CHEESE 115 



The curing room should be light and well ventilated, 

 never above 72° nor below 45°. Windows must not be 

 opened to admit dry wind or moist air. If too dry the 

 cheese will crack and if too moist it will be covered with 

 deleterious yellowish red fungi. The cheese is turned 

 daily the first month, later every other day or twice a 

 week. WTien 24 to 30 days old the cheese is soaked for 

 one hour in water of 68 to 77°, washed with a brush, 

 dried for 20 to 40 minutes in the sun and returned to 

 the shelf. This is repeated two weeks later and then 

 the cheese is painted with linseed oil and left on the 

 shelf until shortly before shipping when it is scraped 

 with a sharp knife and painted according to the demand 

 of the particular market for which it is prepared; yel- 

 lowish with Annatto for England and Spain, red with 

 Turnsole for other countries. When dry it is rubbed 

 with. a little butter and red color. 



Swiss Cheese. — The Swiss Gruyere or Emmenthal 

 also belongs to this class. It is characterized by its 

 form and size, being large, round and flat, weighing 100 

 to 140 lbs. or more, and by the large holes which are 

 wanted in Swiss, but not tolerated in American or 

 Dutch cheese. It was formerly supposed that first- 

 class Swiss cheese could only be made in the Alps, but 

 very good imitations have long been made in Northern 

 New York and in Wisconsin. Besides in the usual 

 large round form, the same as the genuine imported 

 Emmenthaler, American Swiss or ^^Switzer" is also 

 made in blocks, six inches square and twenty inches 

 long, weighing 25 to 30 lbs. 



Until lately Swiss cheese has been made in the old- 

 fashioned way, the factory and tools being of the 

 simplest description. The milk was heated in a copper 



