PRACTICAL PAPERS—THE CHEESE PRODUCT. 
205 
makes were cleared off almost as soon as landed, which gives 
this season’s hot weather cheese that quick sale they so imper¬ 
atively required, preventing the usual accumulation of ill- 
flavored, badly-keeping stocks that in former years have been 
hanging over the market for months. As soon as the English 
dealers had a taste of your August and September make— 
cheese that could be handled, if needful keld^ with perfect 
safety—they bought freely, and prices advanced instead of de¬ 
clining, as usual in September. It scarcely falls within my 
province to speak of the home cheese trade, as there are so 
many here who can do so with much greater authority than I 
can; but I think that it will be generally conceded that the 
consumption of cheese in this country is steadily increasing, 
and in the south very largely so. Indeed, the smart rise of 
price in October was mainly caused by the unusually active 
domestic demand, for the heavy decline in gold, at that time, 
put a serious check on the operations of shippers. This activ¬ 
ity of the home trade slackened very considerably during the 
month of November, and the price of cheese has since dropped 
in sympathy with the rapid fall in the premium of gold. In 
the English markets during the months of November and De¬ 
cember prices gave way slightly on medium sorts of American 
cheese, but the rate for really choice quality has been steadily 
maintained, the stock being light and very firmly held. Ship¬ 
ments during these two months were moderate, for the reason 
that the decline in gold was heavier than the decline in cheese, 
so that the sterling cost of the latter was enhanced in spite of 
the dull market on both sides of the Atlantic. 
THE SEASON IN ENGLAND. 
We shall take a survey of the passing English cheese season, 
for the position occupied by your chief and indeed only com¬ 
petitors, the English dairymen, cannot be a matter of indiffer¬ 
ence to you. An unusually mild and wet winter was followed 
by an early spring. In Somersetshire, and other southern 
counties, the cows were turned out a month earlier than usual ; 
but scarcely were they on the grass when the weather changed. 
