Stilton.

The manufacture of Stilton cheese is at present very closely confined to one district in England, and that may be described as the county and vicinity of Leicestershire. For some unaccountable reason the dairy-farming public have not taken up the manufacture of Stilton ton cheese, perhaps because of their belief that it requires considerable knowledge, or that there are secrets in the process of it is not possible to obtain possession. Both ideas will certai nly exploded before long; and, as there is undoubtedly a great future before Stilton-cheese making, it is worth the while of those who are interested to make themselves acquainted with the facts of the case. It is true that, compared with Cheddar or Cheshire cheese, there are few, if any, facilities afforded for obtaining a knowledge of the process of manufacture. I have heard of one or two small makers of recognised ability who have communicated their knowledge in return for high fees; but a great many of the makers are themselves somewhat deficient in capacity, if we may judge by the bulk of the cheese placed upon the market, whereas the remainder are extend the trade, which would certainly bring down the remunerative prices.

One of the largest and best makers recently informed me that be thought a more extended knowledge of Stilton-making would be page 47 beneficial to himself and other farmers who command a high price; upon it being pointed out that the new generation of students in By-fanning includes persons who have received higher education than those who preceded them, and that, once having learned the principle, they would soon be able to compete on level terms with himself and others of his class, and so place a much larger quantity of cheese in the market, he seemed to understand that extended instruction would possibly bring about a fall in prices. Be that as it may, there is little doubt that the consumption will extend as the manufacture increases, and as the prices approximate more closely to the means of the people at large. But it must not be supposed that there will be any sensible increase in the consumption of inferior Stilton. We have distinct evidence of the fact in connection with the Cotherstone and the Wensleydale—two cheeses made in the north of England, which are somewhat similar in their character to the Stilton, but which are made in a more primitive manner. When good, these cheeses command a high price, but the majority of those made are inferior, and the prices are consequently within the reach of all, yet there is little if any increase in the quantity made. To command a ready sale, a Stilton must, while firm, be mellow in the extreme—more salvy or unctuous, in fact, than the primest Cheddar. The ramifications of the green mould, which makes it so famous, should be extended throughout the whole of the interior, coming as close to the crust as possible; but there should be no concentration of the mould in any one part and at the same time an absence in others. In the case of an over-ripe cheese there is a lack of substance when the mould is thus concentrated, and the delicate flavour is superseded by one which becomes too strong for the palate. It is alone by the exercise of skill in manufacture, and by the use of sound milk, that the proper veined appearance is obtained. It is the custom with many of the most important retail buyers—hotel-keepers and clubs, for instance—to require each cheese sent them to be cut in halves, in order that the veins of the mould may be seen before purchase. We may, however, have the blue veins without quality a cheese made from milk which has been skimmed, but it it is seldom that a cheese of high quality is deficient in mould. The process of ripening in the Stilton is one which should be closely followed by the maker, and he will quickly learn to recognise those odours and flavours which pervade the partially-ripened cheese, and in select specimens for sale or shipment which are tolerably certain to turn out to the best advantage. Good Stiltons midway between the date of manufacture and of fitness for the table are on the road to mellowness. They have an agreeable and somewhat alcoholic smell and a slightly sweet and alcoholic flavour, although both smell and flavour differ in various cheeses, even in those made in the same dairy.

Only by experiments, however, can the maker ascertain the causes of his success as well as the causes of failure; and, recognis- page 48 ing them, partially by testing the young cheeses, he will be more able to continue or avoid them in future as he may find it necessary. The ripening of the Stilton cheese depends chiefly upon the temperature, and it can be either hastened or retarded. Some makers introduce air into the cheese by means of holes made with fine skewers to assist the process. It is evident that, if it is possible to judge an unripe cheese with certainty, it can be shipped while it is still free from mould, and while it is heavier in weight than it will ultimately be. This fact is of special importance to the New Zealand maker, who could imitate the practice of many English dairyman and sell his dairy of cheese at an early date, allowing the completion of the ripening process to be performed by the factor or merchant. This plan is quite common; and I have seen large numbers of Stiltons in the cellars of London cheese-merchants which have been bought early and which were being prepared for sale.

It should be stated that so comparatively few are the good Stilton cheeses made in England that some merchants find it necessary to go early into the market to prevent disappointment or the risk of obtaining inferior cheeses later on. The maker gains in the weight of the cheese what he loses in the price, but he effects a lucrative sale, and this is of the greatest importance. The price of white or young cheese ranges from 10d. to 1s. per pound. This is for a really good article. For perfectly-ripened cheeses—sold between November and Christmas as a rule—but later on also for late-made cheeses, it varies between 1s. 1d. and 1s. 3d. per pound, very choice dairies often making more. On the other hand, inferior batches of Stilton sell at from 7d. to 9d. per pound. During the past spring I was invited to address the Leicestershire Agricultural Society, the Chamber of Agriculture, and the Dairy-farmers' Association at Leicester and subsequently, on account of the success of the meeting, at Melton Mowbray, which is in the very centre of the Stilton district. The chairman, a landowner upon whose property there are Stilton dairies, stated that there were instances of tenants making Stilton cheese, one of whom, for example, always made a first-class article, while another occupying similar land, and upon an adjoining farm invariably made a most inferior article. He was anxious for an explanation of the reason. But this is an instance which may apply to butter-makers and cheese-makers of other descriptions. Failure is undoubtedly owing to want of knowledge and attention to detail, especially in the case of Stilton-cheese making, in which it is essential that a maker should have mastered the principle.

