ich develops the
characteristic flavor. The changes produced by the mold are not well
understood, but the flavor is evidently connected with its
development since in the absence of mold, it does not appear. The
cheese must be cured under carefully controlled conditions, as to
temperature and moisture; in France these are secured by curing the
cheese in limestone caves that are highly saturated with moisture.
Attempts have been made to make Roquefort cheese in other parts of
the world, but they have never been successful, due undoubtedly to
the fact that the proper environment and conditions for the
development of the various types of organisms necessary in the
ripening process have not been met. This cheese is sold for 50 to 75
cents per pound in the markets of the world.

There are two other kinds of cheese that are closely related to
Roquefort, as to the manner of ripening, viz., the Gorgonzola of
Italy and the Stilton of England, both of which possess their
characteristic flavors by reason of the development of molds. In
Stilton cheese the mold is not intentionally added, the maker
relying on the contamination that comes from the factory for the
usual seeding. If this does not develop, it is sometimes inoculated
by exchanging plugs with a well-ripened Stilton. This method is not
so certain as in the inoculation of Roquefort.

=Camembert cheese.= A typical example of soft cheese is one of the
French types, known as Camembert. This cheese is prepared from cow's
milk which is curdled by rennet. The curd is not cut but is dipped
into the forms, which condition, taken with the absence of pressure
in forming the cheese, accounts for the large quantity of whey in
it. The finished cheese are about one inch in thickness and three
inches in diameter. In the ripening, the moisture and temperature of
the curing room are very carefully regulated.

The first stage in the ripening is due to the rennet and the lactic
bacteria. Later there appears on the surface of the moist cheese, a
moldy growth. In this, there are at least two kinds of molds, the
ordinary mold that appears on sour milk, _Oidium lactis_, and
another that is related to the bread mold but which has a white
instead of a green fruiting stage. These molds are confined to the
surface of the cheese but the enzymes which they produce diffuse
into the substance, changing the color from a dull, opaque white to
a translucent yellow. The acid that has been formed by the la