150 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



In the soft cheese, the plants contributing most to the ripening and 

 to the formation of the flavor are what are commonly called molds, at 

 least in some cheeses, while in the hard cheeses the molds play probably 

 no part, and bacteria are the most active agents in producing the flavors 

 developed during the ripening. 



In making the soft cheeses — little known in this country — the 

 general mode of procedure is as follows: The milk, sometimes whole 

 milk, sometimes partly skimmed, is caused to curdle by the action of 

 rennet. The curd is either cut to pieces by knives designed for the 

 purpose, thus allowing the whey to drain off more readily, or it is 

 simply ladled out of the vessel in which it curdled and placed at once 

 into forms. As the whey is drawn off from the forms, through holes 

 in the sides or through a false straw bottom, the curd soon assumes 

 the shape of the forms. It is at first very soft, since it is subjected to 

 no pressure whatever. At short intervals this soft mass is turned, 

 so as to rest upon a new surface, and this turning is continued for two 

 or three days. By this time the curd has become dry and consistent 

 enough to handle, and it is then carried off to the cheese cellar for 

 ripening. The details of this process differ considerably. In quite a 

 number of cheeses particular methods are adopted to favor and hasten 

 the growth of molds. Sometimes it is laid upon special straw mats 

 or wrapped in straw, which, having been used over and over again 

 in the dairy, has become thoroughly impregnated with mold spores. 

 The cheese is then placed in a cool, damp atmosphere, which causes 

 the spores to germinate and grow upon the cheese, already 

 slightly acid, and in a condition favorable to the growth of molds. 

 They grow rapidly over the whole surface of the cheese, and this 

 step in the process is not ended until a good covering of molds has 

 developed. Sometimes, indeed, special methods are adopted to insure 

 their proper development. In making the Eoquefort cheese 

 specially prepared bread is allowed to mold, and after it becomes 

 thoroughly impregnated with the mold it is finely grated to a powder 

 and mixed with the curd as it is placed in the form for shaping. 

 Fine holes are pierced in the cheese by a special machine to let in the 

 air which is necessary for the luxuriant growth of the molds. Such 

 treatment insures, of course, a very rapid growth of these plants, inside 

 as well as outside. Most commonly, however, the cheese-maker depends 

 upon his straw mats for the molds, and expects them to grow chiefly on 

 the surface. The molds which develop in the cheese are not all of the 

 same species. The common blue mold is most usual, but most cheeses 

 are not properly ripened until several species of molds grow together 

 within them. 



The development of molds, however, is by no means the end of the 

 ripening, but rather its beginning. Indeed, in some of the soft cheeses 



