842 . , -ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



character during all tiiese centuries, it has changed its name, it 

 was at first and for some hundreds of years Ivnown as vachelin. 

 But at the beginning of the XlXth century, the home supply of 

 cheese was insufficient for France, and importations from Switzer- 

 land rapidly increased. The cheese of the French Jura seems to 

 have been "not without honor save in its own country," and that 

 of the Swiss Jura practically the same thing, became such a favorite 

 in France that its Swiss name, Gruyere, was adopted as a substitute 

 for vachelin, and has been in use ever since. 



The name Gruyere comes from a small but very old village in 

 the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, situated only a few miles 

 northwest from Lake Geneva. This little place was formerly the 

 capital of the county of same name. The castle of the Counts of 

 Gruyere is a» ancient one, overlooking the village. They were 

 powerful noblemen, possessing a wide territory extending from the 

 lake well into the Alps. But the last Count of Gruyere was a 

 profligate and spendthrift and in the year 15.54 the possesions of 

 the family were divided and dispersed and the title ceased to exist. 



The Departments of Jura and Doubs lead in this industry but 

 it is also active in L'Ain, Savoy and Upper Savoy. These five de- 

 partme,nts produce about 40 million pounds annually, and the same 

 variety is made more or less in at least 30 other departments. The 

 total yearly product of Gruyere cheese in France is, therefore,, 45 

 million pounds, sold by the makers for over five million dollars. 

 (The average price for the last five years has been rather more 

 th-an 11^ cents per pound.) 



The importance of the dairy industry in Eastern France has re- 

 sulted in the establishment of several institutions in its interest. 

 There are thirteen (13) pi'actical schools of cheese-making in this 

 ■region, the most important of which is located at Poligny in the De- 

 partm,ent of Jura. The only National Dairy School of France is 

 also in this part of the country, being located at Mamirolle, in the 

 Department of Doubs. This is a well-organized establishment, in 

 gotsd hands and, although not largely attended, it is doing excel- 

 lent work. Gemtral dairy instruction is given, but the specialties 

 of the school are the manufacture of Gruyere and Emmenthal 

 cheese. These two kinds resemble one another closely and yet 

 there is a. distinction. Just as the cheese-makers of the French 

 Alps years ago borrowed the name Gruyere under pressure of 

 Swiss competition, so, in recent years, what may be called an im- 

 proved Gruyere, has come into France from Switzerland and won 

 an enviable reputation under the name of Emmenthal. Nearly all 

 Swiss cheese imported is now of this variety. To meet this new, 

 or renewed competition, the school at Mamirolle is leading in a 

 movement to improve the Gruyere of Eastern France and to adopt 



