What did the piece of cheddar say to the ghost? Don’t scare me—I’m Lac-ghost intolerant!
Welcome to episode 63 in our podcast, Life in the Talbot Settlement!
Before we delve into the process of cheese making and cheese factories in our area, we must first recognize those who helped establish the dairying industry in Canada. Women were the backbones of dairying before the first cheese factories were established in Upper Canada. Though the main purpose was to provide the household with cheese, butter, and cream -often done in the farmhouse kitchen- it also provided an opportunity for the women to create an income. Despite the women being able to generate a surplus, they rarely made enough to update their equipment, as they often traded in small sums. The market in dairy grew in the mid 1800s, and so cheese making transitioned from the farm to the factory, almost completely erasing women from the dairying industry.
The first cheese factory in the district was established by John S. Pearce in 1865 and named the Tyrconnell Cheese Factory. At this time, cheese boxes were not available in the whole of Elgin County, so Mr. Pearce and his workers had to make the long and slow journey to Ingersoll and back to obtain them. Before John S. Pearce, in the Agricultural Census of 1861, it notes that the farm of Mrs. Lydia Patterson produced 3000 pounds of cheese that year. This suggests that the Patterson farm was providing much of the cheese before the arrival of a proper factory. In 1883, Alvro Keillor purchased the factory from John Pearce and moved the business to Wallacetown on the corner of Talbot and Pierce Streets. The lot had previously housed a lodge hall. This relocation facilitated the flow of customers in and out of the property. It is this cheese factory that we will be mainly focusing on today.
Alvro Keillor and his wife Ada, owner and operator, owned about a dozen cows which were kept in a barn during the winter. In the warmer months, they were moved to the Gunn farm to graze the pastures. To increase the milk flow, Mr. Keillor decided to build a silo. This silo, along with one John S. Pearce constructed, was one of the first silos in the township. Mr. Pearce made his circular, while Keillor made a tall square structure. It was double boarded and painted with tar on the inside. Keillor’s daughter noted in the Tweedsmuir History of Wallacetown Community that Neighbours were not too thrilled about this building as it was quite the big eye sore. The silo eventually turned into an icehouse, as ice was a very important factor in the curing stage of cheese making. In later years, the silo would change its purpose again into a horse stable.
So, how did the Wallacetown cheese factory operate? Local families such as the Pearce’s, Docker’s Gow’s, and the McKillop’s would bring their milk directly from their farms to the factory. Customers could drive in from Talbot Street to the weigh stand then make their way around a corner to retrieve their whey before leaving out the gate onto Pierce Street. These gates had to be closed in the evenings or else the gardens would be no more, due to the habit of the townspeople letting their cows out to roam the village. Others that lived greater distances away would make use of their farm hands in transporting the milk. Trenum Shipley from Eagle, Billie Patterson from Hogg Street West, Peter Cameron brough neighbours’ milk from Clay Street West, Thomas Wooldridge from Shakleton Street West, Jack Galbraith Shakleton Street East, Jonah Page Lake Road West, Charles Bradt Lake Road East, and James Small brought 12-15 cans with a team of horses from Back Street. It was usually around 9:30 before all the milk was in the factory and operations began. If farmers couldn’t make it out to the factory, at 5am the young Keillor boys would hitch the horses and ready the wagon with return cans filled with whey to be left at the farmers stands. The boys would then pick up the cans of milk the farmers had left in exchange for the old whey cans and set off for home before having breakfast and walking to school, as at this time bicycles were not available. The cheese factory building was a rather large two-story structure. The making of cheese took place on the bottom floor, while the upper floors were used as living quarters.
Running from spring to early November, cheese making was quite the laborious job. The task was down to a science. One memory from Mrs. Emryn Lucas, recalls some farmers topping up their milk cans with water to make weight. This trick however, messed with the cheese making process, and the accused party was so offended they went to court over it. Occurrences like this stopped soon after, with the development of the Babcock tester. The Babcock tester enabled cheesemakers to test the milk cans by measuring the fat contents. This allowed for cheesemakers to now pay the farmers supplying the milk according to the fat that was registered. During the off season, Mr. Keillor kept busy cutting wood which would be used during the cheese making months by the furnaces and vats.
