THE CAMEMBERT TYPE OF SOFT CHEESE. 69 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
Although the results of these three lines of work are still in- 
complete, some conclusions have thus been reached which bear 
directly upon the practical problems. These conclusions have 
been put to the test of constant use since the establishment of 
our ripening cellar, and have brought a much better understand- 
ing of the problems involved than was before available. 
It has been conclusively shown that the making of Camem- 
bert cheese is not dependent upon unique conditions obtainable 
only in very restricted localities, but rather upon securing the 
proper cultures and conditions which are possible almost any- 
where. Cheeses made at this station have been compared with 
the best imported goods obtainable in America and pronounced 
practically identical, not only by members of the force, but by 
importers and connoisseurs who have eaten this type abroad. 
These cheeses are in no way inferior in texture or flavor to the 
best market article. They have been ripened by inoculation 
with pure cultures and have been watched constantly and tested 
by the bacteriologists, the chemist, and the mycologist at every 
stage of their ripening. The element of chance is thus ex- 
cluded from the result. The organic agents involved are known. 
The difficulties encountered in the attempts to establish this 
brand of cheese making in the past have, therefore, been due 
to insufficient knowledge of the molds and bacteria involved in 
the process, rather than to failure in obtaining any peculiar 
conditions or the proper milk. 
Our practical work also proves that it will be possible to con- 
trol the ripening to such an extent as to produce a more unt- 
form product. It has been the practice of the makers in the 
past to provide suitable conditions and then, as one has put it, 
let ‘‘nature do the ripening.’’ Asa consequence of this ‘‘ hit 
or miss’’ way of doing things, some cheeses are inoculated with 
the proper cultures from the first, some bear one organism and 
not the other necessary; while wrong species of bacteria and 
mold very commonly grow in or upon the cheeses, so that the 
final results are very uncertain. This accounts ina large meas- 
ure for the variation in appearance, texture and flavor of such 
cheeses, and is apparently responsible for the differences between 
the imported and the American made types. It became evi- 
dent very early that uniformity depends upon the controlling 
