Testimony of Cheesemakers.

I have frequently expressed the opinion, and have sometimes been adversely criticised for so doing, that better cheese is made upon the farm than in the factory, and that it is extremely difficult, if not! sometimes impossible, to make cheese in the factory equal to that! which has been and can be produced by some of our best farm makers. This opinion is based upon frequent examinations of the! respective cheeses during the past few years, upon the prices which! they respectively obtain, upon the positions they hold in competitions at dairy-shows, and upon the very decidedly-expressed opinions of practical makers themselves. In order, however, to give greater point to this question, and at the same time to obtain other items of information from a number of our very best makers which cannot fail to prove of value to the cheese-makers of New Zealand, I addressed letters to a number of gentlemen, with some of whom I am acquainted, asking them to give their opinion as to the relative prices for factory-and farm-made cheese respectively, together with the! prices realised, and the quantity made per cow.

Mr. Henry Hole, of Crewkerne, Somerset, a very large maker of Cheddar of first-rate quality, says that he does not think therein always that patience and painstaking in a factory that is found exercised in the manufacture of cheese on the farm. He adds, "I J think that sometimes the curd may be too much hurried in putting into the vat, not allowing sufficient time for curing, although much depends upon the weather. I speak generally, as I readily admit that there is very good cheese made in factories, but prizes usually I go to private makers. There is another matter which to my mind is likely to affect large factories—that is, where so many dairies supply the milk—of the utensils not being always properly cleaned; page 53 and, as I know you are well aware, having heard you in your addresses strongly urge the importance of attending to this matter, any neglect in not being very strict would prevent good results. I have made about 30 tons of Cheddar this season, but have made 8s. per hundredweight less than last year. I think the yield would be about 3½cwt. per cow—that is, for the milk for the six months from 1st April to 30th September—for I sell the milk and rear calves during the remaining months. Our cows begin to calve in January, and we try to have them all in by the 1st May, so as to be in full swing when the grass comes."

Mr. John Thorburn, of Stranraer, N.B., a well-known Scotch maker, says that "home-made cheese of good quality should, in my opinion, bring a better price than factory-cheese. For some years I sold my cheese at £3 10s. to £3 13s. per hundredweight, but prices have been lower, owing to dulness of trade. This year, for example, I have had to take as low as £3 per 112lb. Farmers here who have their dairies set get 20 stones of cheese per cow, and 16 stones per quey (heifer). (It should be observed that in Scotland small cows, Kelly of the Aryshire breed, are kept, hence the smaller yield.) Sometimes we manage to obtain 22 and 18 stones respectively."

Mr. Alexander Craig, of Stranraer, says, "I think you are correct in believing that the best farm-made cheese is better, and commands higher prices, than factory-cheese. It is difficult to say how much obtain per 1121b., as the price varies so much. Last season the highest price we were able to make was £3; in the previous year we ¡made up to £3 6s.: in each season we obtained lower prices for the early-made cheeses. At one time we obtained as high as £3 18s. per 112lb."

"We got this year from £3 to £3 5s. per hundredweight for oar grass-cheese, and £2 12s. for our spring make.

"1886, price £2 17s. to £2 18s., grass-cheese.

1885, price £2 19s., grass-cheese.

1884, price £3 4s. to £3 8s., grass-cheese.

1883, sold to creamery at 7d. per gallon.

1882, price £3 to £3 7s.

"A good many farmers in this neighbourhood let their cows to; bowers, who pay their rent in kind: the usual bargain is, for that bower to give 480lb. of ripe cheese for each cow and 384lb. for each heifer, the food given by the "farmer being 7 tons of turnips and swedes to each cow for autumn and winter food, with 140lb. bean meal and the straw of the farm (oat and wheat) for fodder, with from an acre and a quarter to two acres of grass for summer, the bower supplying rennet, colouring, salt, &c., the farmer furnishing all the necessary utensils and milkers, but the latter are paid by the bower."

