154 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



scientific solution of the micro-organisms for cheese ripening, and the 

 practical application of the facts to cheese making. 



As the result of these facts, many bacteriologists are engaged in the 

 study of the problems connected with cheese ripening. Many new dis- 

 coveries have been made, and various practical suggestions in cheese 

 making have resulted from these researches. But every bacteriologist 

 has been studying a different problem. In Holland some valuable studies 

 of the ripening of Edam cheese have been made, but naturally, the re- 

 sults differ decidedly from those obtained by Swiss bacteriologists in 

 their study of the ripening of Swiss cheeses, inasmuch as the Holland 

 cheese itself is such a different product from that made in Switzerland. 

 The study of cheese ripening in our own country will probably show 

 little agreement with the researches in Europe, since our cheeses differ so 

 much in taste from most of the continental cheeses, although they are 

 not so very unlike the English cheeses. In short, the problems to be 

 solved are as numerous as the varieties of cheese, and each problem has 

 shown itself to be so complex as, thus far, almost to baffle the most 

 patient investigation. It is true that one or two bacteriologists have 

 announced that they have discovered the species of bacteria and molds 

 which produce the ripening of the particular type of cheese that they 

 have been studying, and in some cases cultures of these bacteria have 

 been placed on the market for use in cheese making. In one case, a 

 scientist announces that he has made many thousands of pounds of 

 cheese by means of his artificial cultures and has met with the highest 

 success. But, in general, these cultures have been of problematical 

 value, none of them having, as yet, resulted in the extension of the 

 manufacture of special types of cheeses in localities where it had been 

 hitherto impossible. 



As stated before, this country is perhaps more interested in the suc- 

 cessful issue of these investigations than any other. Hitherto, Swiss 

 cheeses have been made in Switzerland, Holland cheeses in Holland 

 and all other types of cheeses in their own rather limited localities. This 

 includes hard cheeses as well as soft. If we desire any of these prod- 

 ucts we are obliged, in the main, to import them. Certain imitations 

 have been produced in this country, it is true; but the imitations are 

 more in shape than in quality. If it were possible, however, for our 

 dairymen to learn a method of making, not inferior imitations of Euro- 

 pean cheeses, but products actually their equal in flavor and quality, it 

 is certain that an immense market would be speedily opened to them. 

 This condition is probably dependent upon the success of the scientist in 

 solving the problem of regulating the growth of bacteria and molds in 

 the ripening cheese. As fast as the bacteriologist succeeds in showing 

 how the ripening process may be so controlled as to make it possible 

 for our dairymen to produce cheeses similar in character and equal in 



