The Sunday Oregonian., July 21, 1912, SECTION FIVE, Page 4, Image 54

TILLAMOOK'S YEARLY CHEESE OUTPUT
C
5T
-.Hi?.- -
,-se-
TILLAMOOK. Or.. July 20. (Spe
cial.) It Is related of a man from
Tillamook County that when tak
ing dinner in a small restaurant in
Seattle not long ago, he was urged by
the waiter to eat some particularly
fine cheese. "It Is of the real cream
variety." said the waiter, "and comes
from Tillamook County. We have re
cently secured a contract to handle
the entire output."
"If that is so." remarked the gentle
man, "you must be prepared to sell a
tremendous quantity of cheese during
the next 12 month."
When it is understood that the out
put of cream cheese from the country
around Tillamook Bay exceeds 2,000,000
pounds yearly, and that cheese-makins
constitutes the chief industry of the
county; one may appreciate something
of the Quiet satire in the gentleman's
retort.
As a matter of fact, cream cheese
from Tillamook Is sent all over the
United States. The total output last
year, according to figures furnished by
the inspector of creameries for the
county, was St.S41,057 pounds of cUeese,
the total consumption of milk In the
process being 23.639.564 pounds. The
gross value of this product in the mar
ket was J400. 041.84.
Industry la Lars-e.
The cheese industry supports IS
well-equipped creameries besides many
small private institutions. The num
ber of cows required to provide milk
for the product reaches Into the thou
sands, and operations connected with
the industry occupy almost the entire
farming population of the locality.
Just what this means to the people
of the countv may be understood from
the fact that the timber industry,
which might be developed to enormous
proportions, practically has been ne
glected; the deep-sea fishing, said to
be excellent Just outside Tillamook
Bav and along the stretches of coast
from Neaalem bar to Nestucca Bay. has
scarcely been investigated, and the
raising of small fruits and vegetables,
although producing excellent results
when practiced, is confined to the small
operations of Individual farmers, the
output being consumed almost entirely
at home.
In comparison with other Industries
In the county, cheese-making requires
little labor and pays an enormous In
come. Expense Is small, profits large
and certain. The clearing of large
sections of land, such as would be re
quired for extensive farming opera
tions. Is unnecessary; careful attention,
which would be necessary to produce
best results from truck farming or
-0ii.T-it raislne. Is a factor that
does not have to be considered In the
cheese Industry. The cattle find ample
supply of good food and unexcelled
ranging ground on the wide bottom
lands of the bay and . along the lower
levels of the mountains.
Bora and GlrU Help.
i i nn unusual thing to see hand-
. - h.rvA. of cattle feeding In their
pastures among huge stumps and trees,
4r.ii nravided with shelter during the
hot days and protected from rains or
dampness, wnicn otten como w
the ocean. Assistance of the boys and
girls of the family Is secured easily to
take care of the milking, to carry the
milk to the cheese factories and to
assist the head cheese-maker or man
ager m caring for the milk and turn
ing it into a marketable product.
orifh th. vrowth of the industry.
however. It has been found desirable
and more profitable to clear the pas
ture land, so that an acre which for-
i nrnri1.i1 feed for 29 COWS Often
..,.,.. nanture for 30 or 40. .The
.i..rr,r rr the locred-off or burnt-
off land and the disposal of the huge
stumps has become almost an industry
In ltelf, and provides activity for a
number of workers.
s-A,-t nt th smaller factories at
tbe present time illustrates how the
Industry was carried on at the begin
ning with a view to eliminating every
possible wsste and producing highest
returns with least expenditure. These
factories were all conducted on the co
operative plan. ,
A number of farmers formed an or
ganisation, controlled by a board o
directors, and agreed to supply milk foT
a factory. They empioyea
eheesemaker and provided bim with
assistants from among the farmers
boys of the neighborhood, paying only
small wages, because this was consid
ered a part of the expense of operat
ing, and would consequently decrease
the profits.
Payment ' Proportion.
