114 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Frz., 1899. 
The factory system seems to be well established, however, and probably 
the majority of farmers would find it the most economical method of utilising 
their milk if a factory building was situated near enough to their farms. The 
farms in Holland are notoriously small—40, 50, or 60 acres being perhaps the 
average size. Frequently the amount of milk at the disposal of one farmer is 
only sufficient to make four or five cheeses a day; in such cases it would 
obviously be advantageous to send the milk to afactory. Indeed, many farmers, 
we were told, stop making cheese at home in the winter when the milk supply 
is reduced, preferring to send what milk they have to the nearest factory. 
Last October we visited a cheese factory at Middle Beemster, about eight 
miles north-west of Edam, arriving early enough in the morning (between 5 
and 6 o’clock) to see the milk being brought in by the farmers. It is carried 
in butts or barrels, two or more being placed on the long, low carts so common 
in the country, and hauled by dogs, or less frequently by horses or men. 
The milk is sold by weight, the average of all-the-year-round contract 
price being four cents (five cents =a penny) the kilo (= 2°2 Ib.). 
After it is weighed each lot of milk is poured into a large receiving vat 
through a sieve, resting upon a cloth supported within a wooden frame that 
rests upon the side of the tank. The sides of the vat are hollow, to allow the 
admission of steam for heating purposes. ‘The outer case is made of wood, 
and the inner of tin. When the vat is full enough, the steam is turned on, 
and the milk, with frequent stirring, is raised to a temperature of 84 degrees to 
86 degrees ah. Then colouring matter, rennet (and sometimes also a little 
saltpetre), are added to the milk, and thoroughly mixed. 
In about half-an-hour the curd is ready to cut. This operation is performed 
with the greatest of care, so as to prevent as far as possible the loss of fat. 
When the curd is cut as fine as required, the operator keeps agitating the whole 
mass with his cheese-knife—moving it gently backwards and forwards until it 
is time to draw off the whey. Judging from the extreme caution and deliberate 
slowness with which the operation is performed, the process of removing the 
whey from the curd must be a very important and critical one. After the 
bulk of the curd-free whey is run off, the curd is drawn to one side or end of 
the vat by means of shallow wooden bowls, and pressed with apparent care, so 
as to exert a particular and discreetly regulated pressure upon the mass of curd. 
A certain quantity of whey runs out, and this is immediately removed by the 
use of the bowl. The operation is repeated many times, and the exuded whey 
always bailed out as often as there is a sufficient quantity collected. 
The next operation is that of moulding the curd into the characteristic 
shape of the Edam cheese. The complete mould is a divided hollow sphere, 
forming two hemispherical cups, with several holes at the bottom for the escape 
of the whey. A half mould is taken, and the operator with her (or his) hands 
gathers up a mass of curd and rams it into the mould, squeezing it down and 
heaping it up high enough to fill the corresponding other half of the mould. 
After fashioning with the hands by repeated squeezings, the mass is allowed to 
stand for a few minutes, then the filled mould is taken up in the right hand 
and the curd adroitly tumbled out into the left hand, the empty mould rapidly 
whisked through hot water, and the curd replaced. It is then laid aside until 
the batch is completed. When they have been all treated in this way they are 
all gone over again, taken out of the mould, weighed to an approximate weight 
(adding to or taking away from the curd according to circumstances), then 
wrapped in a damp cloth, replaced in the mould, covered with the duplicate 
half mould, and sent to the press. 
The time they remain in press depends apparently upon the time of year 
and what the intended journey of the cheese is to be. In the present case we 
were told that they would be kept under pressure for six or seven hours. In 
winter they are taken out sooner, while those intended for export to India are 
kept in longer. When taken from press the cloth is removed and the cheese 
placed in a shallow mould, and put with others in a wooden box. On each 
cheese: some salt is sprinkled over the upper exposed surface; the second day 
