OLD-METHOD CHEESE-MAKING. 271 



Molds thrive luxuriously on the shelves and walls in the 

 curing-room, and are not removed therefrom ; no care and 

 neatness are observed in the milking and the early treat- 

 ment of the milk. And in spite of all lack of cleanliness 

 excellent cheese is made. 



In case of English or Dutch cheeses a somewhat dif- 

 ferent practice is followed. Cleanliness is observed at 

 least in the manufacture of the cheese, although not even 

 here is it always considered absolutely essential in order 

 to obtain good products. Especially in the curing-room 

 or cellar it is often preferred that certain molds attack 

 the cheese. 



It may furthermore be noted as characteristic of the 

 manufacture of cheese that its theory has only to a small 

 extent been worked out. It has been an art in which it 

 has been necessary in the main features to blindly " follow 

 the steps of our forefathers/' without knowing why it is 

 done this and "not that way. In the manufacture of 

 certain kinds of cheese, as, e.g., the Swiss cheese, the 

 experience of centuries has accumulated from generation 

 to generation. One has not deviated a hair's breadth 

 from the paternal inheritance, for otherwise " the cheese 

 would not be good." No other explanation was given or 

 can be given. 



The old-method cheese-making is in many ways analo- 

 gous to the old-method butter-making. In both we act 

 according to old custom; in both the fermentations are 

 started without knowing their nature or without any cer- 

 tainty of the outcome. The fermentations in the former, 

 being less radical and far less complicated, are more easily 

 reached. In the old-method cheese-manufacture, on the 

 other hand, much more complicated processes of fermenta- 



