MAKING OF EDAM CHEESE. 349 



Dairy industry is now chiefly devoted to making 

 the varieties most known and sought for in Germany, 

 the Edam small sweet milk cheeses, which are sent in 

 enormous quantities to all parts of the world. There 

 are two varieties of Edam cheese in the market, one 

 with a white, the other with a red rind. The latter is 

 firm, more of a yellowish color inside, and colored out- 

 side. The coloring matter is prepared in France for 

 this special purpose. By this treatment the cheese is 

 better adapted to transportation. The early red rind 

 cheese is the finest and best. It is made in spring from 

 milk fresh and warm from cows just turned to pasture, 

 and is exported mostly to Italy, Spain, and America. 

 That made later in summer is not so good, and goes to 

 France ; the red rind, made still later in the fall, goes 

 to England and Brabant. Cheese that is injured, or 

 does not keep well, is sold mostly in Hamburg and 

 Brabant. 



Making of Edam Cheese. — The Edam is a rich sweet 

 milk cheese, that is made from fresh, unskimmed milk. 

 The milk, while still warm from the cow, is poured into 

 a large tub or a kettle through the strainer. In cold 

 weather, when it has cooled off in standing in the air, 

 it is warmed to a proper degree by adding milk heated 

 by the fire. The rennet is then added. This is pre- 

 pared in the following manner: The maw of the nursing- 

 calf, cut into long strips, is soaked for twenty-four 

 hours in sweet whey, when it is made lukewarm over 

 a slow fire, whey and all, and three times the quantity 

 of cheese-brine, or solution of the salt of the cheese, 

 added. The mass is then allowed to stand four days, 

 when it is fit for use. An exact determination of the 

 quantity of rennet to be used cannot well be given,, 

 since the quantity depends on the quality ; but usually 

 about two hundred cans of milk to one fifth of a can 

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