CHEDDAR CHEESE 293 



will cause gases to be developed in the curds so that by exam- 

 ining these, by smelling of them and cutting them with a sharp 

 knife, those having a bad flavor, or a spongy or in any way 

 abnormal texture may be easily detected, and thus traced to 

 the milk causing the trouble. 



By proceeding in the way described with the milk from 

 the different cows in a herd, the mixed milk of which produced 

 abnormal curds, the source of contamination in the herd may 

 be located. Very often the trouble will be found to come from 

 the cows drinking foul, stagnant water or from fermenting 

 matter in the stable. In the former case, the pond or marsh 

 must be fenced off, or the cows kept away from it in other 

 ways; in the latter, a thorough cleaning and disinfection of 

 the premises are required. If the milk of a single cow is the 

 source of contamination, it must be kept by itself until it is 

 again normal ; under such conditions the milk from the healthy 

 cows may, of course, safely be sent to the factory. 



If undesirable fermentations develop in the vat, it may be 

 desirable to make a curd test of the milk of each patron to 

 determine the source of the tainted milk. It should always 

 be kept in mind that the quality of the finished product is 

 dependent on the quality of the milk as it is received at the 

 factory,, 



RELATION BETWEEN THE COMPOSITION OF MILK AND THE YIELD 

 AND COMPOSITION OF CHEESE 



While the importance of good clean milk cannot be over- 

 estimated, its chemical composition is also of great importance 

 in relation to the yield and quality of the cheese. The amount 

 of fresh cheese which can be made from a given quantity of 

 milk will depend primarily on the percentage of solids in the 

 milk, the percentage of milk solids lost in the whey, and the 

 percentage of moisture which is retained in the curd. 



All of the milk solids are of some importance in the manu- 