Mr. D., a large maker of high-class cheese in Cheshire, says: "My average price for 1881, 1882, 1883, would be about £3 12s. per hundred! weight of 120lb., delivered on rail or canal. In 1884 it was £3 15s. The following years prices were on the decline, and last year my average would be about £3 3s. 6d. I have sold my milk during the winter months since 1883. Last year (1888) we made our first cheese on the 2nd April and the last on the 28th October. Our average weight per cow, from fifty-four cows and heifers, some of which had been in milk from the preceding November, would be from 3½cwt. to 3¾cwt. We prefer 'early ripening,' as we do not have to keep the cheeses for six, or in some instances twelve, months before then attain maturity, to enable them to command a high price. For example, as I have stated, our first cheese was made on the 2nd April, and we sent out ten cheeses on the 30th April. I quite agree with you that better cheese can be made by farmers' wives at home than at a factory, especially where there is every convenience upon the farm. I should prefer that my name is not published, but you are at liberty to refer any one to me privately."

Mr. M., another Cheshire farmer, who also prefers that his name is not used, says that "the cheese which I sold last year averaged about £3 6s. 8d. per 120lb. I have (21st January) eighty cheeses still to sell, and they will make more money. The weight, as nearly as I can tell, will average 4¾cwt. of 120lb. per cow. The cheese of 1887 averaged nearly 5cwt. per cow, and a little over 70s. per 120lb. That was the largest yield I ever made. It depends a page 55 great deal upon whether the cows carry their calves for making the large weights of cheese, and also how they are kept, and whether the land is well managed. There are plenty of farmers who do not make more than from 3cwt. to 4cwt. per cow. I have a neighbour who keeps sixty cows and makes an average of 5cwt. per cow."

This is an astonishing yield, but in travelling through the country some years ago with the object of preparing a report upon dairy-farming in Cheshire for the Manchester Guardian, I was enabled to see a large number of the best dairies, and I found that those makers who obtain very high returns per cow were the men who were the most liberal feeders, using cake very largely, and supplying plenty of bone-manure upon their grass.

Mr. H., aprize-taker of Wincanton, Somerset, says that "in home dairies the makers of Cheddar realise upon the average about £3 10s. per 112lb. I can never believe that any factory can make : a good cheese as can be made in the home dairy, and for several reasons, which I give as the result of my experience. First, people I who sell their milk are not so particular in milking and in keeping their dairy-utensils clean; second, I believe that the milk is injured in being carried to the factory, which must be a mile or two at least. As regards the quantity I make per cow, I do not keep a strict account, but I believe that they average about 4½cwt. each."

Mr. C., another well-known prize-taking Cheddar-maker, says "You are at liberty to mention my name, but not to publish it. I think you are quite correct in your supposition that home-made cheese realises higher prices than factory-cheese. I know of no factory-cheese which is sold at so high a price as mine. I have sold five tons at £4, and the remainder at £3 12s., per 112lb."

Mr. Mulock, of Malpas, Cheshire, says, "I should say that cheese of the same quality would make the same price, no matter whether it is made at the factory or at home; but, not having had any experience of the factory, I cannot positively say. My cheese for the last three years has averaged a little more, and we make about 4cwt. per cow. The cows are fed with decorticated cotton-cake and 'thirds,' about 4lb. of the mixture being given daily." I presume Mr. Mulock means that this artificial food is given when the cows are upon the pasture, a plan not generally adopted, as it ought to be if a large yield is expected.

Mr. D., one of the best makers in the County of Cheshire, says, "You are quite correct in believing that home-made cheese of the best quality realises a much better price than factory-cheese of the finest quality. The prices I have realised during the past year or two are from £3 5s. to £3 10s. per hundredweight of 120lb. Some-times I make considerably more. The last lot I sold in December at £3 15s., and a previous lot in October at £3 12s. My average per cow would be about 3¾cwt. to 4cwt. In the year 1886 I made 4¼cwt. per cow, which was the largest yield I ever obtained."

