1 Maz., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 187 
BACTERIAL FERMENTATION, 
Unlike a mould plant, a bacterium cannot be seen with the naked eye, and 
because of this a purely practical man feels himself more or less “at sea”? in 
trying to realise that there is existing in his cheese such an invisible controlling 
ower. A bacterium is infinitely small, and, though present in myriads in the 
products of the dairy and elsewhere, can only be seen by the aid of a powerful 
microscope. When enlarged in appearance by the agency of such an instru- 
ment they are shown as tiny rods and dots, in some cases existing singly, and 
in others united together in chains and masses. By their life and growth, and 
the help of certain fermenting substances generated by them (enzymes), they 
so change the nature of the cheese constituents, in their relation as a whole, 
as to result in the development of certain characteristics which we recognise as 
ripeness in a cheese. 
Cheese bacteria, instead of gaining access to the curd, are generally sup- 
posed to have been present in the milk before renneting, and accompany the 
curd from cheese-tub to vat. In some varieties of cheese, as before mentioned, 
they complete and further the work of the fungus organisms, but in most 
classes of hard-pressed cheese they have the field almost wholly to themselves, 
and, after the gradual absorption or removal of the excess of lactic acid in the 
cheese, the work of these bacteria is practically unhindered. 
INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE, 
Jt is becoming the general custom among our Cheddar makers to produce a 
quick-ripening cheese, due care being taken in the manufacture to ensure a 
high-quality cheese, so that a remunerative price and a quick return of the 
capital invested shall coincide. This is certainly a very business-like way of 
doing things, and one {eels that it is a pity there is not a greater inducement to 
rely on the later ripening cheese, for even in the show-room the judges seem to 
favour the former type. - 
the higher the temperature in the cheese-room the faster will a cheese 
mature and become fit for market. If, however, the room is kept very warm 
the cheese is very apt to contract a strong “tasty” flavour, and to be of 
inferior value in consequence. Cheese ripened at lower temperatures are 
milder in flavour, and possess an immense superiority in the fact that they 
keep at their highest market value for a much longer time than the quickly 
ripened article. As a safe limit never, if it can be helped, allow the tempera- 
ture of the cheese-room to rise above 60 degrees Fahr., and if you think it to 
your best interests to make a quick-ripening cheese, depend more on your 
process of manufacture to attain this end rather than toa high temperature in 
the cheese-room. 
It may be as well to notice that in the event of the cheese-room containing 
two chambers, one of which is warmer than the other (which might easily be 
the case when artificial means of raising the temperature are resorted to), 
the cheese new from the press should be placed in the warmer compartment 
for the first few days until the “jacket” or rind is fairly formed; then trans- 
ferred to the cooler room, and eventually brought back to the first chamber to 
“¢ finish off.” 
It is hardly necessary to name a minimum temperature for the cheese- 
room, as it is very unlikely to be too low. Cheese cured at a temperature as 
low as 45 degrees Wahr. to 50 degrees Fahr. ripen in the end quite as com- 
pletely as cheese cured at higher temperatures; but the main point to be 
considered next to keeping below the maximum limit is to keep the temperature 
as steady as possible. A fluctuation limit of 10 degrees Fahy. is all that is to 
be desired, and a safe limit into the bargain.—dgricultural Gazette. 
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