The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-19

,rched over with masonry. but all are pro-
ioundly dark, and the visitor sees only the
littie glimmering lights Pickering in the
darkness as he passes the open
portal OF one Of the caves where the
women. dinly seen, are scraping the
mold from the che SEES or turning them or
molstentng them. and in their curious ways
aiding the wonderful germs at work to
enect the slow changes in the curd.
The temperature of the caves is kept at
TO- by the use of the ventilatorf, aud the
moisture is sustained at humidity of As.
When the cheeses are brought into the
caves they weigh IS per cent. of the milk
used.
They are now laid on the ground on clean
straw to be gradually cooled down to the
temperature Of the cave. They then go to
the sailing 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 on the first /;
third one is then sailed and laid on tbs
second one. In This way the cave is filed
with obeeses. In twenty-four hours the
cheeses are sailed on the other face and re.
versed and placed as before. This frequent
reversing is to keep a certain quantity of
the moisture In the cheese and develop the
growth Of the special fungus which has
been sown in the curd. This Ia the COM
mon green mold. Pendulum gLuucunl. Ia
forty eight hours more the cheeses become
viscous and are rubbed with a 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 off
with knives, with a thin stratum of the
crust, which is sold as an article OF food
The cheeses are now sorted, the most solid
being placed on the floor and the others on
them In threes. as before. In eight days
they become covered with a yellowish-red
mold, and this with forest of minute veg
citation of white mildew. This is scraped
OFF and given ~ pigs. In twelve days
more second scraping tractage) is given,
the best cheeses making the growth of
fungus most quickly. They undergo this
process frequently as The mold gathers, I'm
til the character Of it changes, showing
that the condition of the curd has changed.
First, the red mold that appears on cream
IN damp diaries, and known by Its circular
spots OF bright red. and then a dense blue
mold cover the cheesss aud announce the
completion OF the curing. The cheeses are
then finally scraped, wiped and wrapped in
tlnfoil, which excludes the air, and are then
ready for market
As the curing proceeds those chessos that
indicate superior quality by the appearance
OF the mold on them are kept separate and
held for later sale, when the exquisite favor
so highly valued becomes developed, and
these are sold at the highest prices.
This whole process, Intricate as it is, has
been learned during no one knows how
many centuries. but at least twenty. It has
been taught by father to son or mother, end
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 diff
Guilty In formulating methods 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 il
depends upon the Gu ture In the cheese and
not on it 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 inocu-
lated with the fungus by inserting skewers
dipped In preparation of the mold or by
placing in the curd fragments OF the fungus
as It is placed in the mold. The actual in
oculation produces a much more effective
operation than the mere outside exposure to
the fungus germs that exist in the air, and
just as culture produces better effects in
other plants desir ed for special Qualities.