Mr. A. Reynolds, who owns a cheese-factory near Blandford, page 56 sends some useful information. This gentleman took the £20 prize during the past autumn for old cheese at the Fro me Show, where many of the best cheesemakers generally compete. The factory has been in existence for four years. In 1887 a first prize was obtained at the Royal Agricultural Show, and a fourth prize at Frome in a class of ninety-six competitors, together with a first for "truckles"! and a second for old cheese. The factory was formerly a dairyhouse, and is by no means large, but has been improved to meet modem requirements. In the milk-room there are four cheese-vats, holding from 176 to 200 gallons each. Each vat has a jacket in order that milk may be heated or cooled as may be found necessary, steam being supplied from the boiler near at hand. In the adjoining press-room there are eleven presses of the best make, those with wooden foundations being preferred. Milk is delivered at the factory twice daily—between 6 and 7 in the morning and 6 and 7 in the evening—and an agreement is made between the buyer and the seller. No milk is received from cows which have not calved ten days, and effective moans are taken to prevent the receipt of skimmed milk, of adulterated milk, or of milk which is in any way unclean or unfit for conversion into cheese. In 1888 seventeen private dairies coal tributed to this factory, the average daily receipt being 500 gallons. The price paid, although originally 5d., was 6d. from the 1st July. The best make of cheese is turned out between the second week in April and the 1st of November, while skim-cheese or half-skin cheese and butter are made between November and April. When the milk is received it is strained, weighed, and passed into the vats! the morning's milk is added as soon as it arrives. The whole is then heated by steam to the proper temperature, when the rennet is added. The mixture is stirred in the usual way and subsequently left to settle for curd. Great attention is paid to the stirring of the curd and the attainment of the proper degree of ripeness. The new cheeses are bandaged on the third day and placed in the ripening apartment, where a proper temperature is maintained. The whey is conveyed into tanks outside the building. The cheese is made by an experienced cheesemaker and his wife, who for many years kept a cheese-dairy of their own, taking prizes as far back as 1861.

Although I have stated my preference for the private dairy over the factory, yet there can be little doubt that where the factory system is in force, or is the system which is best adapted for any particular district, there can be no better plan than that followed by Mr. Reynolds. With the exception of the fact that milk is received from a number of dairies instead of from one, a factory in which 500 gallons daily is worked up into cheese is but an enlarged dairy.

