The curing room should be light and well ventilated, never above 72° nor below 45°. Windows must not be opened to admit dry wind or moist air. If too dry the cheese will crack and if too moist it will be covered with deleterious yellowish red fungi. The cheese is turned daily the first month, later every other day or twice a week. When 24 to 30 days old the cheese is soaked for one hour in water of 68 to 77°, washed with a brush, dried for 20 to 40 minutes in the sun and returned to the shelf. This is repeated two weeks later and then the cheese is painted with linseed oil and left on the shelf until shortly before shipping when it is scraped with a sharp knife and painted according to the demand of the particular market for which it is prepared; yellowish with Annatto for England and Spain, red with Turnsole for other countries. When dry it is rubbed with a little butter and red color.
Swiss Cheese.—The Swiss Gruyere or Emmenthal
also belongs to this class. It is characterized by its
form and size, being large, round and flat, weighing 100
to 140 lbs. or more, and by the large holes which are
wanted in Swiss, but not tolerated in American or
Dutch cheese. It was formerly supposed that first-class
Swiss cheese could only be made in the Alps, but
very good imitations have long been made in Northern
New York and in Wisconsin. Besides in the usual
large round form, the same as the genuine imported
Emmenthaler, American Swiss or "Switzer" is also
made in blocks, six inches square and twenty inches
long, weighing 25 to 30 lbs.
Until lately Swiss cheese has been made in the old-fashioned way, the factory and tools being of the simplest description. The milk was heated in a copper
