Experimental Gorgonzola cheeses comparable with the Italian product were made with cow's milk ripened as for Roquefort or higher, to 0.25-0.30 per cent (titrated as lactic acid), curdled at 86° F. (30° C.), cut into cubes and slightly stirred, then dipped to a draining board for about one-half hour, and put into the hoop. The cheeses drained quickly to about 50 percent water and developed a surface rind as in the harder cheeses. Cut surfaces showed a fairly open cheese in which mold grew readily. These cheeses were salted to taste, not to a specified percentage. They ripened with the same irregular results and the characteristic range of flavors found in Gorgonzola. To avoid the rotting of the cheese by surface growths, they were exposed to low humidities for a time and cracks opened at the surfaces, as seen in the ripening rooms at Lecco (Fig. 24). The texture was more or less waxy or tough, which was correlated with the slightly higher heat at renneting together with the stirring or "working" of the curd. Comparative analyses of a series of imported cheeses confirm the interpretation that the salt-content of Roquefort, 4 per cent approximately, prevents the invasion of the interior of the cheese by Oidium. No complete study of the ripening of Gorgonzola has been made. As far as followed, it consists in an initial souring process followed by ripening by molds and slime organisms. At its best, Gorgonzola is nearly equal to Roquefort but the percentage of such quality is low. In spite of its irregular quality, England has used larger amounts of Gorgonzola than of Roquefort. Considerable quantities have been imported for the Italian trade in the United States. [Illustration: FIG. 25.--Gorgonzola cheese curing-room.]