284 Milk and Its Products 
and an aromatic odor. The curd also shrinks slightly 
‘so that the hoop slips from it easily. The cheeses 
are then ready for the coating process. The hoops 
are removed entirely and the cheese taken into 
another room, where the temperature is maintained 
at from 55° to 60° F., and the air is kept nearly 
saturated with moisture. The cheeses are scraped 
with a dull knife, the cracks being filled up with 
the material scraped from the more prominent places. 
After the scraping, a bandage is pinned firmly to 
the cheese. The scraping is continued from day 
to day for two or three days, clean bandages being 
put on each time until the coat begins to appear. 
This is seen in the formation of a white mold, and 
also in the appearance of dry patches upon the ban- 
dage. The bandages are now removed from the 
cheese, and it remains in the coating-room for about 
two weeks, being turned every day, and resting on 
a board covered with cloth. When the coat has 
fully formed, the surface of the cheese is a light 
drab, of a wrinkled appearance, and is then ready 
for the curing-room. The curing-room is kept at 
the same or a little higher temperature than the 
coating-room, and the atmosphere may be somewhat 
drier, though care must be taken that it is not too 
dry. Curing goes on slowly for two or three 
months, after which the cheese may be removed to 
a cool cellar and will continue to improve for some 
time longer. During the curing process the mold 
begins to grow in the interior of the cheese, and 
when fully ripe the cheese should be evenly mottled 