Inasmuch as the proceeds all reached
the pockets of the dairymen, eventual
ly, the small pay was really no hard
ship, but rather an advantage. Contrib
utor were paid according to the
amount of cream they supplied, the
quantity being ascertained by tests
made at the factory twice a month from
samples taken each day.
Every morning, the milk was brought
In from the farms to the factory, locat
ed at some central point, the larger
producers using their own wagons and
collecting the product of smaller con
tributors at the farm lanes, not unliKe
the rural free delivery postman in col
lecting mall, and all the morning until
about o'clock, beavy-laden trucks
rumbled up to the platform in front of
tbe delivery room, to empty dozens ot
cans of foaoiv cream into the huge
Iron can which stood on a scale Just
inside the receiving room. Deliverj
was made through a funnel and spout
-o that there wss no danger of the mtik
being contaminated from agencies out-
""ilavlng delivered the milk, each driv
er 'n turn proceeded to the great tank
into which the whey, or thin milk left
over from cheese making, was drawn,
and filled his milk cans with this
waste product with which to feed his
hogs. In this way the entire output
from the cows was utilized. ,
Standard Kept Hlsn.
.The .amount of miik delivered by
each dairyman was then weighed, a
sample taken for testing, and the pro
cess of cheese making carried out. At
the end of the month, proceeds from the
sale of chee.se made at the factory
were divided among the contributors,
pro rata, according to the amount of
milk supplied and the expense required
to turn It Into salable goods. The In
dustry was-carried on under the care
ful supervision of a county cheese In
spector and the standard kept strictly
up to the highest possible grade.
The general plan of operations car
ried on when the industry was small is
retained today. Now, however, in the
larger factories, the working force Is
composed of an experienced cheese
maker and a number of apprentices,
many of whom become, in time, heads
of other factories. The business de
tails are more complex than formerly,
except In smaller creameries, but the
process of cheese making is substan
tially the same.
Cheese making has been carried on in
Tillamook County for nearly 25 years
and many new processes hare been
worked out by employes at the facto
ries. Rivalry In Keen.
Scoops, mixers, stirrers and other ap
paratus have been Invented by cheese
makers and there is often considerable
rivalry among the different factories
over the grade of the products pro
duced, the quantity manufactured and
the case and rapidity with which the
cheese Is brought out of the 'cream.
The famous Maple Leaf Creamery,
near Tillamook Bay, has a capacity of
25.000 pounds of milk daily. This cheese
factory ts the largest in the county.
Close behind in amount of output, the
same in capacity, come the Tillamook
Creamery, at Tillamoos City, ana the
Falrview Creamery, at Falrvien, only
a few miles away. Ardent supporters
of these three factories can tell you
to the quarter pound the output from
month to month. There is sreat re
joicing when any great gain is shown
by a creamery and in event of a new
one taking the lead in output, there
would be a big bonfire and celebra
tion. At present the Maple Leaf Creamery
handles close to 25.000 pounds of cream
daily; the Tillamook, about 22.000
pounds, and the Falrview, slightly more
than 20.000.
Manufacture la Interesting.
The process of making cream cheese
is interesting. It seems simple enough,
too. The most prominent objects in the
factories are the huge cream vats,
which occupy most of the floor space.
They are lined with tin. and in the
larger factories are large enough to
contain 5000 pounds of milk.
First step in the process is termed
appropriately "the start." A small quan
tity of clabbered milk, about two and
one-half gallons, is first heated to the
boiling point, then cooled and turned
into each of the large vats. The vat is
then filled with milk from the receiv
ing tank. By means of steam pipes
passing under the vat. the milk is then
heated to a temperature of 85 degrees.
The product is kept at this tempera
ture for about 40 minutes, until tests
show that separation has commenced,
when it Is Increased In heat to about
103 degrees. Stirring and mixing with
special Implements now commences and
this process Is carried on for an hour
or more to separate the rapidly harden
ing milk from the whey.
Loss la Guarded Against.
By the end of an hour, most of the
fat from the milk has been separated
and the whey Is then drawn off. A
fine screen prevents the loss of any of
the fat. Further mixing Is then car
ried on for nearly another hour, the
whey and other moisture being
thoroughly separated from the curd,
as the thick mass of fat Is called.
