PREFACE. There are few articles of food that contain as much nourishment in the same bulk, and that come to the table in so great a variety of forms, as cheese. A pound of cheese contains nearly three times the amount of nutrient matter that is contained in a pound of beef, and it bears about the same relation in food value to butter. It is not only a very nutritious food, but it is also classed among the most wholesome articles that go to make up the supply of a good table, so that when its cost is compared with the cost of other like nutritious foods its importance in making up the family ration is apparent. Cheese that is made from the whole milk, or milk from which the butter fat has not been taken, is less nutritious than that which is made from skim-milk, while skim-milk when made into cheese brings, in the market, nearly, if not quite, as much as can be obtained from milk from which the butter fat has not been removed. Hence this bulletin has been prepared to call attention to, and describe methods used in the manufacture of skim-milk cheese, of which there are several varieties that are very popular throughout the country, and especially in large sections of our own State. N. B. CRITCHFIELD, Lancaster, Pa., October 17, 1910. Hon. N. B. Critchfield, Secretary of Agriculture. Dear Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a bulletin on "Skimmilk Cheese," as made and sold in Lancaster county, Pa. The advanced agricultural standing of Lancaster county may be attributed to various causes. A dairy of 10 to 12 cows is quite common on a 75 to 100 acre farm. Where dairying is made a specialty, 18 to 20 cows are usually kept. The value of the skim-milk per year from 12 cows, producing 5,000 pounds of milk each, at 25 cents per hundred (the approximate feeding value of skim-milk when fed to calves or hogs) is about $125.00. At the price at which the various skim-milk cheese sell, the Lancaster county dairymen are realizing $300 to $750 for the same amount of skim-milk. The reader may think that $1.50 per hundred for skim-milk, when made into cheese, is extortion, but so long as the supply of the "right kind" is not equal to the demand the extortion is likely to continue. In passing through any of the six markets of Lancaster city, one will note that a majority of the farmers sell one or two of the varieties of skimmilk cheese herein described. Unquestionably the proceeds from the dairy by-products is one cause of the advanced agricultural standing of Lancaster county. The method of manufacture of the different varieties of skimmilk cheese, herein described, varies slightly with different dairymen. The practice of several representative dairies will be described with such supplementary remarks as will enable the novice to adapt the methods given to his or her conditions. It is generally considered by scientists that the process of fermentation, properly controlled, aids in the digestibility of cheese. We trust that one or more of the Experiment Stations will investigate the matter of digestibility of the different varieties of skim-milk cheese; also how much, if any, milk sugar is retained in the egg or curd cheese. The author is indebted to Misses C. Z. Hess, J. T. Harnish, J. G. Harnish and Wm. Shank, for some of the details of the art of cheese making herein described. Hoping this bulletin will aid the dairyman in securing an enlarged income and the townsfolk a nutritious economical food, I am Your obedient servant, ENOS H. HESS. |