St. Landry democrat., 1888-06-23

When butter and cheese were bctE
made in falm-houses the latter recelvsd
much attention. Cheese was a COM
mon article of food among faymers and
laboring people in town and country.
1t was on the table every day and at al
most every meal. 1t was carried to*the
field or shop as part of the luncheon.
Sailors, miners and lumbermen were
supplied with cheese, though not with
butter. In many families it was
largely used in place of meat. Skillful
Housewives made many kinds of cheese.
Sage cheese was as common as it is
now rare. Cream cheese was an
everyday luxury in the houses of we'll
to-do farmers. Cheese was used both
as an article of food and as a condi.
ment or appetizer, 1t contributed
much to good living. 1t was handy
sort of food to have about the house.
1t required no cooking. A hungry
person could satisfy his appetite with
piece of bread and cheese. 1t was a
blessing to farmers who could not OBJ
tain fresh meat during warm weather.
The introduction of the commercial
cheese factory put an end to cheese
making in farm-houses and removed
cheese from the list of common arti.
cles of food in the country. With rare
exceptions the factory manager made
cheese that was adapted to the mar.
kets of Great Britain. They were OF
very large size, quite too lasge for an
ordinary family to buy; when cut too
much surface was exposed to the in.
fuence of the atmosphere. The small
grocer found that his waste in retail
ing cheese was very large and to make
up his loss he raised the price on what
he sold. The increase in price reduced
his sales, and many grocers stopped
handling it. At present the difference
between the wholesale and the retail
price of cheese is greater than in al
most any article of food in this coun-
try. AS consequence of this state Of
things most persons have stopped eat
ing cheese. If they buy it at all it is
to use as condiment. But generally
they find that pickles, jellies and
canned or smoked fish are cheaper,
and they buy them instead OF cheese.
Sardines, anchovies, smoked herrings
and canned salmon are used as substl-
tutes for cheese by many persons.
The frauds practiced in making
cheese have also diminished its con-
sumption. A very large proportion of
the cheese put on the market during
the past few years in boxes marked
..full cream is entirely innocent Of
cream. 1t is made of separated milk,
whose cream was used for making
'.gilt-edged'' butter. The curd made
fom this milk when pressed into
cheese would be very hard and nearly
destitute of agreeable flavor. 1t would
also be wanting in color. Extract OF
annetta is accordingly used to color it
and cotton-seed oil, lard, oleomar-
garine or other vegetable or animal
fats are added to take the place of the
cream that has been removed. These
initiative ''full-cream cheese may de-
ceive the eye, but they do not deceive
the tongue. Few customers buy them
the second time. The short-sighted
policy of cheese-makers has had much
to do in decreasing the consumption
of a most desirable article of food.
Many of them now see their folly, but
they do not see how they can regain
public confidence or recover the trade
they have lost. People who have
learned to do without cheese must
now be educated to eat Chicago
Times.