These figures are very suggestive. The richer the milk, the greater the quantity of cheese, green or cured, from a fixed weight of milk. Without regard to quality, the best milk made more than twice as much cured cheese as the skim milk, and the richest cheese lost the least in curing-very much less than those partly skimmed. As exhibited these cheeses looked like this:

FIG. 122.-Diagram showing influence of fat upon yield of cheese.

The contrast was marked and the lesson conclusive. The richer cheeses had more bulk to the pound than the poorer ones; hence No. 3 was fully twice as thick as No. 0, and No. 5 still thicker in proportion to weight. Before being cut and tested, it was plain that the one containing the most milk fat was much the best cheese. The market sequel or financial result in this case is noteworthy. Exact duplicates of these cheeses, upon being sold, gave these results, in part: No. 0 sold for 5 cents a pound, or 65 cents, being really more than usual market rate for such thoroughly skimmed cheese. No. 3, at 9 cents, brought $2.25; No. 4, at 10 cents, $2.70; and No. 5 sold easily at 12 cents, because of its extra quality, bringing $3.60. All these were wholesale prices. Now, if the fat in Nos. 3, 4, and 5, in excess of that in No. 0, had been made into creamery butter, without loss, the respective quantities would have been 3, 4, and 51 pounds (very nearly), which, at 25 cents per pound, would have brought $0.88, $1.13, and $1.38. Add to these amounts for butter, the worth of the skim cheese, No. 0, and the gross receipts from the lots of milk, 3, 4, and 5, made into skim cheese and butter, would have been $1.53, $1.78, and $2.03, as against $2.25, $2.70, and $3.60 from the same lots of milk, unskimmed, made into good cheese. The profit is largely in favor of the cheese in every case, and the richer the milk the larger this profit. Manifestly "it did not pay" to skim in any of these cases, and it rarely does pay, even if good cheese is made. No more conclusive argument could be presented than by the facts and figures in this case to prove that no natural milk is too rich to make cheese with success and profit.

A series of instructive cheese experiments at the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station bears upon this same question. Cheese was made there from milk ranging in fat content from 1.75 per cent, by 15 gradations, up to 8.4 per cent. It was found that the richer the

milk the fewer pounds it required to make a pound of cheese, and the per cent of loss in the making of the original fat in the milk, always small, was no more with milk of the extreme richness stated than with standard milk and skimmed milk. Similar results have been obtained in Vermont, New York, and Minnesota.

Cumulative evidence is unnecessary. These important truths are established, namely: The best milk makes the best cheese, and the most of it; the milk which is most profitable for butter is also the most profitable for cheese; the best butter cow is the best cheese cow.

Other things being equal, a cheese containing a large percentage of fat is better, because, first, of finer flavor and taste; second, of its better consistency; third, of its improved aroma; fourth, of its increased digestibility; fifth, of its more perfectly answering the requirements of a complete food or "balanced ration."

NECESSITY OF CLASSIFYING AND BRANDING CHEESE.

Something should be done to abate the evils resulting from promiscuous skimming. As now made and sold, the partly skimmed cheese is generally deceptive and bound to make trouble, more so than the full skims. The legitimate demand for these low grades of cheese is limited, and the main reason for their manufacture is the utilization of skim milk. There are vast quantities of skim milk, fully skimmed, which are too valuable to waste. This should all be used as food by man or beast. If some of it must be preserved and made into cheese, the nature of the product should be in some way clearly indicated upon the article itself. "Full skims" generally show plainly enough what they are, but as to "part skims," the degree of skimming varies so much that it is hard to draw the line between these and some cheese made from whole milk. Pure milk differs so much in fat that unless a definite standard be fixed for "full-cream" cheese, lots entitled to this designation may actually differ as much in fat content as some full creams do from "half skims." A graded system of classification and branding should be adopted which will show, approximately, the composition, and hence the grade, by the marking. The simplest and most effective regulation for skim cheese is the Wisconsin law:

Any skimmed-milk cheese, or cheese manufactured from milk from which any of the fat originally contained therein has been removed, except such cheese is 10 inches in diameter and 9 inches in height, is prohibited in the State, for manufacture, purchase, sale, or transportation. (Sec. 2, chap. 30, Laws of 1895.)

This is a drastic measure, but in many respects is much better than any branding.

In regard to filled cheese, it is evident that some regulation will be demanded and obtained to at least prevent the perpetration of fraud wherever large cheese interests prevail. So long as any States permit unrestricted manufacture and sale, the evil will continue to threaten

the Southern trade, as already noted, and, indeed, the entire cheese trade. Hence the demand for national legislation.

The tendency to seek legislative relief upon all occasions of embarrassment is very unfortunate. A self-respecting people should exhaust all other means to help themselves. Calling upon the lawmaking powers should be the last resort. If it is found that nothing short of legislation by Congress will meet the case, then the mildest enactment that will effect the object is all that should be asked for. Prohibitory laws are repugnant to a large part of our people. They do not accord with accepted principles of individual and commercial freedom. There is no excuse for destroying the business of one set of men in order to improve that of another set. The claim that cheese producers must have their interests protected at all hazards is neither sound nor politic. "Live and let live" should be the motto for dairymen and all producers. The people who need most to have their rights and interests guarded are the merchants and the consumers. All they need is to be protected from imposition and fraud. Such regulation as will enforce honesty in trade and secure to everything its right name will answer the purpose.

