YEOMAN FARMERS 411 



between the normal organisms of the milk. Our host 

 would only make Stilton cheese from grass-fed cows, 

 and the open-air milking which in Derbyshire accom- 

 panies the natural feeding aids the production of a 

 trustworthy cheese, because the milk is much freer from 

 dirt contamination than when it is drawn in a dirty 

 shippon. Our English cheeses have as yet been little 

 investigated, and it is unknown whether there are any 

 special organisms concerned in the ripening which give 

 rise to the difference in flavour between, say, a Stilton 

 and a Wensleydale. Cheddar cheese has indeed been 

 investigated, the process of manufacture has been 

 standardized and a good deal has been learnt about 

 the mechanism of the ripening process, nearly all by 

 the labours of American and Swiss savants. The 

 other English cheeses offer almost a virgin field to the 

 investigator, both as regards the standardization of the 

 processes and the source of the difficulties that are 

 regularly met with. Many of the makers of Stilton, 

 for example, are much troubled by a yellow stain which 

 comes in the cheese, and may, if widespread, reduce 

 the price from something like I3d. or I4d. a Ib. to less 

 than 8d. 



This high Derbyshire country affords a very in- 

 structive example of stable conservative small holdings, 

 held by real yeoman farmers, if we may use yeoman 

 in its original sense to include tenants as well as 

 owners. Considering the class of land, its elevation 

 and remoteness, rents are comparatively high, from 

 253. up to 2 an acre for the farming land, the banks, 

 of course, standing at a much lower rate ; but the 

 rents are paid regularly and there is not so much 

 fluctuation in the prosperity of the occupiers with the 

 seasons as in an arable country. The farms change 

 hands very little, and the farmers work hard and live 

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