484 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



use in summer as well as during the late autumn and winter. 

 A coating of whitewash should be applied to the walls. 



These improvements in a curing-room oO feet by 20 feet would 

 cost probably $220 for material and labor, according to the con- 

 dition of the room and the price of lumber, labor, etc., in the 

 locality; $50 for double doors, windows and ventilator, and $80 

 for a sub-earth duct. At a factory turning out about 300 large 

 cheeses per month, such a curing-room might be so used as to 

 avoid some of the shrinkage in weight which would occur in 

 an ordinary curing-room where the thermometer fluctuated be- 

 tween 70 and 1)0 degrees. The saving might be one pound per 

 cheese. The injury to the flavor and body of the cheese from 

 overheating and chilling might also in a great measure be pre- 

 vented. The extra value which might be realized out of the 

 cheese from the diminished shrinkage and superior quality would 

 likely be not less than $450 during the season. Besides, great 

 and lasting benefit would result to the cheese trade, if all the 

 cheeses of Canada were cured in a proper w r ay. The demand 

 from the consumers in Great Britain would be increased, and 

 the risk of loss to the merchants would be decreased. 



Ventilation and Moisture. 



In a room of which the walls are close, and otherwise well- 

 constructed, the curing of the cheese will raise the temperature. 

 Each cheese, by the fermentation going on during its curing, 

 acts somewhat like a small slow-burning stove. There must lie 

 some means of cooling the room. 



The average cheese curing-room is too dry. During hot 

 weather, the floor should be sprinkled with water once or twice 

 a day, certainly every morning. The evaporation of the water 

 cools and moistens the atmosphere to the improvement of the 

 cheese. 



A cheap and effective means of cooling, and at the same time, 

 ventilating a curing-room, is to use a sub-earth air duct. The 

 duct or drain may be brought in through the floor of the room 

 in two places It should be not less than 100 feet long, should 

 be four feet deep, and have an opening for the passage of air 

 of about ten inches square for every 5,000 cubic feet of room. 

 It should be made of tiles. A good method is to put rows of 

 tiles parallel to each other with two inches of earth between 

 the rows in the same duct or drain. An upright opening at the 



