8 July, 1907.] Clicese Production in Victoria. 411 



crudest building will show that the foundation of success has been ob- 

 served. All of you kno>w that on the farmer depends much of the success 

 of a factory ; unless cleanliness is strictly observed by him the difficulties 

 uf making a first class article are increased, as with impure milk even the 

 efforts of science and skill are of little avail. With the factory manager 

 and the dairvman properly trained and realising the responsibilities that 

 devolve upon each the success of the cheese industry is assured. 



Good buildings, not necessarily elaborate, are of course essential. The 

 rooms should have high ceilings and good floors, be well ventilated and 

 lighted, and have walls tha.t will not be too susceptible to changes of tem- 

 perature. The ripening room is the most important. It should have 

 \,ell insulated walls so that the temperature may be kept as near 55 deg. 

 as possible. To the keeping of cheese in bad curing rooms may be 

 attributed the cause of many spoiled lots. No matter how well the 

 article may have been manufactured, subsequent overheating renders all 

 previous care futile. To the cheesemaker who cannot afford an expensive 

 building, I woidd commend the use of thatch roofs washed, after being 

 put on, with a solution of lime and salt which renders the thatch less sus- 

 ceptible to fire. In hot weather it would be advisable to send the cheese 

 e\'ery week to the Government Cool Stores, where the storage charges are 

 very moderate, and are covered bv the saving in, weight and quality. 



The cheese plant should be of good quality and well arranged so as 

 to avoid all unnecessary labour. No plant is complete without a Mann's 

 Acidometer test, it being of material l>enefit at the drawing of the whey, 

 salting and pressing ; by its use uniformity is obtained, especially when 

 used in conjunction with the rennet and hot iron tests. The object of the 

 cheesemaker should be first to obtain flavour and quality, then quantity. 

 The aim of many cheesemakers has been to obtain a large quantity of curd 

 b;- the retention of an excess of moisture at the expense of quality. At the 

 A.N. A Exhibition, the evil effect of this practice was very noticeable in the 

 weakness of body, and also the tendency to over acidity. With a soft 

 curd there is always a danger to over aciditv in the ripened cheese. Cheese 

 made from soft curd will also lose more fat in the press and more weight 

 in the curing room, not to speak of flavour, than that made from a curd 

 of proper consistency. The more moisture retained in the cheese the 

 greater is the liability for it to gO' wrong. 



Ever since I started giving instruction in Victoria I have recommended 

 the smaller cutting of the curd. Bv doing this it is easier to expel the 

 moisture, and the maker has more control over the cooking process. It 

 is also not necessarv to scald to such high temperatures. If carefully 

 manipulated, the loss of fat will be very little more than if the curd is 

 cut into large cubes. I could mention several leading makers who have 

 adopted this plan wdth great success. I noticed when in Great Britain 

 last year that in most dairies the curd was cut almost as fine as wheat 

 grains, yet a more velvetv bodied cheese was obtained than would be found 

 generallv in Victoria. The whole secret lies in controlling the acidity. 

 When allowed to go too far in a soft curd an acid cheese is the result, 

 but in a firm curd probablv 25 per cent, more acid may be developed, 

 giving a velvety bodied cheese. The length of threads in the hot iron at 

 salting is no criterion to go by, unless the consistency of the curd as 

 regards retained moisture is taken into consideration. 



The Department of Agriculture has endeavoured to bring the quality 

 of our best Victorian cheese before the public at recent Royal Shows, and 

 also through the A.N. A. at the late Exhibition. The public generallv 



