with only one eye,', and at once France bowed to the fiat, cheese became fashionable and dairymen grew rich. Perhaps we have a Brillat Savarin among us, and if so, he should be cultivated. If Americans won't eat English styles of cheese, let us make English styles for England, and try what some of the small delicious French styles will do to tempt American appetites. I am satisfied we can make almost anything in America that can be made in any other country, if we will but try, and the prize of a large domestic consumption is worth striving for. Let the watchword be the best of everything, and I am sur« the future wiU bKng »ucceas. Cornell University Library SF 233.T53 Dairy interests abroad, A paper by Mr- F 3 1924 003 120 601 mm iiiiiliiili