ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN^ ASSOCIATION. l7 
about thirty days. If we could adopt some plan by which we could stop 
making cheese while it is low and only make it when prices are remuner¬ 
ative, our object would be accomplished; or present some plan whereby 
butter and cheese could be kept from summer till fall and retain their flavor. 
The first plan would seem to be the most sure of success. Dairymen could 
easily arrange their dairies so as to stop in a measure making both butter 
and cheese during summer months and continue the balance of the year. 
The demand for cheese is usually greater from the first of May till Novem¬ 
ber, than during the winter, as the latter season the markets are well 
supplied with fresh meats and fruits which take the place of cheese. 
Butter is an almost indispensable article at any time of year. Yet by a 
partial change I think we would receive a great benefit. For instance, in 
certain sections where the dairies are large and the farmers have good warm 
stables, to let most of their cows come in about the first of September and run 
dry during July and August, they will have a much larger profit per can 
than to have them all come in in the spring, which is the general course. 
The spring in many respects is an unfavorable time, from the fact that most 
cows are poor in flesh. Hay may be short and grain scarce. Unless a good 
deal of care is used, cows will have their flow of milk permanently checked 
before grass grows sufficiently to give a proper amount of food to keep them 
in condition. If they come in in September, the flush of feed is past. Cow-s 
that are in good health will go through till spring with proper feed and care, 
and give a fine quantity of rich milk with very remunerative prices. Then 
cows are mostly dry during the busy season of harvesting, and are giving 
milk during the winter when help is cheap and farmers are generally most at 
leisure. 
The great difficulty in the w T ay of holding cheese for an advance in price, is 
that they get too strong, or what is called u sharp,” by being exposed too 
long to a v r arm atmosphere. Years ago, before cheese became such an 
important staple as it is now, customers liked a sharp cheese, and did 
not consider them fit to cut till they v r ere six months or one year old; but 
year after year the demand for that kind of cheese has grown less^ until at 
the present time you can hardly sell a sharp old cheese, except at a low 
price. A part-skimmed cheese, twenty to thirty days old, will flow generally 
sell for more money than a full cream cheese six months old. In fact it is a 
difficult matter to sell old cheese now that years ago would have been con¬ 
sidered just fit for the market. 
Various methods are adopted by cheese makers to have cheese so made 
that they will hold their flavor 'and not get too sharp. One method is to 
hold the curd longer in the whey, and develop what is called a greater degree 
of acidity, which will make a more solid cheese and one which it takes a 
longer time to cure, and will hold its flavor much better. A porous cheese 
will soon lose its flavor by exposure to a warm atmosphere. It is a well 
known fact among cheese makers that cheese will bear heat well, and in 
fact it is absolutely necessary for its curing to be kept in a temperature of 
