GENERAL STATEMENT ON CHEESE 3 



and the science of dairy biology. Even now we have but 

 a limited knowledge of a few of the 500 or more varieties 

 of cheese named in the literature. It is desirable to 

 bring together the knowledge of underlying principles as 

 far as they are known. 



No technical description of a cheese-handling process can 

 replace experience. Descriptions of appearances and tex- 

 tures of curd in terms definite enough to be understood by 

 beginners have been found to be impossible. It is possible, 

 however, to lay down principles and essentials of practice 

 which are common to the industry and form the founda- 

 tion for intelligent work. Cheese-making will be a science 

 only as we depart from the mere repetition of a routine 

 or rule-of-thumb practice and understand the underlying 

 principles. 



4. Problems in cheese-making. Any understanding 

 of these problems calls for a working knowledge of the 

 very complex series of factors involved. These include 

 the chemical composition of the milk, the nature of 

 rennet and character of its action under the conditions 

 met in cheese-making, the nature of the micro-organisms 

 in milk, and the methods of controlling them, their 

 relation to acidity and to the ripening of the cheese. 

 To these scientific demands must be added acquaintance 

 with the technique of the whole milk industry, from its 

 production and handling on the farm through the multi- 

 plicity of details of factory installation and organization, 

 to those intangible factors concerned with the texture, 

 body, odor and taste of the varied products made from 

 it. Some of these factors can be adequately described ; 

 others have thus far been handed on from worker to 

 worker but have baffled every effort at standardization 

 or definition. 