By the end of the year, everyone from Wallacetown gathered in the old town hall and held an annual meeting. At this meeting, Mr. Keillor would give a report on that years’ work. This included how many pounds of cheese were made and the price of the cheese that was sold. Emryn Lucas recalled that one year it was approximately 8-9 cents a pound for patrons and 15 cents for the retail stores. It is said that at one of these meetings, a farmer brought up the invention of the cream separator and discussed the money that could be made making butter instead of cheese. Thus, Alvro took a course in Strathroy and changed the family business to butter making.
This change was not too difficult, as the milk vats that was previously used for cheese, could be used to hold cream. Cream was collected from the local farms less often than it was milk. This was done once in the winter and a little more often in the summer months. This must have been a relief to the Keillor kids, who previously had to wake up bright and early every day to collect. By this point in time, the old democrat wagon was replaced with a Ford car that the family named “Buttermilk Special”.
A few kilometres away, there was some tough competition. Mr. Downham from Strathroy built a creamery in Dutton in 1914, causing business at the Wallacetown factory to slow down. The factory ran for a few years longer until 1918, when it was sold to R. E. Fraser of the Dutton Creamery. At this time, Keillor and his son, Stanley, switched professions and went into the poultry business, converting the factory building into a chick hatchery which they called “Keillor’s Hatchery”.
In today’s episode we focused mainly on the Keillor Cheese Factory in Wallacetown, however, there were many other cheese factories that operated over the years. In Crinan, there was a factory established by R. S. McMillan in 1873 and another run by James McLean located across from the old church. In Iona Station Archibald Black built a factory south of the tracks and a few years later the business was taken over by W. H. Ostrander. In Largie, a cheese factory was operated by Alexander Williams and located south of the main corners.
Now we will briefly explain the basics of the cheese making process facilitated by many factories. First the milk would be received at the factory and weighed. In factories with two deliveries a day, cheese makers usually kept the night’s cheese and combined it with the next morning’s delivery. After which, the milk was delivered to a large vat, where the temperature would be raised. Tests were applied to the milk to assess the acidity of the milk. Once the milk had shown the required acidity, rennet (enzymes from the cow’s stomach) was added, bringing the contents to coagulation in approximately 30-60 minutes. Coagulation is the process where milk separates into curds and whey. If the acidity of the milk is not sufficient, the milk is left to ripen, and a fermentation starter could be added. A fermentation starter is made up of pasteurized milk and pure culture. The next step in the cheese making process is known as “cutting the curd”. The purpose of this was to remove the whey. When the curd is hard enough, a horizontal knife is passed lengthwise down the vat and then the perpendicular knife is used crosswise and lengthwise. This leaves the curd in cubes, which were often further crumbled into small bits. After cutting is finished, stirring begins. After about 10 minutes of stirring gently, the curd becomes firmer and more vigorous stirring can commence as heating progresses. Around 3 hours after the rennet is added to the milk and the acidity level is developed, the whey should be removed. As the whey is being removed, the curd is placed on racks. After this, the curd would be ready for pressing and moulding. After being pressed for ten minutes, the curds would be ground again and salted evenly, then pressed for another two or three days before moving to the drying/curing room. The cheese would be usable within 3-4 days, but for “delicious” cheese, it would be left to cure for 6 months.
While this curing is happening, it was common practice to bandage or oil the cheese with butter, to prevent cheese flies and other unpleasant things from taking up residence. Oiling was more common for smaller cheeses, but it had to be turned and checked and rubbed down daily to ensure that it kept the correct amount of moisture.
Finally, cheese had to be packaged and sent to market. Cheese boxes had to be fit perfectly: too small and the cheese would get stuck, but if it was too big then the cheese would knock around and get damaged. It was also common practice to put a brand or print on your packaging with the name of the factory/dairymen, like the Pearce Cheese Factory logo on the wall of our Agricultural Center. In this exhibit you can also see an example of a cheese box, a factory milk can, and many other dairying artifacts.
Before we end, the cheese making process that was discussed in this episode describes practices from the 1800’s. Keep in mind that the process of making cheese in the 21st century is much different, as science and technology has evolved. Even during this period, researchers and renowned cheesemakers were debating and reconsidering things like temperatures to work at, timing, good qualities of milk, cleanliness, and many other parts of the process. We are not in any way condoning making your own cheese at home without researching the proper steps, tools and health and safety requirements.
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