240 



THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FARM 



filled with curd are subjected to a gradually increasing 

 pressure for several days. The cheese is finally re- 

 naoved from the frame and placed in the cheese-room 

 to ripen. In making soft cheese the curd is not cut 

 or pressed, but is simply allowed to drain on a cloth 

 or frame. 



Beckoning the fresh cheese which goes into the 

 cheese-room to contain about 36 per cent, of water, 

 the products from 100 lbs. of normal milk will be as 

 follows : — 



As the period of lactation advances more cheese can 

 be made from the same weight of milk, as the pro- 

 portion of both casein and fat is increased. The loss 

 of fat in the whey is no greater with rich milk than 

 with poor if proper care is taken. 



Bipenmg. — Cheese ripens quickest at a moderately 

 warm temperature ; 65° — 70° is frequently employed at 

 first, and afterwards a lower temperature. During the 

 operation a loss of water takes place, the loss being 

 greatest in the case of poor cheese. A considerable 

 amount of chemical change takes place in the albu- 

 minoids, a part of the casein becoming soluble in water, 

 albumose and peptone, with the amides, leucin and 

 tyrosin, being formed ; in a later stage ammoniacal 

 compounds may be produced. In experiments made at 



