CHEESE-MAKING. 



105 



used for the purpose, and the excellent little Ayrshires are the 

 only cows. Proximity to the sea may perhaps have a good 

 effect on the cheese of this Scottish peninsula, but in any case 

 the rye-grass pastures go to show that really excellent Cheddar 

 cheese may be produced quite independently of the grand 

 old permanent pastures of which we are all so pardonably 

 proud. 



It is no doubt a fact that no other system than the Cheddar 

 would succeed in producing first-rate cheese from the widest 

 practicable range of soil, herbage, and climate, which, in many 

 instances, are entirely disparate in character. Whatever dif- 

 ferences there may be in cheese made under such widely 

 different circumstances will be differences of flavour as well as 

 of quality or richness. In the wonderful laboratory of Nature, 

 each grass produces its own flavour from any given soil, and this 

 it is that affects the flavour of cheese. 



Cheddar cheese has been already discussed, and the remain- 

 ing southern cheeses are only of local importance. The Single 

 and Double Glo'ster were erstwhile famous enough, but they 

 seem to have dropped a good deal out of the popular line. They 

 were called " Single " and " Double " merely because the latter 

 was about twice as thick as the former, and not because of any 

 supposed difference in quality. 



The " Wilts Truckles " and the " Blue-veiny Dorsets " are 

 famous enough in their own and adjoining counties, but their 

 reputation does not extend "far afield." The latter has a good 

 deal of resemblance to the Stilton when cut, as its name would 

 indicate, and it is a very pleasant cheese to eat. Some people 

 prefer it before the Stilton. 



Soft cheese is made only to a small extent in this country, 

 comparatively speaking, and this, of course, coincides with the 

 demand for it. Some enthusiasts have thought they could 

 convert the English taste to soft cheese, but at present the 

 success of the effort to do so is microscopical. It might or 

 might not be a good thing for British dairy farmers if such a 

 conversion could be accomplished, but in any case it would 

 greatly increase the demand for the soft cheeses of the Conti- 



