284 Milk and Its Products 



and an aromatic odor. The curd also shrinks slightly 

 so that the hoop slips from it easily. The -cheeses 

 are then ready for the coating process. The hoops 

 are removed entirely and the cheese taken into 

 another room, where the temperature is maintained 

 at from 55 to 60 F., and the air is kept nearly 

 saturated with moisture. The cheeses are scraped 

 with a dull knife, the cracks being filled up with 

 the material scraped from the more prominent places. 

 After the scraping, a bandage is pinned firmly to 

 the cheese. The scraping is continued from day 

 to day for two or three days, clean bandages being 

 put on each time until the coat begins to appear. 

 This is seen in the formation of a white mold, and 

 also in the appearance of dry patches upon the ban- 

 dage. The bandages are now removed from the 

 cheese, and it remains in the coating -room for about 

 two weeks, being turned every day, and resting on 

 a board covered with cloth. When the coat has 

 fully formed, the surface of the cheese is a light 

 drab, of a wrinkled appearance, and is then ready 

 for the curing -room. The curing -room is kept at 

 the same or a little higher temperature than the 

 coating -room, and the atmosphere may be somewhat 

 drier, though care must be taken that it is not too 

 dry. Curing goes on slowly for two or three 

 months, after which the cheese may be removed to 

 a cool cellar and will continue to improve for some 

 time longer. During the curing process the mold 

 begins to grow in the interior of the cheese, and 

 when fully ripe the cheese should be evenly mottled 



