40 



Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the 



CONDITIONS WHICH AFFECT THE SHRINKAGE. 



There are three conditions which influence the rate of 

 shrinkage in a curing room, (i) the temperature of the air, 

 (2) the relative humidity of the air, and (3) the percentage 

 of moisture in the cheese. The size of the cheese and the length 

 of time the cheese remains in the curing room are also im- 

 portant factors in determining the amount of the shrinkage. 

 The temperature in the cool curing rooms did not vary more 

 than 2 degrees from day to day, and ranged from 55 to 59 de- 

 grees for the three seasons. The relative humidity was also 

 a nearly constant quantity, averaging about 90 per cent., and 

 varying from 88 to 94. The moisture in the cheese varied con-' 

 siderably, and we found some difficulty in persuading a num- 

 ber of the makers to make their cheese dry enough, because 

 cheese for cool curing should be made quite as firm as for 

 ordinary curing. On the other hand,, both the temperature and 

 the relative humidity in the room where there was no control 

 of temperatur^, which we call the "testing room," varied from 

 day to day and from month to month according to the weather. 



