RIPENING CHEDDAR CHEESE. 175 



Ice in boxes, placed in the ripening-room, helps to 

 control the temperature, but requires too much labor 

 to bring it in. A better plan is to connect the 

 ice-house with the ripening-room and allow the cold 

 air from the ice to cool the room, without handling 

 the ice. (See plan in Appendix.) 



A temperature of 60 degrees as compared with 70 

 degrees will effect a saving of from one-half to 

 one per cent, in shrinkage during one month, and 

 this will pay for the cost of " cool curing-rooms." 

 Nothing is clearer than that Canadian cheese manu- 

 facturers must provide some method of ripening their 

 cheese at a lower temperature than has been the 

 custom in the past. Whether this means better 

 individual ripening-rooms or central cold storage 

 ripening-rooms, time will tell. Probably a combina- 

 tion of both will be followed for some years. 



A moisture content of seventy-five to eighty -five 

 per cent, seems favorable for the air in a cheese 

 ripening-room. A hygrometer should be found in 

 every room where cheese are ripened. One may 

 be made from two ordinary thermometers which 

 read alike. To the bulb of one attach a piece of 

 lamp-wick and place the lower- end of the wick in a 

 cup of distilled or rain water. After standing for 

 some time note the difference in the reading of the 

 two thermometers, and the table in the Appendix 

 (p. 242) will indicate the percentage of moisture in the 

 air of the room. If the air be too dry the cheese will 

 crack and lose too much in weight. If the air be too 

 moist it is favorable for the growth of mould on the 



