260 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



Of the various objections deserving any atten- 

 tion, which have not been already noticed, the fol- 

 lowing are the chief ones urged against this 

 method : 



(i) The percentage of fat in milk is not gen- 

 erally an accurate measure of the amount of cheese 

 made from lOO pounds of milk. A pound of fat in 

 milk containing 3 per cent of fat represents more 

 cheese than does a pound of fat in milk containing 

 4 per cent of fat; in the former case, the cheese yield 

 is 2.^^ pounds for one pound of fat in milk, while in 

 the latter it is 2.65 pounds. On this- account, the milk 

 containing least fat does not receive pay for all the 

 cheese it makes. 



(2) The cost of making the test is often raised as 

 an objection. In actual practice, the difficulty has 

 been satisfactorily overcome. The usual custom is 

 to pay the cheese-maker at the rate of 20 to 25 cents 

 a month for each patron. 



The principal reasons given for favoring the fat 

 basis are the following: 



( 1 ) This method recognizes the fundamental truth 

 that normal milks varying in percentage of fat possess 

 dififerent values for cheese-making. 



(2) The amount of fat in milk offers a practicable 

 and just basis for determining the cheese-producing 

 value of milk, when we consider both quality and 

 quantity (p. 246). 



(3) All temptation to adulterate milk by water- 

 ing or skimming is absolutely removed, since a 

 man receives pay for the number of pounds of fat 

 that he furnishes and not merely for the number of 

 pounds of liquid he carries to the factory. No other 