There is no expensive plant required in the manufacture of Stilton cheese. The chief appointments are the rooms in which the working is conducted, provision being made for the control of temperature and of humidity. With regard to the cost of manufacture is perhaps slightly more than in the case of other British cheeses because the Stilton necessitates daily handling for some time after it has been made, and before it is removed to the shelves in the curing page 49 room. For Cheddar or Cheshire cheese a few days only elapse between making and taking to this apartment; but this time is multiplied considerably in the case of the Stilton, and when a large number are manufactured daily an extra hand would probably be required over and above the staff necessary to handle a similar quantity of milk in making Cheddar cheese. It is commonly suppressed that Stilton cheese is made from rich milk, to which cream has been added. Whatever may have been done in the past, it is quite a mistake to suppose that this is the case to-day. In the largest Stilton-cheese dairy in the British Islands the milk is delivered from various farms, upon several of which the feeding is not more liberal than upon ordinary milk-producing farms, where milk is despatched for consumption in its primitive state. The milk is of average quality, and such as would be ordinarily given by Shorthorn cattle fed upon foods which are estimated to produce as heavy a yield as possible. Such milk has certainly been delivered during some seasons in large quantities at as low as 5d. per gallon. The Stilton season is more restricted than that in which other cheeses are made—at all events, upon a large scale. The manufacture of large quantities late in the season is not considered so advisable; in fact, there would probably be greater risk, inasmuch as greater sales are made for Christmas consumption. Doubtless, with increased care and the maintenance of temperature in ripening-rooms, the sales would be quite equal and the prices higher after the Christmas season; but the large maker with whom I am acquainted prefers to conclude his work early and to sell out as quickly as possible. Stilton cheese is exported to America and to India, and in small quantities to European countries; but the method of packing and of transport is not yet thoroughly mastered, the trade not being sufficiently great to warrant any special arrangements being made. As to the manufacture of the variety in New Zealand, I have little doubt that it can be conducted quite as easily as in the County of Leicester in England—a district the pastures of which were for a long time supposed to be specially adapted for it, but I have seen Stiltons of high quality made in other counties. It will be seen from the following figures that there is really nothing special in the pastures of Leicestershire unless it be the preponderance of rye-grass. A turf was cut upon the farm of the largest Stilton-cheese maker in the county, Mr. Thos. Nuttall, a farm with which I am very well acquainted. The soil adhering to the turf is described as a rich, stiff brownish clay. The grasses were represented in the following portions, according to Dr. Fream, the botanist to whom the turf was sent:—

Perennial rye-grass	67
Cocksfoot	26
Agrostis	6
Dogstail	1
Catstail	100

In this pasture, as represented by the specimen examined, the gramineous herbage was shown to be 58 per cent., and the leguminous herbage 42 per cent. I feel, however, satisfied that neither the pasture nor the cattle are responsible for the superior propertied of the Stilton, which the same maker manufactures in another county from mixed milk, and which have been made with every success in my dairy in Hertfordshire from cattle of different breeds (Jerseys, Swiss, and Ayrshires), which were fed upon inferior pastures and artificial grasses, such as lucerne, sainfoin, and clover.

There are at least four varieties of mouldy or veined cheeses of the Stilton type which are made in England, and which are frequently found to equal the best Stiltons that are made. These are the Cotherstone, the Wensleydale, and two nameless cheeses which are made respectively in Lancashire and Suffolk. The Cotherstone cheese, which somewhat resembles a Gorgonzola in shape, but which is smaller in size, is made in the neighbourhood of Barnard Castle and Cotherstone, in the north of Yorkshire, and the system adopted in its manufacture is a modification of the Wensleydale process, a description of which is given below. This cheese is not extensively made, but it has been manufactured for generations, and there are families who make it of so high a quality that their cheese equals the Stilton of the best class. The Lancashire cheese, although of better form than the Wensleydale, is also made closely upon that system although there are modifications in the method of salting and bringing which account for the somewhat different result. There is no uniformity in the system generally adopted, consequently it is difficult to obtain a really first-class cheese unless a buyer is acquainted with a farmer who is known to turn out a uniform article. The cheese made in Suffolk is by no means large in quantity, and cheese making is confined to comparatively few people. At the same time I have eaten Suffolk Stilton of such first-rate quality that it must have paid the maker far better than either butter-making or milk selling—a business which is largely conducted in the county.

