412 Report on the Exhibition of Cheese at Chester. 



cheeses were made, are bone-manured.* All, therefore, that 

 is required is, that more care, skill, and intelligence should be 

 exercised in the manufacture : with these, and proper utensils and 

 offices, good cheese may be made on any Cheshire farm. At the 

 same time I think that the importance of cheesemaking is such, 

 as to demand much more scientific investigation than has hitherto 

 been bestowed upon it ; and I hope ere long that either the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, or some other, will cause that investigation 

 to be made. 



Thousands, I doubt not, are ignorant of the fact that the cheese 

 they eat (and much of the butter also, especially in winter) is- 

 artificially coloured ; others probably know that colouring is em- 

 ployed, but fancy that it is necessary, or that it improves the 

 flavour. Now, I wish to inform the former of these parties that 

 all cheese that has not the appearance in colour of milk or cream 

 is coloured, and both that the colouring matter is not only useless, 

 but very objectionable. 



This ingredient is, or should be, annatto (or annotto), the 

 produce of the bixa orellana of Linnaeus. It is, I believe, chiefly 

 imported from the West India Islands, and used for dyeing. The 

 colouring commonly used in cheese-making is prepared by manu- 

 facturers in this country for the purpose. It gives the cheese that 

 amber appearance which is unfortunately required in order to 

 please or deceive the eye of the London consumer. For the 

 Manchester and Liverpool markets and for home consumption 

 the Cheshire farmer rarely uses it in his cheesemaking, as it 

 is well known it does no good ; but if an inferior article is 

 bought, and especially if much be used, it may deteriorate the 

 flavour very much. Those who wish to be enlightened on this 

 subject would do well to read the ' Essay on Cheese-colouring,' 

 written by Mr. Whitley, of Stretton, published by Mr. Ridgway,. 

 in which it is clearly proved that the greatest bulk of the cheese- 

 colouring used in this country is only an imitation of annatto, but 

 sold by that name, and consisting of such ingredients as turmeric 

 powder, potash, and soft soap or train-oil, well mixed with a 

 little real Spanish annatto. 



NoAv, in the first place, I would ask, are our London friends or 

 any others willing to have such compounds as these administered 

 to them, although only in homoeopathic doses ? — for I can assure 

 them it is entirely their own fault that they are so administered. 

 The dairymaids will gladly give up infusing this nauseous com- 

 pound into their cheeses whenever the London cheesefactors ask 



* The farm at Ridley Hall is 445 statute acres, of which about 300 are in pasture 

 and meadow ; 151 acres of the pasture land were boned by the tenant in the years 

 1854, 1855, and 1857. The champion cheese was made in September, 1857. 



