30 CHEESE AND CHEESE-MAKING 



is going on, it will be seen, if the ripening is 

 not complete, that while beneath the crust the 

 cheese is creamy, in the centre it is still solid 

 and to some extent insoluble. It has been 

 pointed out by Duclaux, a French chemist of 

 considerable eminence who has studied this 

 question perhaps more than any other inves- 

 tigator, that the moulds which grow upon Brie 

 and similar cheeses practically remove the acid 

 present through the medium of what we may 

 crudely term their roots, or mycelium, and that 

 until this acid is removed the bacteria which 

 are responsible for the ripening process are 

 unable to complete their work. 



CAMEMBERT. Several years ago, I had the 

 opportunity of inspecting a number of the most 

 important Camembert dairies in the north of 

 France, having already a close acquaintance with 

 the system of manufacture. In one of these 

 dairies that of M. Roussel 1800 cheeses were 

 made daily from 800 gallons of milk, the produce 

 of 400 cows. I estimated at the time that if M. 

 Roussel produced Camembert during only five 

 months of the year he would turn out 107 tons 

 of cheese, which at that time was realizing a 



