12 
BULLETIN 970. V. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
ous high temperature for draining favors rapid development of the 
Oidium lactls and other destructive microorganisms. Excessive 
losses as well as an impaired quality of the cheese result from an 
overdevelopment of these forms of life. An air too dry causes the 
surface of the cheese to become yellow, hard, and dry. This condition 
is undesirable because the cheese fails later to absorb the salt properly 
and great losses are likely to occur in the scraping process. This con- 
dition is more likely to arise when there are only a few rather than a 
large number of cheeses in the drain room. THien this room is filled 
with cheese, continuous ventilation seems desirable in checking 
somewhat the des- 
tructive action of 
Oidium lactis. Fif- 
teen or twenty min- 
utes after the forms 
are filled they should 
be turned. In turn- 
ing, one hand raises 
the cheese from the 
surface of the mat 
while the other hand 
is slipped beneath the 
cheese and both the 
form and cheese are 
quickly reversed. 
The cheeses should be 
turned several times 
dining the first day 
and twice a day there- 
after until ready for 
salting. The object 
of the repeated turning is to hasten drainage and to insure an even, 
smooth surface. 
Forms are allowed to remain on the cheese for the first two days 
and then are removed and washed. The French practice calls for 
washing: both the cheese and forms night and morning, using cold 
water in summer and warm water in winter. In the work at Grove 
City the cheese and boards are washed only in the morning. The mats 
are removed the day after the cheese is made and thereafter the 
cheese rests directly on the boards. The cheeses are allowed to 
drain for four or five clays, until little whey escapes from day to day. 
Much of the success in making this cheese depends upon having the 
cheese dry enough before the salting period. 
Fig-. 3. — Turning the cheese during the draining period. 
