Dairy Suggestions from Europe. 



211 



visit to the commission firm of Learning «& Sons, wlio are the largest 

 cheese exporters in Holland. They have shelving capacity for 600 tons 

 of Edam and Gouda cheese, these being the two varieties most com- 

 monly made in Holland. In the province of North Holland, Edams are 

 made almost exclusively, and until recently were made in the farm 

 dairies. During the last few years factories are coming in quite exten- 

 sively. The Edam is the spherical variety, and when sold in America is 

 stained red. In Holland they are left their natural color — a deep yel- 

 low — being stained only for export. The standard size is four pounds, 

 but some are made as large as eight pounds. AVe saw one installment 

 of Edams that was to be sent several hundred miles up the Amazon 

 river, and each cheese was encased in a bladdtM*. AVe were allowed to 





Loading export butter and cheese on boats at the close of market-day in Leeuwarden, 



HoUand. 



sample cheese of nearly every description ; some were made to the queen's 

 taste, and others so tough that it was difficult to get a trier into them. 

 The price ranged according to the quality, varying from seven to twenty 

 cents a pound. 



A cheese market is held one day each week in the towns and it was 

 our privilege to visit the to\^^LS of Leeuwarden, Pemerand, Hoorn, and 

 Alkmaar on market day. One of the largest markets is in the town of 

 Alkmaar, and as these markets are quite similar, a description of this 

 one, will suffice. The market consists of a government weigh house 

 and a square black of pavement. On market day the farmers drive in 

 early with the cheese they have made, pile them in neat piles on straw 

 on the pavement and cover them with a canvas to protect them from the 

 sun or rain. Cheese buyers, representing commission firms from the 

 different part of the country, are present. Precisely at ten o'clock the 



