SCOTTISH SALVAGE METHODS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 264, 20 August 1936, Page 8

SCOTTISH SALVAGE METHODS.

JJV/V 1 * AMIA Uiiu i livu tawi/wt THREE TONS OF BUTTER DAILY. UTILISING SECONDARY PRODUCT At a time when the English Nlilk Board is slowly extending its manufacturing facilities it is of interest to learn what the Scottish Board is doing in the same direction. -An important addition in the north to the resources in the marketing of milk and in the manufacture of milk products will he the new Hoggonfield depot, shortly to bo .put into full, operation, states a British, journal. Hogganfield is near Glasgow. The object of the Board in adding this depot to their chain of creameries is to facilitate the balancing of liquid supplies for the large consuming centre of that city and to engage in the production of fresh cream and butter from the whole milk and of milk powder and casein from the resultant skim milk. The new depot will supersede that at present rented in the city. At the beginning of the Scottish scheme, the Board took over almost a score of creameries, principally from farmers’ co-operative societies. These creameries were mainly located in Ayrshire and the south-western comities of Scotland. The Board has since addressed itself to a reorganisation of these creameries in order that each may be adapted more to specialised production. The new Hoggonfield depot is one of four that will he devoted largely to butter-making.

Forty Tons a Week. It is calculated that as a whole Great Britain produces just slightly less than 10 per cent of her butter requirements; Scotland’s contribution to her own butter needs will be relatively on a smaller scale. The Board’s aim is to produce 40 tons of butter weekly this summer marketing under a trade mark. The Hogganfield depot consists ol a central two-storey block with singlcstorev wings on either side. The upper storey of the central block is roolcd with glass. The two wings are equipped as the processing departments. The depot is able to handle approximately 20,000 gallons of milk daily, most of which will be transported by road direct from farm.

For tlie manufacture of butter the milk is separated and the cream leaves the separator on the upper floor, is pas- 1 teurised and gravitates to ripening vats situated on the ground floor adjoining the butter-making room, thence to two churns. When the churning operations have, been completed an analyst tests the butter for moisture content preparatory to packing into 'lcwt or 56, 28 or 1.41 b boxes.

Tho butter is then placed in cold storage, where is it conditioned 'before it is dispatched to the Board’s central grading station in Glasgow. The churning capacity of tho plant is from 2t to 3 tons of butter per day. Milk Powder and Casein. The utilisation of the secondary products from milk-processing is important if the fullest returns from the raw material are to be obtained for tho producers. Hogganfield depot lias capacity for the daily manufacture of 14,000 gallons of skim milk into powder and casein. The powder is made by means of the roller process and is packed for the trade in lewt paperlined bags. For the manufacture of either rennet or edible casein the creamery is equipped with three circular copper vats in which the skim milk is heated to rennetting temperature and the casein precipitated. After precipitation the casein is washed on a cooler, pressed to remove moisture, milled, dried and sifted. The water for washing the casein is thermostatically controlled and gravitates from roof tanks. The casein is packed in ljcwt cwt cottorlined bags for the further wide range of manufacture.

The skim milk turnover in a day’s processing is sufficient to produce approximately 2i tons of powder and approximately If tons of casein.

In recent controversies it has been suggested that it would be better that the public should consume milk direct rather than that the surplus should be made into umbrella handles. This statement obviously refers to the manufacture of casein, but the public are apt to be misled. The class of milk used in the making qf casein is not fresh whole milk, but is skim milk only. The Board have entered upon the manufacture of casein as a salvage operation in order to utilise the resources of milk to the last extremity. Already by salvaging three residues the Board have already effected a saving of £55,000 annually.