THE SOIL IN RELATION DAIRY PRODUCE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1536, 9 May 1882, Page 4

THE SOIL IN RELATION DAIRY PRODUCE.

So far as wo arc^jyvPare it is a commonly re&l&it opinion in this country that the jjpil determines the distinctive characters 4 * a!nd butters ; that istbsay v that E 'thtf'GloitcjcStorsnire cheeses, for c\ainp r ld, n *c6\H(l i\&6 lie' produced in Cheshire by .the processes', under the same managealYil from the same animals. The fliSfchwtiVe character of our be3t known cheeses has hot boon the result of factory work, but has been carried out. so to , speak, by 'tlie labours 'of individual ' TTOirkers, who follow different details in ' 4 practice, making ' cheeses which t vary '^j'corisule.rably wfthout losing certain 1 characteristics which stamp than as being, the , produce of a certain " district. —With regarcl.to butters, there is a recognised difference in the character of the produce which reaches London from various parks' of the' country, which majfarjally affects their respective selling prices. In other words, butter from one district is actually worth more in the market than butter equally well made from another district. Soil and climate determine the nature and the quality of '" 'the herbage, and this must determine the ' character of the milk produced from it. ' It'is often noticeable that the butter on a particAilar farm will be at times much pettier'ihan usual during the same season _'°pf the year, and this is usually accounted ' 3for by the cows having been for a time on ) particular pastures which have had a rc''puta'tion for their 'butter-making proper- :' *tje's for generations. Putting on one side Hll questions' relating to the manipulation of butters and cheeses, there certainly exists in this country a firmly • grounded idea that'it is the soil and climate which determines, by means of the pastures, the characteristics of distinct makes of cheese and butter. J On this subject Professor L. B. Arnold , thinks differently. Ho gays :-- Every now and then a statement is circulated that there nre only certain j limited localities in which it is pobsible to make the finest giades of cheese. Great importance is attached to some mysterous quality of soil, or some pecu1 lia'rity of the water, or to sonic specific r 'variety of grass, or to a multitude of • varieties, or perhaps it ih assumed to be a • -questi6n of ploughing, and re-seeding or of not ploughing at all, old pastures being 'the essential point. Such opinions are not uncommon. In Ccntinl New York ' the Frankfort and Utica .States were at one time supposed to lie unequalled for ' fhle cheese in the United States, but it lmß 'turned out that just as good cheese " can' now be made elsewhere. It is not many years binee there was a oiurent opinion among dairymen in tho States, and among Canadians themselves, that Canada could never compete with the United States in cheese. Theic was something, it was thought, in the soil, especially aiound Ingeiboll, wheie cheese factories were first intioduced, which made the cheese haul and insipid, and . f lacking in liohness. But all tins h:is changed. In three competitive tjinls .Canada has beaten the Status, and to-day ' "the cheese of Western Ontaiio, of which Ingersoil isthecentie, stands unsurpassed in the markets of England and Scotland. Iv ( Great Butaiu similar notions piuvail, for which' no batter ic.isons have ever ' been assigned, and which appear to be equally groundless. The assertion that ., first class C'hcddai cheese can only be , made in one or two counties of England and .Scotland is not sustained by facts. The fact \t>, fancy chccbc is confined to no spot in tliis or any other 'country. The quality of cheese docs not ncces«aiily depend on soil or climate. Jfc is determined by the adoption of manufacture to the varying conditions of milk. Soil, to a limited extent, affects the quality of milk. It affects both its cheesy matter and its flavouring oils ; - but, by adapting the manufacture to suit variation 0 , fancy cheese can be turned out anywhere that healthy milk can be produced. The same may be said of butter. The dairyman who complains that he cannot make good cheese in this , place or that, because the soil, or the , water, or the grass \\ ill not admit of his doing so, may safely be set down as