THE ART OF CHEESE-MAKING. 235 



of subsequent heating, and by pressure, to regulate the amount of 

 whey remaining in the cheese between the small particles of curd; 

 and by salting to reduce, more or less slowly, to the necessary smallest 

 quantity, the percentage of moisture in the fresh cheese. But this 

 does not exhaust the means used in cheese manufacture by which it 

 is possible to control, to any desired extent, the most varied condi- 

 tions. It is possible to prevent from the very first the growth of a 

 large number of bacteria, and to direct the ripening into a particular 

 direction, by attempting to maintain the curd in a perfectly sweet 

 condition; or by imparting to it from the very first a sour reaction, 

 by the addition of sour liquids to the milk to be converted into 

 cheese; or by souring it after it has been put into the cheese-vat; 

 or by letting it ripen; or by saturating the curd mass before it is 

 put into the mould with liquids containing rapidly -developing 

 cultures of certain kinds of bacteria, as is done in the preparation of 

 certain kinds of Dutch cheese. 



In these processes, which up to the present time have been carried 

 out in practice by instinct, as it were, and wholly on the basis of ob- 

 servation and experience, it must always be felt that the success of all 

 the operations is connected with one indispensable qualification, viz. 

 the qualification of the very highest importance, that in cheese-making 

 it is necessary to start prepared to exercise in all the operations 

 constant care and attention. This qualification consists in conduct- 

 ing each operation, whatever it may be, in such a manner that the 

 entire mass of curd may become throughout of a perfectly similar 

 condition. The author has not failed in the foregoing pages, in 

 describing the individual processes of cheese manufacture, to empha- 

 size this fact. It has long been shown in practice that the equal 

 development of the ripening and successful results can never be 

 expected if the cheese mass be not perfectly uniform in quality 

 throughout. If this condition be neglected, the result will be 

 disastrous, especially in the case of the manufacture of large cheese, 

 of which only one or two separate cheeses are made at one time. 

 Whoever recognizes, perfectly or clearly, the great importance of 

 this qualification, has grasped to a certain extent the secret of 

 cheese manufacture, and has found the key to a proper understand- 

 ing of all its rules. If this idea be once fully realized, and if the 

 rules above described, which have been given for the manufacture 

 of cheese, be put to the test by accurately following them, it will be 

 found that they inevitably lead to satisfactory results. 



