"The time required for the digestion of cheese varies with its age and as the fat more or less abounds; and, in a fairly good cheese of medium age it is from three and a half to four hours. New cheese and poor cheese require a longer time for digestion, inasmuch as they are masticated with greater difficulty. Old poor cheese also requires a longer time, for it is so hard as to be almost incapable of solution in the gastric juices, and if a good cheese is old and greatly decayed it plays the part of an irritant in the stomach, which may cause a form of indigestion, and be itself hurried through the stomach into the intestines so rapidly as to almost prevent its digestion. It is probable that the establishment of cheese factories in America and in this country will tend to produce cheese of more uniform quality. There are now nearly 2,000 such factories in the United States, and three or four have been opened in England during the last five years. It is necessary for their success that there should be good pasture land and plenty of water in the vicinity, and that the farmers should be able to take their milk to the factory while it is yet fresh and new. The manufacture of cheese by small farmers is not always effected in the most cleanly manner, and with the uncertainty of seasons, it is not always lucrative. Cream cheese is more digestible than ordinary cheese, because it is softer and may be readily masticated, and has a less proportion of casein. It is probable that its digestion is effected in from two to three hours." (Dr. Edward Smith, "On Foods," pp. 125 - 127.)