THE GENESEE FARMER. 



143 



ures? Every thing that mechanical ingenuity can 

 <3o for our cheese-maliers has been done. Our 

 cheese- vats and presses are the best in the world. 

 Why should our cheeses be tlie poorest? It is 

 John- Bull prejudice, you say. We do not believe 

 it; but admitting that it is so, would it not be the 

 part of wisdom to adapt our process of manufac- 

 ture to the English market? As long as we con- 

 tinue to export cheese, the price it brings in the 

 English market will regulate the price in America. 

 [f Cheshire cheese sells in London for 56s. to TSs. 

 per cwt. (12c. to 16c. per lb.), and American at only 

 iOs. to 54s. (8Jc. to llic per lb.), American farmers 

 lot only lose four cents per pound on all they ex- 

 3ort, but also on all the cheese they sell in this 

 ;ountry. According to the last census, the North- 

 )rn District of the State of New York produced 

 luring the year ending June 1, 1860, 48,302,006 

 bs. of cheese.. If the cheese we export com- 

 oanded as high a price as the Cheshire, or an 

 verage of four cents per pound more than at 

 resent, it would put into the pockets of the tarm- 

 rs in our northern counties $1,935,680.24 in gold; 

 nd it must be remembered that this additional 

 am is all profit. 



Can not we make as good cheese as the English ? 

 1 there anything in our soil or climate that pre- 

 ents; or is it merely the want of proper care? 

 ^e have given the subject considerable attention, 

 id have come to the conclusion that we c(f,n make 

 ist as good cheese in this State as in England, 

 ur climate is not quite as favorable, but this can 

 ! rectified by good dairy-houses. On some of 

 e cheese farms in the northern counties of this 

 ate, the dairy-houses, and all the appliances of 

 eese-making, leave nothing to be desired. There 

 9 none better in the world. In too many cases 

 wever, the dairy-houses are quite defective, and 

 9 cheese-makers have not the means of guarding 

 ainst those extremes of temperature which so 

 •iously affect such a sensitive compound as milk, 

 metime ago a correspondent of the Genesee 

 rmer, a butter-maker in one of the southern 

 mties, complained that " the good sold the bad." 

 is may sometimes be the case ; but as a general 

 e the 5acZ injures the sale and reduces the price 

 the good. It is so especially in regard to our 

 ■ese sent to England. A considerable amount 

 our cheese reaches there in a damaged condi- 

 1, and this injures the reputation of all Ameri- 



cheese, good and bad. While, therefore, many 

 )ur dairymen liave the best of houses, and em- 

 T a good process of manufacture, they do not 

 la full recompense for their care and skill, be- 



cause of the imperfect methods adopted by their 

 neighbors. 



In regard to the soil. There is no peculiarity in 

 American soil. It is not destitute of any element 

 necessary to produce the best of grass. It is pos- 

 sible, however, that some of these elements are 

 somewhat deficient. There may not be enough of 

 them in the soil to produce grass of the highest 

 quality. We think that this is to some extent the 

 case, ilany of the pastures in the dairy districts 

 of this State are of the poorest description. After 

 looking at the rich pastures of Cheshire, they pre- 

 sent rather a sorry appearance. We have thought 

 however, that this affected the quantity rather than 

 the qualiti/ of the milk. It would undoubtedly be 

 greatly to the advantage of our dairymen to im- 

 prove the quality and productiveness of their 

 pastures, and also to feed their cows better in the 

 winter, as well as in the spring and fall; but we 

 do not think that this would have any material in- 

 fluence on the quality of their cheese. We think 

 that this is affected more by the processes of man- 

 ufacture than by the breed of cows or the system 

 of feeding. Dr. Voelckee, Chemist to the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, in his essay on cheese-makin^, 

 after giving several analyses of American cheese,' 

 comes to the conclusion "that good materials avl 

 even more thoroughly spoiled on the other side of 

 the Atlantic than in England." 



We think this is I rue. Our milk is good, but it is 

 too often spoiled in the process of cheese-making; 

 and it is even more frequently spoiled after the 

 cheeses are made. In fact, the one great error of 

 American cheese-makers is in selling their cheeses 

 before they are ripe. A cheese needs to ripen just 

 as much as an apple. A Northern Spy, whon 

 picked from the tree in October, gives very little 

 evidence of those delicious qualities which it 

 possesses in January and February, after it has 

 been properly ripened. It is so with a good 

 cheese. No matter how rich the materials, or how 

 well it has been made, if it is not property ripened 

 it is of very inferior quality. Many of our farmer* 

 say they find it more profitable to sell their cheese 

 in a green state than keep it untill ready for the 

 table; but in this we think they are mistaken— at 

 all events, this practice seriously injures the quality 

 and reputation of American cheese, and the farm- 

 ers are ultimately the greatest sufferers. 



In this city we have frequently tried in vain to 

 find a really good cheese. They are rich enough, 

 but they lack that flavor which belongs to a wdl- 

 made and properly-ripened cheese. Almost inva- 

 riably we have found that the whey had not been « 



