CHEESE-MAKING. 103 



in existence, but its glory has departed. The cheese became 

 famous because Cooper Thornhill supplied it to hungry travel- 

 lers by the coaches, and Mrs. Paulet made it specially for this 

 purpose. The cream only of the evening's was added to the 

 morning's milk, and so it was a double-cream cheese. The 

 jolly landlord of " The Bell" " gratified" his customers with it 

 16 at half-a-crown a pound " ! 



The method of its manufacture, kept as secret as possible, 

 and for as long a time, leaked out ere long, and it was soon 

 made in various places in the counties of Leicester and Rutland. 

 The curd was not broken, but put into a sieve to drain, and 

 afterwards tied up in a cloth. This exposure to the air induced 

 it to acidify more or less, and the microbes of the fungus 

 (Pmcillium crustaceuni) to gain a lodgment in it ; and hence the 

 blue mould which is so much esteemed in Stilton cheese. Its 

 quality in those early days was owing to the double quantity 

 of cream, and its condition to inoculation by the microbes of 

 the air. 



But in these days it is too commonly made from single- 

 cream milk, and hence its loss of reputation. These modern 

 Stiltons, which are made in many counties and countries, are 

 mere imitations of what the real article is, and it is not easy to 

 get one worth the name. To get in the blue mould is easy 

 enough now, but when the extra cream is absent, the Stilton 

 falls at once to the natural level of other kinds of cheese. 



Other Kinds of British Cheese. 



The " Cotherstone " cheese of Yorkshire resembles the 

 Stilton in form and in colour, the result of, in some respects, 

 an almost identical method of making. It is the chief rival of, 

 and by many people is preferred to, the Stilton. Locally it is 

 very popular, and as it is not very extensively made, we do 

 not meet with it in every town as we do with its prototype. 



By the simplest arid least scientific method to be found in 

 this country, the cheese of Wensleydale, also a Yorkshire cheese, 

 is made. As there are no rules to guide a beginner, her prac- 



