DAIRYING 1027 



ally small, being from i.i to 4.4 lbs. each, or in rare cases 4.4 to 6.6 lbs. 



Among the oldest kinds manufactured, the chief are : i) " Serra da 

 Estrella " and its varieties " do Alemtejo " and " de Azeita " ; 2) "*Ca- 

 stello Branco " ; 3) "do Rabacal". All of them are made from ewes' 

 milk except " Castello Branco", which is made from goats' milk or goats' 

 and ewes' milk mixed, and they are all soft cheeses. The best is the Serra, 

 which, if well prepared, will compare with any foreign cheese made from 

 ewes' milk. Besides these, however, there are a large number of very differ- 

 ent descriptions of cheese of local manufacture and consumption, among 

 which there are mentioned ; " saloio " made with cows' milk in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Lisbon, and eaten fresh ; the hard goats' milk cheese of Beira- 

 bassa ; and the small cheeses of Serpa weighing from 2.4 to 3.5 ounces and 

 of very delicate flavour. During the last few years two new descriptions 

 worth mentioning have appeared on the market, the only hard cheeses 

 manufactured in Portugal : one is an imitation of " Caerphilly", and the 

 other is known under the name of "Cardiga". Imitations (generally 

 good) of Camembert, Edam and Gouda are also made. 



In the Azores, where cheese-making is on an industrial scale, the hard 

 cheeses " Pico ", " San Jorge " and " Terceira " (so-called from the name 

 of the islands where chiefly produced) have been manufactured for a long 

 time almost exclusively from cows' milk. From the island of vSan JVIiguel the 

 cheese industry has Icng since disappeared, butter-making having comple- 

 tely taken its place. The cheeses produced in the Azores are held in great 

 esteem in Portugal. They weigh from 11 to 33 lbs. each, and sometimes, 

 though less frequently, 44 to 66 lbs. 



In Madeira, cheese-making is in process of development. Fairl)"- suc- 

 cessful imitation of the Edam, Gouda and Cheddar cheeses are turned out, 

 skim milk, produced in large quantities by the butter industry, being part- 

 ly utilised. 



Among the cheeses made in Portugal proper, the Serra fetches the high- 

 est price (from 45 to 60 centavos, i. e. iid. to is. 3d. per lb.) The Alem- 

 tejo is hardly any cheaper, but the island cheeses are a little lower in price ; 

 the minimum market value to which they sometimes drop is 30 centavos, 

 or 7 14 d- per lb. 



In Portugal, the total annual production of cheese has been calculated 

 to amount to 6 210 tons, being 5 560 tons for Portugal proper and 650 tons 

 for the Azores. These figures do not include Madeira. The quantity manu- 

 factured from ewes' milk is estimated at 3 qoo tons, that from mixed ewes' 

 and goats' milk at i 100 tons, that made from goats' milk at i 200 tons 

 and that from cows' milk at 910 tons. 



In continental Portugal cheese-making is chiefly a home industry, 

 carried on with primitive implements and on primitive methods. For curd- 

 ling, the rennet of the kid is sometimes used, but mostly the dried flowers 

 of Cinara Cardunculus. There are, however, some large factories equipped 

 with up-to-date plant ; these turn out almost all the cheese manufactured 

 in the islands. 



The manufacture of imitations of foreign cheeses, chiefly as an ad- 