I am indebted to the Hon. Cecil Parker, agent to his Grace the Duke of Westminster, for the following details of the Aldford Cheese factory, near Chester, which I have already had the advantage of visiting. Two persons only are employed at this factory, in 1887 the quantity of cheese made was 30 tons 2cwt. 2qr. 6lb., which sold page 57 it an average price of £3 4s. 6d. per 120lb., the Cheshire hundred-weight. The average price of the milk per gallon of 10lb. was 5.806d. 912lb. butter was made, presumably from the whey, which averaged 7.1d. per pound. During the season 194 pigs were fatted; these cost £478 5s., and consumed meal to the value of £172 9s. 5d. They sold for £808 11s. 7d., while their manure realised £5 10s. The total receipts of the year were £2,771, and the total expenditure £1848 16s. 9d., the balance being divided among the members for the 59,459 gallons of milk they contributed. It thus appears that it required 1.07 gallons of milk to make 1lb. of cheese. It is most difficult to maintain a high standard in a factory where there is no provision for payment by quality. I have no doubt that if each contributor were making cheese at his own farm he would have made a larger quantity in proportion to the milk he supplied. The expense included wages in connection with the pigs of £4 17s.; straw and weighing pigs, £9 9s. 7d. The cheesemaker received, including a bonus of 2s. a week, £71 3s. 10d., together with 731b. of butter. A rent was charged against the cheese at the rate of 15s. per ton. Interest upon plant, upon bank account, the secretary's salary, rates, coal, rennet, salt, cheese-cloths, and printing-and cleaning-materials Brought up the balance. The price paid for the milk, nearly 6d. per gallon, was satisfactory for the summer months, and the only point with which fault might be found is with regard to the price of the butter, which, as is common in cheese-making dairies, was probably very inferior. For this reason I have more than once recommended that the fat should be obtained from the whey while it is still sweet, in which case the flavour will be much better. Once, acting as judge at the Chester Dairy-show, I found a sample of whey-butter which has as perfect as that made from good cream. The pigs were fed upon the whey mixed with meal, and they certainly contributed to the success of the undertaking. It will be observed that the gross profit made by feeding pigs was (omitting the manure) £158. Whey is usually valued at £1 per cow. Assuming that 500 gallons of milk represents the average yield of cows from which factory-milk is supplied, it will be found that in this instance the numbers would be 158. In a very well-managed factory which exists at Rochester 90 tons of cheese was made during the past year, and this realised an average price of £3 3s. 10d. per hundredweight of 120lb. The manager was paid at the rate of 3s. 6d. per hundredweight, together with a bonus of 10 per cent, upon all the cheese sold at a price exceeding £3. For this sum he provided labour, coals, salt, and rennet. The milk was supplied from 500 cows, a number which the manager—evidently a thoroughly practical man—considers is quite sufficient for any one man to deal with. It is quite evident that success in a factory will be best achieved when the manager is an expert as a cheesemaker, and when he himself makes the whole of the cheese. The maker in question, we believe, is fully responsible for this work; hence his success. But should the quantity of milk received in a factory be so large that one man cannot possibly page 58 deal with it it is evident that difficulties may arise, and that uniformity in quality and make cannot be depended upon. At this factory the farmer is required to pay ¼d. per gallon for four-fifths of the whey obtained from his milk. Whether this practice pays as well as that of pig-feeding, such as I have referred to in the case of the Aldford factory, remains for each factory manager or committee to decide. It depends upon circumstances. There is an entry-fee of 15s. per cow which each farmer is required to pay. He also provides his own milk-cans.

The champion prize at the London Dairy-show in 1888 was won by Mr. R. Frederick, of Drumflower, Dunragit, N.B. The cheeses were very large, beautiful in texture, mild, and extremely nutty—in fact, they were the beau-ideal of what a Cheddar should be. Mr. Frederick informs me that he sets his milk for curd at a temperature of 84°, and he is very particular to see that the milk is ripe before he adds the rennet. The whey is drawn off while almost sweet. In testing the curd to ascertain whether it is fit for vatting he uses a hot iron, and requires the curd to draw out to an inch in length: this denotes that it is sufficiently acid. The cheese is pressed for three days.

Mr. W. J. Hall, a Wiltshire maker, who obtained prizes at the same show, adds the rennet to his milk at 80?. He also is careful that the milk is ripe; but he draws off the whey while still sweet, allowing the curd to become gradually acid, but, strange to say, during the whole of the past season it was not put into the vat until the morning. The cheese is pressed for four days.

Last year one of the leading prize makers of cheese was Mr. Samuel Major, a Cheshire farmer, who keeps Shorthorns, and who] refrains—a custom not general in his county—from removing any cream from his milk. The rennet is added at 85°, and Mr. Major remarks that unless the milk is ripe for setting the cheese cannot be so good as it ought to be. Here also the whey is drawn while sweet. The acid is subsequently developed, and care is taken that it does not set too quickly. Heat is maintained at about 85° Fahr. throughout the process, and 7oz. of salt is used for every 20lb. of curd between May and July, an extra ounce being given during cooler weather. In this dairy the ripening-room is maintained at 70°.

Another maker, a London medalist, is Mr. Morris Halse, who sets at from 86° to 90°, according to the temperature of the atmosphere. He cuts his curd in sixty minutes. No cream is removed from the milk, which is properly ripened before setting. The salt used is at the rate of 8oz. per 20lb. of curd in summer, and 6oz. in winter. These makers do not add sour whey for scalding as is the case in the Cheddar district.