Recently visiting Wensleydale, a luxuriant and Swiss-like valley running from east to west in the north of Yorkshire, I not only saw a large number of the cheeses which are famous in that part of the county, many of the inferior makes of which are sold as second-rate Stiltons, but I obtained much valuable information from the makers themselves. Were some system of uniformity adopted by the farmers in this district, and were they induced to manufacture their cheeses upon modern lines, I believe they would make one of the best types of cheese which is placed upon the market, for a good Wensleydale is one of the choicest of known cheeses. It is a type which is as worthy of the attention of colonial makers as Stilton itself. The flesh of the cheese is softer and, if possible, milder than that of Stilton of the highest class, and it is now eaten people who are not as a rule consumers of cheese. It realises a high price, and, on account of the moisture a good cheese contains, page 51 a greater weight is obtained per gallon of milk than is possible with I the Cheddar and its kindred varieties.

Wensleydale cheese is made either in the "old" or in the "new" way, and the following is a description of the former : The evening's milk is heated so that when the morning's milk is added the mixture; should be about 100° Fahr. The rennet (home-made) is then mixed in the proportion of one pint to the milk of five cows, and the boiler covered with a wooden lid. The temperature of the room is about 40° Fahr.; but it is important to maintain the temperature of the curd at 100° Fahr., otherwise, instead of feeling "sharp," it will turn pasty and stick in the curd-mill. Some thirty-five minutes after the addition of the rennet the curd is broken up, the process occupying about half an hour. The broken curd is left to stand for three-quarters of an hour, by which time it cools down to 90° Fahr., the whey being then removed. At 82° Fahr. the mass is put into cheese-vats lined with dry cloths, when a light pressure is applied, and after half an hour it will be at 65° Fahr. It is then cut up small, replaced in the vat with a dry cloth, and left to drain for an hour longer, when this treatment is repeated, and another hour is allowed for draining. The curd will then be 55° Fahr., and at this point it is ground in the mill, after which it is placed in vats and pressed for twenty-four hours. A calico bandage is next stretched round it, and it is put into brine for three days, when it is taken out and simply wiped dry with a cloth. One hundred pounds of milk usually produce 12lb. of cheese under this system. In another Instance we found it stated that in summer it required from 10lb. 4oz. to 10lb. 1oz., in September 9lb. 8oz., and in October 8lb. 10oz. of milk to make 1lb. of cheese.

Wensleydale cheeses generally weigh from 10lb. to 15lb., except in the small dairies, where they make flat cheeses of 4lb. and 5lb. weight, if we except one variety, in which the shape is an imitation of "very deep" Stiltons. Most of the dairy-farmers own some eight cows, only a few owning fifteen to twenty; but even the latter make the day's milk into more than one cheese. Wensleydalers coagulate their milk in a "cheese-kettle," which is large in size and made of copper or brass. The new method is a simple and short one, but we doubt whether it would answer for cheeses of large size. The evening's milk, after being heated, is taken off the fire and the morning's milk added to it. The rennet, or "prezzur," as it is called (French prèsure), is made daily or every other day by cutting a few pieces of the stomach of a calf and placing them in cold water for twenty-four hours. When the milk has acquired the desired temperature the rennet is mixed with it, and after three-quarters of an hour the oast (Danish öst, cheese), or curd, is fit to be broken up into very small pieces. This is generally done by the hand; others use a breaker made of wire, crossed as in a riddle, circular in shape, and very small. Instead of having a handle, a part of the outer wire rim is drawn out and bent. In breaking by the hand the movement is upwards, but by the breaker it is downwards. The whey is page 52 removed by ladling it off, and the curd is then placed in a circular tin, tin. by 4in., with perforated sides and bottom. These tins are left to drain for three hours, when they are reversed and left for another three hours; then the curd is removed to the vat and pressed for twenty-four hours, after which it is kept in brine for three days. The temperature has meanwhile been regulated as follows: Before coagulation, 96° Fahr.; after adding hot whey, 95° Fahr.; when vatting, 66° Fahr. In summer the temperature is kept lower than in autumn. The brine is made by boiling the salt in water; and to be good it should allow an egg to float in it. Some dry salt is placed! on the top of the cheese as it floats in the brine, and this, melting, restores to the brine the strength which the cheese absorbs. As the climate in this district is of a low temperature with much rain, and as the rooms are not heated, the cheese is kept cooler than in any other part of the kingdom. The cheese is kept in the cool-room for seven days, when it is removed upstairs to ripen. At the season when the fogs set in, instead of being kept in the cool-room for a week, the cheeses are placed upon shelves suspended from the kitchen-ceiling.