Composition of Cheese. 9 



one-third of its weight of water, the 55 per cent, of dry matter 

 with this complement of water will amount to 83 per cent. 

 In other words, 1 gallon of the November milk will nearly 

 produce double the quantity of saleable cheese which can be 

 made from the August milk. 



The third analysis represents the composition of good, rich 

 milk, and the fourth the average composition of milk neither 

 rich nor poor. 



In rich milk the proportion which the butter bears to the 

 casein is always much greater than in milk of average quality. 

 In the latter there is about as much butter as casein, and in 

 decidedly poor milk the proportion of casein is larger than that 

 of butter. 



The preceding analyses have brought to light unexpectedly 

 large differences in the amount of butter which is contained in 

 different samples of milk. With proper care and skill in cheese- 

 making nearly the whole of the butter becomes incorporated with 

 the curd ; and as the market price of cheese depends in a great 

 measure, though not entirely, upon the proportion of butter which 

 it contains, it is evident that the original quality of the milk 

 must have a decided and direct influence on the quality as well as 

 on the quantity of cheese which can be made from it. Although 

 precisely the same process may be adopted, and equal care and 

 attention may be bestowed on the manufacture, it nevertheless 

 happens that not only more but also a better quality is made in one 

 dairy than in another from the same number of gallons of milk. 



The food upon which dairy-stock is kept unquestionably exer- 

 cises a great influence on the milk. It is, therefore, reasonable 

 to expect certain pastures to be naturally better adapted for the 

 production of rich cheese than others. Thus good old pasture 

 not only produces richer milk than grass from irrigated meadows, 

 but likewise a better quality of cheese, all other circumstances 

 being equal in both cases. There is thus some reason in the 

 almost universally received opinion that on some land good 

 cheese can invariably be made, whilst on other land no amount 

 of skill or care can bring about a like result. But at the same 

 time I believe it is quite a mistake to think that good cheese can 

 only be made in certain localities, and that the character of the 

 pasture accounts entirely for the great differences found in the 

 quality of this article. Good saleable, and even high-priced, 

 cheese, I believe with Mr. Harding, can be made in any locality, 

 whatever the character of the pasture may be, where an indus- 

 trious and skilful hand, and an observant and intelligent head, 

 presides over the operation ; and, on the other hand, the best and 

 richest milk, the produce of peculiarly favourable pastures, may 



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