38 TmRTY-FiFTH Annual Report of the 



to any extent for curing Cheddar cheese, because of the follow- 

 ing objections : 



1. To maintain such a low temperature in a curing room 

 would involve heavy expense for insulation and refrigeration. 



2. The curing or ripening would be retarded so much that 

 the ■ cheese would not be fit to place on the market for several 

 months. 



3. There is more or less danger of cheese which are cured 

 at extremely low temperatures showing "soft rinds" after a few 

 week's storage. 



If there is such a thing as a standard of quality for Can- 

 adian or American cheese it certainly is in our autumn makes, 

 because "September" quality is generally admitted to be the 

 highest point of excellence attained. It is of importance to re- 

 member that the mean temperature in the cheesemaking dis- 

 tricts for the month of September ranges from about 58 to 62 

 degrees. Now, if we can cure our summer cheese under Sep- 

 tember conditions there is no reason why we should not pro- 

 duce "September" quality throughout the whole season. You 

 never hear of New Zealand cheese being classified according to 

 month of manufacture, because the climatic conditions do not 

 vary in that country throughout the cheesemaking season. It 

 is for us to consider then if these standards, the value of which 

 we know,, are as good or better for us to aim at than something 

 else which has not yet been proved in a commercial way. After 

 weighing all the evidence so far obtainable, I am of the opinion 

 that a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees is the best one to recom- 

 mend for general adoption. 



When the central cool curing rooms established by the 

 Canadian Government were built they were designed for main- 

 taining a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees, and they have proved 

 to be very satisfactory for such a requirement. Incidentally we 

 have come to this conclusion, that it is easier to maintain a steady 

 uniform temperature at any point between 55 and 60 degrees than 

 it is at any other point, either higher or lower. The reason for 

 this is that we are able to take advantage of the cooling power of 

 the earth, through the cement floor, which has a constant tem- 

 perature of about 56 degrees, and being a fairly good conductor 

 of heat acts as a regulator when other conditions tend to either 

 raise or lower the temperature. 



Having said this much in favor of "cool" curing as opposed 

 to "cold" curing, I wish now to give you briefly some of the 

 results and advantages of cool cin-ing, with special reference to 

 the operations of the central cool curing rooms just referred to. 

 I shall not weary you with the details of the construction of the 

 buildings. Full information on that point is contained in a 



