384 MANUAL OF MILK PRODUCTS 



preferable to the boards for the following reasons : When boards 

 are used, the molds are apt to grow into the wood, causing the 

 latter to stick so tenaciously that on turning the cheeses over 

 the rind is torn off. On the other hand, when cane bottoms are 

 used the mold can grow more uniformly on both sides of the 

 cheeses, and as they do not stick to the bottoms so tenaciously, 

 it is necessary to turn them but once or twice in the first room, 

 which reduces the labor considerably. The cheeses resting on 

 boards must be turned daily. 



During the first week any ripening which occurs is not notice- 

 able, and the cheese remains in the form of hard curd. The 

 surface of the cheese often becomes slightly slimy, and some 

 change in the color can be noticed. Toward the end of this 

 first week the mold can be seen upon looking closely. 



During the second week the mold, when once started, grows 

 very rapidly ; and in the course of one or two days it covers the 

 cheese completely, giving it a snow-white, cotton-like appear- 

 ance. This white coat of mold turns to a gray-green within two 

 to four days, and by this time the cheese begin to show actual 

 ripening. The cheese first becomes soft just under the coat of 

 mold, and the ripening proceeds gradually toward the center. 

 On cutting the cheese open a thin layer of softened curd can be 

 observed under the mold. The texture of this ripened part is 

 creamy and soft, just as the whole cheese will be at the time of 

 complete ripening. 



If the cheeses remain upon the shelves in the ripening room 

 under proper conditions, as they often do in France, they will 

 ripen completely. But under our conditions, where the air is 

 drier, we have found it necessary 'to wrap the cheeses during the 

 second week in parchment paper or tin foil. This prevents 

 evaporation and hardening, checks the growth of mold, and pro- 

 motes the growth of the other organisms, thus hastening the 

 ripening. When the cheeses appear dry and tend to become 

 hard, tin foil seems to give the better result, but in the factories 



