246 BACTERIA IN CHEESE MAKING. 



isms, and to the stimulation of their growth by the condi- 

 tions of the ripening. To find the exact source of the organ- 

 isms which produce the trouble should always be the first aim 

 in treating such troubles, although this may frequently be 

 difficult. No effective remedy can be applied until this source 

 is determined. 



PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF BACTERIOLOGY TO CHEESE- 

 MAKING. 



Up to the present time the practical application of bac- 

 teriology to cheese-making has not been very great, in spite 

 of the fact that the product of the cheese-maker is more dis- 

 tinctly dependent upon the action of bacteria than any other 

 one of the dairy products. The difficulty has been the ex- 

 treme complexity of the problems, and the fact that each type 

 of cheese is a problem that must be treated in its own pecu- 

 liar way. Various attempts have been made to use pure cul- 

 tures in the ripening of cheeses, for the purpose of increasing 

 the uniformity in this process. In some cases the result has 

 been successful; in other cases less satisfactory. 



One important application of bacteria cultures in cheese 

 ripening is the use of slimy whey in making Edam cheese. 

 This well-known cheese (Fig. 27) is made in great quanti- 

 ties throughout Holland, and in recent years there has been 

 adopted a method of inoculating the milk with a bacteria 

 culture for the purpose of hastening the ripening process and 

 making it more uniform. Some years ago it was found that, 

 by the use of a certain type of fermented milk, known as 

 slimy whey, the ripening process might be somewhat modi- 

 fied. Slimy whey is a fermented milk or whey which has 

 become slimy. Slimy .whey is by no means a pure culture of 

 any bacterium, but a miscellaneous mixture in which the 

 slimy organism, a streptococcus, is, however, always abund- 

 ant. The value of slimy whey was discovered by cheese- 

 makers before bacteriologists knew anything about it, and the 



