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70   WISCONSIN CHEESE MAKERS' ASSOCIATION
per hundred pounds of cheese. The state could well afford to bear a
part of this expense for two years, say 2% cents per hundred and
the industry to pay 5 cents per hundred pounds of cheese. This plan
would automatically take care of many of our present laws such as
the moisture and holding of cheese and sanitation laws, and thereby
save thousands of dollars now used to enforce such laws.
Good cheese is one of the most tasty foods. Its nutritive value is
exceedingly high. It contains nearly all the necessary ingredients to
nourish satisfactorily the brain, the bones and the muscles of the
body. A cheese sandwich represents every thing necessary to com-
pletely supply the needs of the human body. It is all edible-no
bones, no gristle, no fatty parts; it is ready to serve; it can be kept
indefinitely. Yet, in spite of these wonderful qualities, the average
American eats only four pounds of cheese per year. Some of the
European countries consume fully four times as much.
What is the reason? The dairy interests reluctantly admit that it
is green cheese and faulty merchandising.
To be sure, the average cheese consumer is not an expert cheese
judge. Asked to taste and pass upon the merit of several lots of
cheese before him, he frequently picks out very inferior stock as his
choice. This does not mean that he does not appreciate good cheese.
On the contrary, he uses so little of it that he has never developed a
real cheese, appetite. A parallel comparison can be had since the
advent of prohibition. Some readers may object to this illustration,
but it is so clear that it brings out the point completely. A person
who drinks beer only on rare occasions will tell you that he tastes no
difference between the present near beer and the genuine article. But
the old habitual drinker who has developed a real beer appetite turns
up his nose at the modern substitute and goes without. And so it is
with cheese. The average American eats it so rarely that he has not
developed a cheese appetite and the quality of the article usually of-
fered him is not such as to confirm the cheese eating habit. It is not
uniform. Even in the best of stores a customer cannot go to buy a
pound of cheese and have any assurance that it is like the pound he
has just finished eating. The grocer is not at fault. It is necessary
to go back a long way for a full explanation. Habits are formed
slowly and only an occasional bite of good cheese will not form a
habit. So entirely unconscious of the real reason, the consumer's
verdict is: "I do not like cheese."
A quarter of a century ago the quality of cheese was much better
than it is today. Conditions surrounding production and distribution
were different. As the dairy business of the country grew and cer-
tain sections became highly specialized, peculiar competitive condi-
tions arose. Creameries and cheese factories were competing for the
farmer's milk and cheese factories were pitted against one another.
In this fierce struggle no manufacturing plant was sure of its sup-
ply of raw material-milk. Factories were so numerous and close
together that no manufacturer dared try to force his patron to bring
a good quality of milk for upon the slightest provocation he would