44 CHEESE AND CHEESE-MAKING 



this method of salting continues daily for a 

 considerable period, from two to four weeks ; u 

 but in some cases the upper portion of the 

 cheese is salted at one time and the lower portion 

 at another, that is, on the following day, so that 

 the entire cheese is really salted from twelve to 

 fifteen times. When this process has been 

 completed, the texture of the cheese may be 

 examined. If it is too close, it is possible that 

 the fungus or blue mould will not grow with 

 freedom. In this case the cheese is pierced with ^ 

 metal skewers, which admit the air, and with it 

 oxygen, which the fungi require, for they are 

 unable to grow in its absence. Should the 

 texture, however, be sufficiently light and 

 generous, nothing need be feared, as it will 

 grow equally as well as in the Stilton, in which 

 the texture is generally closer and mellower. 



When Gorgonzola cheeses are taken to the 

 cave to ripen and some of the Italian caves 

 which we have been enabled to see are very fine 

 and well arranged they are laid upon shelves 

 covered with rye- straw and kept at a temperature 

 of about 55 F. As with other cheeses, ripen- 

 ing can be hastened by a rise in the temperature, 