The product, by this time, has ac
quired the consistency of spongy rub
ber and has the appearance of bony
clabber. At one stage of the process,
it is cut up into long strips with sharp
knives and laid out to drain.
These strips soon knit together and
are again cut apart, turned and laid
out in the vat to drain again. As a
last Dha?e of the process, the curd is
placed in a hopper, through which it
passes and emerges, cut into pieces
abort an inch square. These pieces
knit together so rapidly that almost
constant working Is required to pre
vent the whole product hardening Into
one mass. The attendants set to work
with instruments which resemble the
old-fashioned four-tined pitchfork and
work the curd for several minutes.
During this working process the
mass is salted, about 16 pounds being
used to each vat. The mass hardens
rapidly as the moisture Is pressed out
by the working process.
Cbeenes of Uniform Slse.
This preliminary work comes to an
end when the thoroughly hardened curd
is shoveled Into circular presses made
of sheet Iron and lined with cloth.
These are arranged In rows around the
sides of the factory, placed on the side
and pressed together by means of set
screws. The cheeses are left In the
presses over night, after which they
are stored for three days, and are then
dipped in hot parafine to prevent the
action of outside moisture. Ten more
cays of ripening are then required be
fore tje cheeses can be shipped.
Each cheese of the usual sise man
ufactured In Tillamook County weighs
about 21 pounds. Usually three are
placed In case to be shipped all over
the country. Each cheese is marked
with thj name of the factory before
being packed. One may also purchase
cheese at the factory in a limited quan
tity. -
The whole process has required about
eight hours, from the time the milk
was received at the factory until the
cheese was placed In the presses. As
TTTTT SFXDAT
Nineteen Large Creameries and Many Smaller Ones Supply
Ml
00
the work commences early in the morn
ing, mid-afternoon finds the head
cheese maker and his assistants clean
ing up ready for the next day's work.
The largest factory of the county
has an output of between 90 and 100
cheeses a day, in the best season, or
between 2300 and 2400 pounds of cheese
dally. The head eheesemaker and
about four apprentices do all the work.
Wood FneJ Used.
Fuel for heating the large quantity
of water used for cleaning purposes,
and for supplying steam for heating
purposes, Including the warming of
vats, melting of parafine in which to
dip the cheeses, is wood. This la sup
plied, generally at a low price, by some
of these interested In the factory.
The tests carried out are compara
tively simple and are conducted by the
head cheese maker. Every contribu
tor to the factory has a testing bottle
to be used in making the Babcock test
of his milk and count of the number
of those who send in their milk is
kept by means of these bottles and a
tally sheet.'
A cheese plant does not require a
large space and the entire operation of
cheese making is generally carried on
in one building. Partitions divide the
room Into a large vat room, curing
room, packing room, box making and
dipping room, engine room and wood
slied. In some of the larger factories,
a small separate building connected
with the other by a passageway is
used for curing room to keep the rip
ening cheeses away from the heat and
steam of the factory. A large tank for
the reception of whey after it is drawn
off, is a necessary adjunct of the fac
tory and is placed Just outside near
the receiving platform.
Factories Are Clean.
Two things Impress the visitor to
the cheese factories; the rapidity with
which the work is carried on and the
absolote cleanness of ' the factory
and everything about it. Iff spite
of the large quantity of milk
used, all waste is so carefully taken
care of that there Is practically no sug
gestion of nuisance about a cheese
factory as operated in this section.
The cattle used to supply milk for
cheese-making are partly of Jersey
stock, although the Guernsey breed
appears to be more satisfactory. These
cattle are larger than the Jerseys, but
cot so large as the Holsteln stock, and
hence do not require so much feeding.
They produce more milk than the Jer
seys and tbe percentage of cream Is
sufficiently high. Moreover the cattle
are hardier and stand the climate bet
ter than the more delicate Jersey stock.
As each contributor is paid according
to the cream te6t. It is not necessary
to have uniform breeds for cheese mak
ing and the cattle are often of the
rancher's individual choice.
