Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-06
What Shall be Done to Save Our Cheese
Industry from Ruini

The only salvation for the cheese industry
Of this country is to abandon the manufac.
ture Of every quality except full cream
cheese, which is the only kind entitled to the
designation cheese. So-called cheese is made
of every gradatiou Of quality from the poor
est skinned milk article to the richest full
cream cheese, and sells in the market, to-day,
from say two to thirteen and one.half cents
a pound. If the milk is entirely skinned,
the poorest product is the result. This
quality, so far this season, is proving an ex-
ceedngly Improbable manufacture, as it
costs to make and sell it at least three cents
pound, and therefore at present prices nets
loss OF one cent pound. The next quality
above contains say five per cent of cream,
and being made Of good texture and properly
colored, brings q relatively higher price
and so on for all the gradations of quality,
until when the cheese is made with a mix
ture Of morning milk skinned and evening
milk unskmmod, in equal quantities. an ar.
ticle may be produced by proper care and
surface polishing with butter that will pass
very we'll with those who are not experts for
full cream cheese, and sell very close up
IN price TO it. Then comes in the oleomar-
garine cheese, in which, as we stated last
week, the cream is all taken off aud the oil
called oleomargarine, from the fresh fat of
the caul Of an OK is substituted in equal
weight for the cream. This produces an ar
ticle which, in many respects, so closely re-
sembles the full cream cheese as TO be readily
sold for it. A SKINNED milk cheese may be
easily told by its lack of favor its insipidty
to the taste, and the absence Of any oil when
rubbed between the finger and thumb. These
characteristics become less noticeable as the
quality is improved. In the case of oleo-
margarine cheese, while the flavor aud taste
may be very closely assimilated to the full
cream product, it shows the presence Of the
beef fat or cotton seed oil very readily. Such
oils do not seem to be very brave in this
situation, for with the least pressure they run.
They exhibit the same quality also, but in a
higher degree, ia oleomargarine butter.
Last year skinned milk cheese sold very
well up to the best grades. This year they
can hardly be sold at all, and, if sold, at no
profit to the maker, who would have done a
great deal better by feeding his skinned
milk to his pigs and calves. This article
may then bo considered as having almost
| killed itself. 1t is wanted neither at home
nor abroad, and no receiver in this city cares
to be bothered with it. One reason Of this
is that the article is too poor to deceive any
body, which does not hold good, however, fol
the better grades Of partially skinned mill
0 and oleomargarne cheese. Another reason
and one which, to considerable extent, viii
apply to all inferior grades and which will
help towads correction OF the difficulty, !
that the lower the price of the best quRlit.
!, cheese the less profit there is in making sub
!, stitutes, and the opening prices for full cream
4 cheese this season are indicative Of a lowe
. range Of value for this product.
There is, however another feature in ihi
= case. 1t is well understood in commercial
Il as well as in dairy circles that the wor
d factory applies to full cream cheese made ]
factories established for that purpose an
that the word creamery applies to the differ
% ent grades Of skinned milk cheese made b
le butter manufacturers. This distinction
a. not observed by many of the manufacturer
Of the skinned milk cheese, who put the wor
= factory on their boxes, unquestiOnably fl
the purpose OF misleading somebody as
oil the quality of the product. The manuia
a turers Of the cleomargarine cheese also Vi