========================================================= | WATER | FAT | PROTEIN | ASH | SALT | PER | PER | PER | PER | PER | CENT | CENT | CENT | CENT | CENT --------------+--------+-------+---------+------+-------- Average | 38.69 | 32.31 | 21.39 | 6.14 | 4.14 Minimum | 37.49 | 31.50 | 19.14 | 5.18 | 3.64 Maximum | 40.10 | 33.53 | 23.06 | 6.81 | 4.88 ========================================================= The composition of the sheep's milk of the Roquefort producing region is reported by Marre:[67] TABLE V COMPOSITION OF SHEEP'S MILK ============================================================= | WATER | CASEIN | FAT | LACTOSE | ASH | PER | PER | PER | PER | PER | CENT | CENT | CENT | CENT | CENT -------------+-------+--------+----------+---------+--------- Range | 76-83 | 5-8 | 5.5-10.5 | 4 to 5 | 0.8-1.2 Average | 79.5 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 1.0 ============================================================= The cheeses when properly made in the local factories are transported to Roquefort for ripening in the famous caves which have made possible the development of a great industry. The Roquefort caves were originally natural openings leading back into the face of a cliff until they reached a deep, narrow fault or crack in the rock leading to the plains above. The cooler air from the plains came down this crack over moist and dripping rocks and issued through these clefts in a cold moisture-laden current which kept the caves about 50 to 55° F. and moist enough to ripen the cheeses without shrinkage. As the business outgrew the natural caves, great cellars, some of them five or six floors deep, were excavated and tunnels were dug back to the crack so that the strong ventilating current reaches every part of the cellars and keeps both temperature and relative humidity favorable to the ripening of the cheeses.