350 THE BOOK OF CHEESE 



write the price a pound they wish to pay opposite each 

 lot of cheese and in the column headed by their names. 

 After all the bids have been received and placed on the 

 board, the presiding officer states that a certain length 

 of time, usually fifteen minutes, will be given the salesman 

 to withdraw his cheese if he does not think a high enough 

 price has been offered; this is indicated by the sales- 

 man stepping to the blackboard and erasing the factory 

 name and number of boxes. At the close of the stated 

 time, the presiding officer declares the cheese offered on 

 the board sold to the highest bidder. The purchaser 

 then gives the salesman directions for shipping. 



Sometimes a board of trade has a committee of one 

 member elected by the factory salesmen and one elected 

 by the cheese-buyers. These two members elect a third 

 and these three constitute the price committee. This 

 committee meets each week and determines what the 

 price shall be. This is known as the ruling. The 

 factory salesmen and cheese-buyers then try to make 

 private sales. By this method no one, except the persons 

 concerned, knows exactly what price is paid for the cheese. 

 Usually, a price above the ruling is paid. 



At Quebec, Canada, there is a cheese-selling organi- 

 zation with government assistance. On paying a certain 

 fee, any cheese factory may join. All the factories 

 belonging to the organization ship their cheese to a 

 central cold storage where the cheeses are examined and 

 graded by a government inspector. A cheese from 

 each vat is tried. These cheeses are separated into 

 white and colored lots, then graded according to quality. 

 When the total number of cheeses in each lot is known, 

 the lots are sold at auction. The purchaser must accept 

 the cheese as graded. The better grades of cheese bring 



