Abstract
THE American system of cheese-factories was established nearly twenty years ago, and in its present Condition of maturity it retains all the essential features which were characteristic of its infancy.* The test of twenty years' experience in a country where apparent improvements are eagerly submitted to a fair trial is amply sufficient to prove the success of the system. Recently the question of its adaptability to English dairy districts has acquired considerable prominence in agricultural circles, and is now passing from the stage of discussion to that of experiment. The two great merits which are claimed for it are, economy in the labour of production, and superiority of quality in the produce. It is evident that if a dozen farmers convey their milk to one building (a factory) to be made into cheese or butter, fewer hands are required to perform the work than if the process were carried on at a dozen different places by as many sets of people. The factory can be furnished with better labour-saving machinery than the farm-dairy, and the former establishment requires no more supervision than the latter. The process of cheese-making, also, occupies practically the same length of time, whether the quantity of milk under treatment be large or small, so that two or three persons whose energies are concentrated at one place will produce as great an economic result as a dozen or more who are necessarily employed at as many different points, each one going through the same routine independently of the other.
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The Scientific Value of Cheese-Factories . Nature 4, 104–105 (1871). https://doi.org/10.1038/004104a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/004104a0