MILK AND COMPOSITION OF CHEESE 239 



per cent of fat in the water-free substance of the 

 cheese. In order that a cheese be below standard, 

 the fat must be less than one-half of the water-free 

 substance. In this particular case, the cheese would 

 be belcw standard if the fat were less than 31.60 

 per cent. 



The question naturally arises as to what actual 

 basis there is for such a specific standard. It is 

 based upon very extensive studies of cheese made 

 from normal milk. The work of the New York ex- 

 periment station with cheese made in New York 

 factories has shown that the fat is always more 

 than one-half of the total solids or water-free sub- 

 stance of cheese. In the case of the lowest result, 

 the percentage was 50.39; the highest, 56.83; and 

 the average, 54. In very few cases was the per- 

 centage of fat in cheese-solids found below 51.0. 

 These results are in agreement with those obtained 

 in other states. For example, in the Wisconsin 

 cheese-scoring contests for April, May, June and July 

 (1908), results are given, showing that, even in the 

 cheese poorest in fat, the fat was 51.35 per cent of 

 the water-free substance. The percentage of fat in 

 the water-free substance of the cheese varied from this 

 figure to 56.4 as the highest. 



In addition to the results of analysis of many 

 samples of cheese made from normal milk, the 

 composition of normal milk itself furnishes a' good 

 reason why the fat should amount to more than 

 one-half of the water-free substance of cheese; 

 since a study of normal milk, as it is found at 

 cheese-factories in New York state, shows that 

 such milk does not contain enough casein, relative 



