204 BACTERIA AND OTHER MICROORGANISMS IN CHEESE. 
without the application of any pressure. In other cases the curd is 
cut in the vat, but the curd and whey together are dipped into forms 
for draining. As a result, there is produced a cheese which con- 
tains a much greater amount of water than is allowed to remain in 
the hard cheeses. 
This large amount of water produces a ripening of a totally 
different character from that which occurs in the hard cheeses. The 
process of ripening is different, the agents that bring it about are 
different, and the final results are very different from those in the 
hard cheeses. Moreover, the ripening is liable to greater variations 
in the soft cheeses than in the hard cheeses, and it is more difficult to 
control, because of the presence of so much moisture. Bacteria, 
yeasts, and molds all find a suitable medium for growth in the wet 
curd of the soft green cheese, and unless the progress of the ripening 
is exactly right, the cheese-maker may expect the development of 
kinds of microorganisms that are unfavorable to his product and 
that will spoil his cheeses. Soft cheeses are much less uniform in 
character than hard cheeses. They differ very greatly in texture 
and flavor, and are subject to various defects that injure or ruin 
them. They are, in short, more difficult to make with success than 
the hard cheeses, largely, if not wholly, because the water they con- 
tain offers such a favorable medium for the growth of bacteria and 
other microorganisms. 
The ripening of several of these cheeses has been carefully 
studied by bacteriologists. A brief description of the phenomena 
in three of these will illustrate the principles concerned The three 
described represent three types of soft cheeses. 
Camembert Cheese. This, together with Brie cheese and some 
others, represents a type in which the ripening is due partly to 
bacteria in the curd and partly to molds growing on the surface of 
the cheese, but not penetrating below the surface. The cheeses are 
small, about four inches in diameter and one inch thick. The 
soft curd is dipped out with the whey into forms and allowed to 
drain by its own weight. The cheese, with its large moisture con- 
tent, is then allowed to ripen in a damp room where the temperature 
is low. Sometimes two rooms of different temperatures are used. 
