156 
British Dairy Farming. 
the yellow crust of the cheese is more extensively seen. The 
cheese-making public are often unable to understand why a 
soft cheese which contains so large a quantity of whey does not 
become sour and decomposed, and statements have been con- 
tinually made, without any warrant whatever, that soft cheeses 
will not keep, whereas it is well known by those who make and 
sell them that they will keep quite as well as cheese of any other 
description. According to ]M. Duclaux, whose experiments 
in this direction are well worthy of study, the various fungi are 
responsible for the generation of carbonate of ammonia, which 
neutralizes the acid which forms in the cheese from the sugar 
it contains, and this same fungus, probably acting in a similar 
manner to the rennet organisms, which by a process of digestion 
convert raw curd into cheese, transforms the soft unpressed 
curd of the Brie and its kindred varieties into an unctuous 
creamy substance, which is so opposite in consistence to the 
new curd from which it is made, and which it is the chief aim 
of the French maker to produce. A Brie of high quality is 
at its best in about six weeks ; but if made from skim-milk 
it may be eaten at ten days as new cheese, the fuller flavour 
of the ripened or faqon Brie being, as is the case with most 
skim-milk cheeses when refined, somewhat too strong for most 
consumers. 
With regard to the feeding of the cattle for French cheese- 
making, I have observed that the use of grains causes a fermen- 
tation in the curd which entirely spoils the character of the 
cheese, and French makers themselves are exceedingly shy not 
only of grains, but of distillery refuse and fermented foods of all 
kinds. What says M. Decauville ? " What is that which spoils 
the flavour of our cheeses ? It is the pulp which is thrown upon 
us by the sugar refineries existing in such numbers in our 
country. The farmer grows his beet ; he sells it to the sugar- 
maker, and instead of giving it to his sheep, it reaches his cows 
in the form of refuse or pulp, and what does he obtain ? — a Brie 
of detestable flavour. In theory, it is necessary to avoid all fer- 
mented foods in order to succeed in mahitiy good cheese." The 
foods most used by the Brie farmers are lucerne — both green 
and in the form of hay — peas, carrots, potatoes and bran, most 
of which form the principal items in the winter ration ; but 
barley-meal, although not recognized as a cow-food in England, 
is especially obnoxious to the French cheese-maker. There are 
many things to avoid in making Brie, and a maker should rather 
depend upon his knowledge of the work, which must be based 
upon the actual principles of manufacture rather than upon rule 
of thumb. The curd may be set at from 82 to 86 degrees in the 
case of new milk, and 77 degrees in the case of skim-milk ; but 
