490 EXPEKIMENT STATION EECORD. 



farm practice. It grew well in whey in the presence of 1 per cent of acid, and acted 

 energetically on lactose. Butter made from cream which had been sterilized or pas- 

 teurized and inoculated with the yeast was very inferior in quality, having, in the 

 case of pasteurized cream, a pronounced bitter, disagreeable taste. The results of a 

 bacteriological examination of the air of the stables, the first milk, the mixed milk, 

 and the washings of milk cans at 96 dairies are presented in tabular form. 



Curing of Cheddar cheese with especial reference to cold curing, S. M. 

 Babcock and H. L. Russell {Wisconsin Sta. Bui. 94, pp- 44, figs. 10). — Changes 

 occurring in cheese during ripening and theories regarding the cause of these changes 

 are briefly stated; various methods of curing which have been employed in this 

 country are described, special attention being given to methods involving the control 

 of temperature, such as the use of subearth ducts; 5 series of experiments in curing 

 cheese at low temperatures are reported; and the advisability of cooperative curing 

 rooms is discussed. 



An account of the greater part of the experimental work reported in this bulletin 

 was given in the last report of the station (E. S. R., 13, p. 988). Additional data, 

 however, are given on series 3 and 4 of the experiments not previously completed, 

 and a fifth series, in which cheeses were made with 6 and 9 oz. of rennet per 1,000 

 lbs. of milk and cured at temperatures of 33, 40, and 60° F. , is reported. The 

 results of the experiments are discussed at greater length than in the previous 

 article, the advantages and disadvantages of cold curing being considered from a 

 commercial standpoint. 



The authors consider that the cheese cured at temperatures of from 33 to 50° was 

 superior in flavor, commercial value, keeping qualities, and in other respects, to the 

 cheese cured at 60°, and that the losses due to mold and shrinkage were much less. 



"While the cold-cured cheese is exceptionally mild in flavor, even when a year 

 or more old, it is possible to subsequently develop almost any degree of flavor 

 desired by exposing the cheese to higher temperatures (60° F. ) for varying periods 

 of time after they have been thoroughly broken down under cold curing conditions. 

 The danger of developing abnormal or undesirable flavors is much less in this sub- 

 sequent treatment than it is where the green cheese is held for a period at high 

 temperatures. 



"In cold-cured cheese it is permissible to use much larger amounts of rennet than 

 can be safely used in cheese cured at 60° F. or above. This increase in rennet 

 hastens the course of the ripening and has a tendency to make the cheese more open 

 in body, but even with two or three times the normal amount of rennet the flavor 

 of cold-cured cheese is still clean and mild and the texture smooth and silky. . . . 



"[Cold curing of cheese] can not well be applied to the handling of the product 

 of a single factory as it entails the use of refrigeration (natural or mechanical) 

 to secure the desired temperatures. If, however, cooperate effort is secured between 

 a number of contiguous factories, or a system of factories under syndicate control, 

 the cost of constructing a properly insulated and equipped cold-curing station will 

 be no more than must be expended in building proper curing rooms in a dozen 

 to twenty factories. Where a consolidated curing station is erected, the making 

 factories may be of simplest construction and do not need any provision for curing 

 the cheese, as the product should be shipped every few days to the central curing 

 station. There are numerous other evident advantages that will accrue from this 

 method of handhng cheese, all of which will tend to lower the cost of the product, 

 such as the lessened expenses of buying, of transportation, etc., while at the same 

 time the product is of better quality, more uniform, and of much better keeping 

 quality." 



