LoMBARDY Cheese. 



65 



porarily neglected. Moreover, the trade connections which 

 have been obtained after considerable trouble and expense 

 are injured if supplies are irregular, to the detriment 

 primarily of the importers and ultimately to that of the 

 producers themselves. It also appears that the prices 

 obtained in the English market are generally as good, or 

 •even better, than those realised in the colonies. 



No bonus is now given by the South Australian Govern- 

 ment for butter exported, but the system of branding that 

 butter only which is considered suitable for export and 

 creditable to the colony is still continued. 



LoMBARDY Cheese. 



Rather severe regulations have lately been issued by the 

 authorities at Venice to prevent the adulteration of the chief 

 articles of consumption, but whether such regulations are of 

 difficult, application, or whether they are not rigorously enforced, 

 Mr. de Zanato, British Consul at that city, states that common 

 food and drink — especially milk, butter, cheese, liquors, and 

 wine— continue to be sold in a sophisticated condition. The 

 " Parmigiano," or Lombardy cheese, which formerly had a 

 great reputation, and was largely exported, is said not to enjoy 

 at present the same demand abroad as it did some years 

 ago, owing to some of the cheese-makers turning out low- 

 grade qualities. Some merchants, however, continue to 

 make excellent cheese, but owing to the competition of the 

 adulterated qualities the former cannot easily be procured, 

 as the various brands cannot be trusted, and the appearance 

 of the latter is so excellent as to make it difficult to dis- 

 tinguish them from the pure article. 



Cheshire cheese is now imported into Lombardy on a very 

 small scale, and an imitation cheese of similar make, but with 

 little consistency, and with a total absence of the aroma of 

 the original Cheshire, appears to be now made on the spot. 



{Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 1847. ij^.) 



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