British Dairy Farming. 
165 
window, situated at opposite ends of the apartment. The sun, 
like the frost, is rigidly excluded. It is hardly possible to 
convey an impression of the perfection of the Italian Gorgon- 
zola cellar, especially of those belonging to the large factors. 
Signor Pessina, one of the principal factors and curers near 
Milan, very kindly showed and explained to me the details ot 
the extraordinary building which he has erected for ripening 
Gorgonzola and Parmesan at all seasons of the year. He has the 
temperature, as well as the light and air, entirely under control, 
and upon one of the hottest days in summer I found that his 
cellar, large as it is, was maintained at 55 degrees. The cheeses 
are placed upon shelves upon rye-straw, some 6 to 8 inches apart, 
to give them plenty of air. They can be ripened rapidly, or the 
ripening process can be delayed by a change of temperature, and 
a factor provided with proper cellarage, and able to control his 
temperature, stands in a most favourable position, being almost 
able to supply the market at will. In the ordinary way the 
cheese takes from four to five months to cure, but it may take 
twelve months, and then be absolutely perfect, or if necessary, 
it can be ripened in half the time by the assistance of holes 
bored in the sides. As the cheese commences to ripen, it is first 
covered with a fine fungus of a dark colour. This is then 
covered with a white fungoid growth, and subsequently with a 
red, and the more perfect the last is, the better is the cheese 
estimated. Makers generally attempt to imitate the red fungus 
by colouring the surface of their cheeses with brick-dust. Thev 
subsequently roll them in flour, giving the cheese the appear- 
ance ot having been covered with a red fungus, which has been 
subsequently crushed by handling. I was remarkably struck 
with the fact that, although the Gorgonzola cheeses eaten in 
England are firm in texture, they are in Italy extremely soft, 
the piite, or flesh of the cheese, more closely resembling the 
ordinary cream-cheese. I was informed that the English prefer a 
cheese of this kind ; but it can only be the assumption of the 
Italian factors, who are guided by the kinds of cheese we make 
in England, for there is no comparison between the well-made 
soft Gorgonzola, such as can be found only in the real cheese- 
making district, and the cheese which is commonly found in 
England, admirable as that may be. Another point of importance 
worthy of observation is the undoubted fact that the conversion 
of the raw curd into the peculiar agreeable to which reference 
has been made, is entirely owing to the fungus by which it is sur- 
rounded. If an expert, or any person of ordinary intelligence, 
will make a series of observations upon some cheeses of this 
make at different periods of their ripening, he will perceive 
beyond doubt that the perfection of the pate is just in proportion 
