2 BULLETIN 9'70, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



the ''cheese most esteemed at Rome.'' Marcorelle^ states that this 

 cheese was used by peasants of France in their ceremonial repasts 

 as long ago as 500 A. D. 



There are two other varieties of mold-ripened cheese which are 

 commercially important — the Gorgonzola, of Italy, and the Stilton, of 

 England. Before the war Gorgonzola sold on American markets 

 at practically the same price as Roquefort. Both Stilton and Gor- 

 gonzola are made from cows' milk. They are ripened with a mold 

 similar to, if not identical with, that of the Roquefort and are 

 skewered many times to allow air to gain access to the interior and 

 thereby increase the development of the needful mold. The Gor- 

 gonzola, like Roquefort, is ripened in caves at a low temperature 

 and is somewhat similar to Roquefort in flavor, texture, and com- 

 position, whereas the Stilton is a much drier cheese and is ripened 

 with little or no refrigeration. While these cheeses resemble Roque- 

 fort in many respects, Roquefort is generally acknowledged to be 

 the best of the three. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF IMPORTED ROQUEFORT. 



Almost the entire world's supply of Roquefort cheese comes from 

 Aveyron, in southern France. The cheese is made principally of 

 sheep's milk, although an admixture of cows' milk even there is 

 aclaiowledged. All the milk used for this cheese is produced and 

 made up into cheese within a radius of 50 miles of the small town of 

 Roquefort, to which it is sent to be cured in the caves. There, too, 

 are the headquarters of several firms that largely control the sale of 

 the world's supply of this cheese. Sheep have been bred for cen- 

 turies in the vicinity of Roquefort for making the cheese, and it is 

 not uncommon for one sheep during a six-months' period of lactation 

 to produce milk enough to make 35 or 45 pounds of cheese. In 

 1908 the milk from 450,000 of these sheep produced 19,845,000 

 pounds of cheese.^ It is doubtful whether such a milking strain of 

 sheep can be found in the United States, especially in sufficient 

 numbers to warrant the establishment of a similar industry in this 

 country. 



The caves in Roquefort are of a peculiar rock formation in which 

 there are caves and grottoes connected with one another and with 

 the outside by numerous channels. Through these moist channels 

 there is a vigorous circulation of air, causing a low temperature as a 

 result of rapid evaporation. The temperature and humidity of the 

 caves remain quite constant the year round, and these natural con- 



2 Art de faire le beurre et les meilleurs fromages. 1833. Anderson, J., and others. 



3 Lebrou, P., Les applications du froid en Aveyron a la preparation des fromages de Roquefort. Pp. 42i, 

 II. In 2d Internat. Cong. Refrig. Industries, Vienna, 1910. 