Cows Yield Bl Profit.
The ordinary cow. pastured on the
wild land of the ranches, will produce
enough cream to supply a small family
and yield from 119 to 325 a month.
There are cases where the profit from
one cow has been greater than this,
but -these figures seem to be fair
average of the return. Some idea may
be gained of the output obtained from
the ranch cattle from the fact that 21
cows on a well-known ranch produced,
during the month of April last, 388
pounds of butter fat, which was sold
for 1417. and that 25 cows on the lima
ranch in May produced nearly 1100
pounds of butter fat, which sold for
nearly 3427.
On another well-known ranch, 34
cows during the same two months pro
duced nearly 1200 and over 1300 pounds
of butter fat. respectively, which sold
for more than 3500 each month.
The price paid for butter fat by the
cheese factories varies from month to
month, but ranges' about 38 and 39
cents a pound. Inasmuch as the milk
s sold for cheese production only and
ti
OREGOyiAX PORTXAXD.
ffM
s. - w !?Sa ryy c,e
the factories are conducted on the c.
operative plan, it should be pointed an.
that much higher prices can be paid
than for milk to be used for direct con.
sumption. This explains, also, why most
ranchers prefer to use all of their milk
for making cheese and purchase their
butter from other sources. Not all the
ranchers do this, however, many using
the product of one or two cows for
butter making to be used for home
consumption.
Payroll Is Large.
Some Idea of the extent of the cheese
making Industry in the county may b
gained from tbe amount of the monthly
payroll, which for the month of June
amounted to 371,711. Three creameries,
the Maple Leaf, with a payroll of over
$11,000; the Tillamook, expending more
than $10,000; and the Falrview furnish
ing $9208, stand at tbe head of the
money producers. One other creamery
furnished about $9000 during the month
of June; one creamery, over $6000; sev
eral $5000, and only two, the smaller
ones, less than $1200.
Thus, cows are money makers in Til
lamook County, and it is little wonder,
perhaps, that the ranchers prefer the
cnmn.ra.tivelv simple process of turn-
in- milk into cheese at. good profits
JULY 21, 1913.
Chief Industry of County.
-w" J "
', u 4. - ,
.
St'
to the more hazardous and trying In
dustries' of fishing and lumbering. It
is also pointed out that in the days
before the railroad, cheese, not being
perishable, was more easily transport
ed to market than many other bulkier
and less profitable products.
In addition, cheese making can be
carried on throughout the'entire year.
MFmimamL i n .l j r . 1
MUSICIANS TO OBSERVE
WAGNER'S CENTENNIAL
Orchestras and Opera Companies to Celebrate Hundredth Anniversary of
Great Composer New York Chorus Girl Market Is at ramina Stage.
BT BMIL1B FRANCES BAUER.
IT Is not elifficult to predict what
music will dominate tha season of
1912-13. as Richard Wagner was
born May 22, 1813, and most of the or
chestras and opera companies of the
world are already reckoning on this'
fact. The centenary of Verdi also
falls in the year 1918, but as the date
of his birth was October 10, It Is not
unlikely that the chief celebrations
will fall in the season of 1918-14.
Centenary celebrations have thir ad
2,000,000
r
.;i. CSI:
- . ........
1 1
;yrrVg
r . . -i? r 9- .
41
The mild climate along the seashore
permits the pasturage of cows out of
doors nearly all the time. There 1 a
curtailment of output during the colder
months, but the larger factories never
cease operations. In Tillamook, cheese
is a word to conjure with and the
round cases may almost be said to have
rolled around the world.
vantages, but also their unpleasant
side. No one will deny this who went
throua-h the Llsst centenary in tne
large musical centers, where every or
ganization, every individual and every
teacher felt U a oounaen auty to nig
down into the dead past for all the
early Indiscretions of the Illustrious
comcoser and this particular com
poser had many compositions which
honlri have been allowed to rest Id
the oblivion to which he himself had
rittned them.
