254 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



tcmatic knowledg-e of the relations of milk constitu- 

 ents to cheese as had not been possible previously. 

 In oreneral, it was shown that, while the amount of 

 fat in milk is not an absolute guide in respect to 

 the yield of cheese from milks containing- differ- 

 ent amounts of fat, it is a very much more accurate 

 index than the mere weight of milk; and that, 

 while, in case of milks containing higher percent- 

 ages of fat, the yield of cheese is usually less for 

 a pound of milk-fat than in the case of milk con- 

 taining lower percentages of fat (p. 207 j, the cheese 

 made from the richer milk is of more excellent 

 quality and has a higher commercial value (pp. 



243-249). 



The fat basis began to be introduced into actual 

 cheese-factory work about 1892, and its use spread 

 (|uitc ra])idly during the next few years. This 

 method was at first received with considerable en- 

 thusiasm. After a few years a reaction gradually 

 took place and the system was abandoned in many 

 factories, which went back to the old method of pay- 

 ing for milk by weight only. There are several reasons 

 why the fat basis in paying for milk for cheese-mak- 

 ing has experienced its ups and downs, like every 

 other reform movement, and we will notice some of 

 the most prominent of these. 



(i) Wherever the fat basis replaced the weight- 

 of-milk method, the change affected the dividends of 

 different patrons in different ways. Those furnish- 

 ing milk containing percentages of fat above the 

 average received more money for their milk, while 

 those furnishing milk containing percentages of 