not understanding his business. He makes cheese, by storeotyped rules — empirically and without regard to or knowledge of the fundamental principles in the process. Of course, he cannot vary to suit changed conditions, and he makes a f.iibuc. A distinguished butter and cheese maker in Illinois remarked, a few yea is ago, th.it it was very unsafe to employ Eastern men to make butter or cheese in Illinois. They invariably brought with them their Eastern customs, which weiv not adapted to Illinois milk. Their o\\ n citizens were much moie .successful, being accustomed to the peculiai ities of the location. But a Western man would be as much at fault in the East as an Eastern man in the West. Both work -« ith little or no reference to the agencies and laws which control their results. These arc, in truth, but little understood anywhere. They need more investigation to develop them. When this is done, and the laws which govern the opeiations become known. ' dairy ' products will take an immense stride in quality, and their manufacture be a matter of as much ceitainty as any • other manufactured product. Now, will PiofesMjr Arnold tell iih the localities in England and Scotland to which lie refers in which first-rate Cheddar is " made? We know of none outside the Cheddar district itself. Putting on one side all reference to what he calls "fancy cheeses" — which are, eveiy one of them, the produce of certain districts from wliich they take their names — the Profefesor admits that the soil " to a limited extent," affects the quality of milk, and that it " affects both the cheesy matter and its flavouring oils ;" and it may be taken for granted, until lie h,i.s proved the contrary, that these influences are in themselves sufficient to account for much .of what Vrofesser Arnold appears to attribute to mere local prejudice and a want , of knowledge in general principles. ,! Dairy farmers on this side the Atlantic • will listen with- attention to all Professor Amoldihas to say, and they are already . indebted to him for much practical writ,/ijjg. i If he 1 will tell them how to make ,'Ohieddar cheese in Aberdeenshire, or i. Aylesbnry Vale butter in Norfolk, there ! will ,be many who will read with interest , his account of the process. It is not only .hiUk /which is affected in its nature by soiltaud climate ; all animal and vegeii table l'fe shows its influence/. It deterinninea the character of the cereals, of mutton and wool, and, in fact, of all agiicultural produce, M'hcth'er direct or indirect. The cider of Worcestershire and Herefordshire cannot .be made in Devonshire, nor can Devonshire cider be made in Kent : and, 'with due respect to Professor Arnold, we must incline to the • opinion that Cheddar cheese, cannot be made out of th&t district until he has given'proof to the contrary. ./{»../ THB SETTING OF MILK*. . t ' In treating this subject, Professor ..Arjipld cays that to make the , finest longest keBpjng butter the j#sft)ji imust unrtevgo a ripenjngprpcess-by exposure to the oxygen of the airwhile>it is sweet. ..This is best /lone while it is rising. The ripening is very tardy whei| tjbbe.'temuenitiire is low. After, cream. SUetdtoeoutf tlie'nioi'e ripening tlieniore nr J?hV sooner 'it' is^tueii • jjot be too,iiewJ ' • ! -The Vl lictii - time clitirnlnp! is just before

makes better^ l>ftfil;eY» r -lb raise in cold air than to raise in-cold water, ntul the 1 milk williJieep.lswtfe'tfen lotafeeril if ifd {.deeper milk is set the less airing it gets while rising. The depth of setting should vary with the temperature — the lower it is the dGeper milkdnay be set ; 'the' .higher the 'shallower it .'should bo., Milk should never be set shallow, .in a low , temperature nor deep in a hjgh one., 'Seeing deep in cold water saves time, labor, ana space. While the milk is standing tor cix-am to rjso, tho, purity of ,the crpam, and consequently the fine fla,vqr and keeping of the butter, will be injured if the surface of the cream is exposed freely to air much wanner than cream. When cream is cooler than the surrounding air, it takes up impurities and moistures from the air. Whenever the air is colder than the cream it. takes iip,inoistnre and whatever escapes from , the cream. In the former case the eraim purifies the surrounding air ; in the latter the air helps to purify the cream.