Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1922-08-17
MANUFACTURING SWISS CHEESE IN
-. NORTH CAROLINA SUCCESSFULLY
Success Of Cheese at Cove Greek Factory Dead Certainty
"cmle Conditions Idsa says Government Expert. Work 10 Resumed on
Larger Scale. Great Future for watauga In OaIplg.
[By Jean Lea Clarke]

So SioAhSJ
are ideal for the manufacture of
Swiss cheese in the mountains
of North Carolina. An exception.
ally fine quality of milk is neces.
sary for the manufacture of the
queen, product of the dairy
realm. The abu ndant grass on
the .oam soil Of this section pro.
duces the highest possible grade
of milk. An unlimited supply is
grown on the magnificent noun.
tains rising tier on tier, covered
with verdant grasses. The cattle
can b. turned in pasture in Ap-
ril and remain till Christmas.
The heavy rainfall and the ab.
sence ofscorching health tenn.
perature is seldom over 85-
makes this forage supply of eco
nomic Importance. The nights
are always cool and on every
farm are found springs of al.
most fee cold running water for
keeping the milk cool, which
gives this section a signal advan-
tage over Wisconsin where t b e
farmers have only pumps andno
means of satisfactorily cooling
the milk. There during July and
August operations must be sus-
pended as a resultant of the heat,
here there has been no tempera-
ture high enough to prohibit the
successful manufacture of the
cheese. 1t is conceded that t h e
Swiss cheese is most sensitive to
climatic conditions, in fact it is
the most dairy product made. In
Wisconsin the altitude is 800 to
1000, in Boone it is 1888 feet.
Conclusively geographic condi-
tions here are very similar to
those of Switzerland, the home
of the cheese. With the great
mountain hinterland the indus.
try only needs the impetus Of in
terest and cooperation to devel,
op rapidly"
The industry is so entirely in
it's infancy here that presumably
the processes of manufacture
might be interesting. Fifteen
hundred pounds of milk are re-
quired to make one cheese, tho
the imported Swiss cheese usu-
ally contains two thousand pounds
Two curing rooms are necessa-
ry, one cold room at $50 fahren-
heit, a warm room at GO to 700.
The cheese must remain in the
cold room for period of fifteen
days, in the warm room from
from four to six weeks. Then
they are carried back to the cold
room for curing. Here they must
be Topped and washed every 9th
er day. The output is graded as
fancy, and numbers one and two
Fancy Is the superior cheese
sold on the market. Number one
is poorer quality, and number
two, known as nistlers, is still
more inferior. The last two nam
ed are used locally, only the fan
Icy being placed on the market
An interesting group. of stats
tics from Sugar Grove prove thl
. experiment a success financially
The factor y produced % chess
in December, January and Feb
ruary, and one cheese weel
, has been and will be produce'
weekly since then. The averag
weight of these cheese was 10
, pounds. Three thousand seven
r teen gallons of milk has bee
manufactured, out of which 2
, 1897 pounds of cheese have bee
/. made. The cheese Is an excellon
3 quality and has been sold for q
!. average Of Al cents q pound. Th
patrons have been paid 20 cent
3 = gallon for milk. Labor here