. The world, owes a tribute to Warner
POUNDS
..
fit lia
SET"
trj -77:
as the one who brought to Its hlshet
estate opera as a musical ana intel
lectual value and the orchestra as a
medium of color and emotion. Of
opera it has often been said that It is
the least important anu imi n
t'stlc of the musical forma, and that
't Is on an Innnitely lower scale than
the symphony or than chamber miMlc.
Who can think of the retarded action
as Valentin holds the performance 20
minutes to sing to the auoience uui
he is dying and not realise inn. was-
ner brought quick action wnere tne
,.. significant as the woid
and he effaced the idea of accompani
ment and melody, replacing it with a
complete symphonic structure between
vole, and orchestra and the support
has become an orchestration an ac
companiment no longer.
Chorus Needs Voire.
Those who know something of the
stage-struck girls, of the hundred of
singers in search of work, will be as
tonished to hear that there is a short
age In chorus girls who can sing. TW
last attribute is becoming more neoes
sary than it has been In the past,
when chorus girls were not supposed
to do very much In the way of singing.
Now they must of necessity include
this equipment with numerous others,
and managers are fairly scouring th
country for voices.
Mr. Gattl-Casassa has added to the
conductors of the Metropolitan one who
has become well known throughout the
country as conductor with Henry W.
Savage's "Girl of the Golden West"
company. This is Giorgio Polacco.
who will be new to the audience of
New Tork.
It has been stated, although with
out authority, that Polacco Is to con
duct the English opera, which will be
"Cyrano de Bergerac," with music by
Walter Damrosch and book by Will
iam J. Henderson, musical critic It
is understood that the title role will
fall to Amato and that Emmy Destinn
will have the role of Roxsnna.
Stranss Invites Critics o Par.
Richard 6trauss ha hi own way of
revenging himself upon the critics,
who may not have been over kind to
some of hi productions In the past.
With the secret out that "Ariadne at
Naxos" is a ballet which lasts only 3
minutes comes the invitations to tbe
critic of Berlin, with a bill for $7, the
price of the seat. The tickets have
been returned with the bill and the
critics will pass up the show.
There Is probably no man living who
has to suffer more than Siegfried Wag
ner for being the son of his father and
the grandson of his grandfather. When
a man must represent the talent of a
Richard Wagner and a Fran Lisst In
one, he has a task that is well nigh
Insurmountable. But Siegfried Wagner,
who Is now 43 years of age, handsome
and sufficiently talented to hold his
own under any other circumstance
than the handicap Just mentioned, hss
had a busy season and, undaunted by
the fact that his opera were not ac
claimed by the critic as the equal of
"Tristan und Isolde" or "Die Goetter
daemmerung." he Is still Interested In
the composition of grand opera. He
was heard in a series of concert In
London early in the season and at th
festival now under way.
Victor Herbert will not be th com
poser of the new light opera for Mile.
Trentinl. as was originally Intended by
Arthur Hammerstein, who has Just an
nounced that Rudolf Friml. the Bohe
mian pianist, who made an American
tour a few seasons ago with Kubcllk,
ha been selected to co-operate with
Otto Hauerbach. The opera will be
called "The Firefly" and It ill bo one
of the most, elaborate of the produc
tions to be offered next season. There
will be a chorus of 60.
FRANCE TO RAISE HAVANAS
Tobacco Monopoly Plans to Produce
','Imported" Smokes at Home.
PARIS, July 20. (Special.) Th
world of smokers In France Is seriously
agitated by a step recently taken by
the government department which su
perintends the tobacco monopoly. It
has ordered a supply of Havana and
Maryland tobacco seed for planting In
France, and It openly proclaims Its In
tention of selling tobacco raised from
this newjy-imported seed a genuine
Havana and Maryland.
It certainly eeems to be a proceed-.
Ing ot dubious commercial morality,
and the assumption that the peculiar
fascination of a Havana cigar or
pipeful of Virginia tobacco ts due
merely to the fct that it is grown from
a certain seed, and not to any unique
conditions of climate or manufacture
seems equally questionable but th
final word is with the monopoly.