All forms of cheese, full cream, skimmed, and filled, should be so made or marked as to insure their identity all the way from place of manufacture to the consumer of the smallest fraction. Methods of accomplishing this can not be determined without the fullest consideration of the subject. But certain points are plain. The branding and marking of packages and wrappings is not enough. Distinguishing marks should be placed upon the cheese itself. And far better than a simple stencil and easily obliterated bandage mark would be a sunken brand pressed into the top and bottom of every cheese, so that some of it would remain visible and serve for identification to the last pound of a cut cheese. This practical and effective method of marking is of Danish origin, having been successfully used there for years. The registry number of factory and brand, as now used in New York and other States, should be retained, so that every cheese can be identified and traced to the place of manufacture. "Lard cheese" is probably the best designation for the "filled" article, being short, distinct, and accurately descriptive. It will be hard to substitute anything for "full cream," as the brand for the genuine product, although "pure milk" would be more correct, and better for several

reasons.

It would be manifestly unfair, however, as already shown, to brand all cheese alike and give it equal legal standing, as well as commercial, simply because made of pure, whole milk, regardless of the quality of the latter. In well-made cheese the fat content is manifestly the measure of quality, and this is determined by the percentage of fat in the milk. Modern methods make it an easy matter to test the milk and ascertain the percentage of contained fat. The cheese made from

ar y lot of milk should be branded so as to show, with approximate accuracy, the quality of the milk and hence the composition (and presumable quality) of the cheese. Such a system of branding pure, whole-milk (or "full-cream") cheese would be simple and practicable, and would result in grading the cheese product in such a way as to show at once its relative merits, proper making and curing being assumed. The grade brand should give by a single numeral the nearest whole number indicating the percentage of fat in the milk of the cheese vat, and this fact and grade should be guaranteed by the maker. The margin of one-half per cent variation, or a range of 1 per cent of fat, would be entirely safe for the manufacturer and close enough for the merchant and consumer. For full-cream cheese there would be but three grades, 3, 4, and 5, giving a range of 2 to 5 per cent of fat, which is all that is ever found in large quantities of pure milk.

Such a system of branding and grading being adopted, there could be no objection to extending it to skims and part skims, adding three more grades, 0, 1, and 2. The preceding illustration and table relating to the six cheeses of the Wisconsin Dairy School show how this plan would operate. It would be easy to add a grade or two, as 6 and 7, for cheese of extra quality, like the English Stilton, containing an added quantity of milk fat.

LEGISLATIVE SAFEGUARDS.

If it be found that national legislation is the only method of meeting what seem to be the necessities of the case, to stop fraud and enforce honesty and intelligent dealing in connection with this important food product, it is certainly to be hoped that the subterfuge of a "revenue measure" need not be resorted to again. Yet this also may be necessary. In that case the leaning toward class legislation should be minimized by making any tax incident to the law merely nominal, unless, indeed, lard cheese, or all cheese, be regarded as a proper subject for raising revenue. It is believed to be a question for fair consideration whether all concerned would not be materially benefited if all cheese and cheese substitutes were to be taxed at a very low rate, branded and stamped, made, graded, and sold under United States internal-revenue laws, comprising some such system as outlined above. As previously indicated, existing State laws already guard the interests of careful buyers to a large extent, and "afford incidental protection" to manufacturers in the principal cheese-making States. All buyers, whether merchants or consumers, should acquaint themselves with the brands and marks legally provided for cheese made in New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and Colorado. The laws of other States hardly meet the requirements of the situation. These brands are seldom if ever actually counterfeited, although closely imitated, 3A 95-17*

as already described. The cheese makers and merchants in the States which provide and adopt these safeguards are entitled to reap the advantages which discriminating buyers can give them. General attention to this matter on the part of buyers would be likely to cause other States to adopt laws of proved efficiency, and, what is equally important, to provide for their proper enforcement.

In this connection a proposition recently originated in Wisconsin for a system of State trade-marks for food products and merchandise, to be authorized, copyrighted, and guarded by laws of Congress applying to interstate commerce, is commended as worthy of consideration. This scheme appears to come nearer to reaching the root of the evil than any yet proposed, and, being general in its nature, avoids the strong objections to measures which are regarded as class legislation. One other point needs mention. Statistics given in table and diagram show that Great Britain has lately been reducing her imports of cheese from Canada as well as from this country. It is probably true that, with the immense quantities of extremely cheap mutton lately sent to British markets from Australia, this meat has been to some extent substituted for cheese. Therefore it may well be doubting whether the consumption of cheese in Great Britain and the consequent import demand will hereafter materially increase. This being the case, new markets should be sought for cheese made in this country. Canada is already on the alert and doing something in this direction. The United States can not follow this example too soon.

Cheese making is the least among the different branches of dairying in this country, in geographical distribution and in volume and value of product. Yet it is of much importance to this entire industry. It furnishes the safest and most convenient method of disposing of all surplus milk, and therefore serves as a sort of safety valve to dairying as a whole. Consequently all are interested in helping to stimulate the cheese trade, both domestic and foreign. All possible steps should be taken to vary and improve the offerings in our own markets, so as to increase home consumption and to reestablish a national reputation for honest cheese of uniform and high quality, in order to enlarge and extend our foreign trade.