New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 249 



other forms in the course of a few weeks, the rapidity of its ap- 

 pearance and disappearance being dependent upon such condi- 

 tions as the acidity of the cheese, the temperature of the curing- 

 room, etc. 



' (3) The nitrogen in the form of paranuclein reaches its highest 

 quantity in about 3 months and then slowly decreases some but 

 not to a great degree. 



(4) The nitrogen in the form of caseoses appears to increase 

 from the beginning, reaching its maximum in 3 to 6 months and 

 then gradually decreasing some. 



(5) The nitrogen in the form of peptones increases from the 

 start, reaching its highest quantity in about 3 months, after which 

 there is a slow decrease until after 12 months, when the decrease 

 is more marked. 



(6) The amido compounds increase with comparative rapidity 

 during the early stages of ripening. The increase continued dur- 

 ing the whole period of study but at a less rapid rate. Thus, the 

 average monthly increase for the first period was 6.60 pounds for 

 100 pounds of nitrogen in cheese; for the second, 3 pounds; for 

 the third, 1.87 pounds; for the fourth, 2.2 pounds; for the fifth, 

 0.62 pound; and for the sixth, 0.35 pound. Of the entire 

 amount of amido compounds formed during 18 months, 87 per ct. 

 was found at the end of 9 months; 65.5 per ct., at the end of 6 

 months; 47 per ct., at the end of 3 months; and about ;^;^ per ct., 

 at the end of one month and a half. 



(7) The ammonia in cheese does not commonly reach an ap- 

 preciable quantity until cheese is about a month old, after which 

 it increases quite regularly. As in the case of the amido com- 

 pounds, but in a much less marked degree, ammonia forms less 

 slowly in the later than in the early stages of ripening. Con- 

 siderably over half the ammonia was formed in the first 6 months, 

 while about 70 per ct. of the entire amount found at the end of 

 18 months was formed in the first 9 months of ripening. 



(8) Summarizing the statements made in connection with the 

 data contained in Table I, we find that, other conditions being 

 uniform, (a) the formation of water-soluble nitrogen compounds 

 increases as cheese ages; (b) the rate of formation of water-solu- 



