206 Milk and Its Products. 
have been made in this respect, so that the cost of 
the manufacture of the sugar is much lessened. The 
growth of the industry has been very rapid, result- 
ing in a much lower price for the product and a very 
much increased consumption. Formerly, almost the 
only use of milk sugar was medicinal. Now, be- 
cause of its digestibility, it forms an important in- 
gredient of many of the so-called infants’ and inva- 
lids’ foods. It is usually prepared in the form of a 
white crystalline powder, only mildly sweet to the 
taste. 
Dutch cheese (cottage cheese, schmierkase, pot cheese, 
etc.).— A toothsome and nutritious article of food is 
made from sour skimmed milk or buttermilk by al- 
lowing the casein to coagulate by the action of lactic 
acid already formed, and then expelling the water by 
the aid of heat. A considerable number of products 
locally distinet, and differing in the degree of dryness 
of the casein, are made in this way, the general pro- 
cess of manufacture being to take sour buttermilk, or 
skimmed milk which has coagulated, heating gently to 
from 85° to 125° F., aecording to circumstances, drain- 
ing off the whey through a cloth strainer, and then 
reducing the texture of the resulting curd by knead- 
ing with the hands or a pestle; salt is added, and 
the product is improved by the addition of a small 
amount of cream or butter, and occasionally by the 
use of some of the more common spices, as nutmeg, 
caraway, ete. It is largely made only for domestic 
consumption, but in most cities and villages, es- 
pecially during the summer months, there is a con- 
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