The record-union., 1893-03-27

winch currents of cold air are continually
passing. These air currents are con-
tIoileu by closing up some OF the pas
sdges, leaving openings that may be
cIoSed or shut as the wind outside may
! MAKE desirable. Some of the spaces are
arched over with masonry, but all are
profoundly dark, and the visitor sees
only the little glimmering lights flicker
ing IN the darkness as he passes the open
portal of one of the caves where the
women, dimly seen, are scraping the
mold from the cheeses or turning them
or molstening them, and in their curious
ways aiding the wonderful germs at
work to effect the slow changes in the
curd.
The temperature of the caves is kept at
W by the use of the ventilators, and the
moisture Is sustained at humidity OF
4S'. When the cheeses are brought to
the caves they weigh Is per cent. OF the
milk used.
They are now laid on the ground on
clean straw to be grad ually cooled down
10 the temperature of the cave. They
then go to the salting room, where they
are rubbed with salt on one face, which
Is turned to the ground; a second cheese
! is salted in the same way on one face and
laid onthe first; a third one is then salted
and laid on the second one. In this way
/ the cave is filed with cheeses. In twenty
other face and reversed and placed as be-
fore. This frequent reversing is to keep
certain quantity OF moisture in the
cheese and develop the growth Of the
special fungus which has been sown i'll
the curd. This is the common green
mold, pendulum glaucum. In forty
eight hours more the cheeses become
vlscous and are rubbed with 4 coarse
cloth and again piled as before. In two
days more the fungus has spread through
the cheese and appears on the outside as
a sticky, paSty matter. This is Scraped
oil with knives, with thin stratum OF
the crust, which is sold as an article OF
food.
The cheeses are now sorted, the most
solld being placed on the floor and the
! others on them in threes, as before. in
eight days they become covered with q
yellowlsh-red mold, and this with a forest
OF minute vegetation of white mildew
! This Is scraped Off and given to pigs In
twelve days more second scraping trac-
lage) Is given, the best cheeses making
The growth OF fungus the most quickly
They undergo this process frequently as
| the mold gathers, until the character of it
| changes, showing that the condition OF
the curd has changed. First, the red mold
tnat appears on cream in damp dairies,
and known by its circular spots of bright
rld, and then dense blue mold cover the
ShCCSCS anu duuOuuCG IDe cOIlDleLlOn OF
the curing. The cheeses are then finally
scraped, wiped, and wrapped in tinfoii,
which excludes the air, and are then
ready for the market.
As the curing proceeds, those cheeses
that Indicate superior quality by the ap-
pearance of the mold on them are kept
separate and held for later sale, when
the exquisite flavor so highly valued be-
comes developed, and these are sold al the
highest prices.
1hls whole process, intricate as it is
has been learned during no one knows
how many centuries, but at least twenty.
1t has been taught by father to son. or
nothef 10 Daughter, and by this long
practice perfection has been reached. But
with our present knowledge OF the
changes wrought by the action of these
minute plants on the heterogeneous matter
OF the curd, there will be no difficulty in
formulating method of making this
| cheese that will produce quality equal
to the original, If the means OF controlling
The curing by temperature and moisture
are provided.
| 1t will be noticed by the expert in
cheese-making that this variety owes its
character principally to the fact that the
| curing OF 1t depends upon the culture in
! cheese and not On 1t OF the fungi by which
the changes in the curd are produced. 1t
is IN fact, similar in this respect to the
equally rich and fine Stilton of England
which is inocuIated with the fungus by
inserting skewers dipped in prepara-
ton OF the mold or by placing in the curd
! fragments of the fungus as it is placed in
the mold. The actual inoculation pro-
duces much more effective operation
than the mere outside exposure to the
fungus germs that exist i'll the air, and
just as culture produces better effects in
other plants :desired for special quail
tles.-New York Times