THE BUTTER TASTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 56, 7 March 1929, Page 11

THE BUTTER TASTERS.

SOUNDS RATHER CLOYING.

JOB FOR THE DAIRYMAN.

People who are fond of good New I Zealand butter should have been down I at the grading stores of the Dairy Divi- j sion of the Department of Agriculture, 1 in the Freezing Company's works at the i head of King's wharf. About forty men ! hung over a row of butter boxes laid out ! on the floor, each lid knocked off, the ] paper turned back disclosing 501b of the If appetising stuff which means prosperity i or hard times, especially to this part of j the Dominion, where we milk so many j cows. At the end of the row was a; I neat-handed grader, dressed in white.'} With a long narrow scoop he dived into j i the middle of the golden square, gave a j twist of th« wrist, and drew out a "plug" ■ I or "bore" of butter about 10in long. The ' j attendant' ranks produced little tin I j instruments like a doll'e shoehorn, each I in turn scooped off a helping from the I plug," and solemnly proceeded to appar- j f ently eat it. j | They were testing butter, comparing; j notes as to the grading, and talking j about characteristics and other points I which, don't trouble the person who only! I knows butter as something to spread on { bread. It looked a rather cloying sort j of job, but if you observed closely you f would see that the butter was not eaten.- { After rolling the morsel round the 1 palate, and triturating it with the ! ] tongue, each taster deliberately ejected j the unassimilated portion, sawdust- j filled boxes being placed at convenient j intervals for the purpose. It rather i reminded one of a bar parlour. |{ "Ah, soda here, Bob!" said one of theij connoisseurs, with his head on one side,'! laf ter a big bite. j ] "No, I think not; unsalted butter! f always has a sort of flatness, you know." j 1 And so it went on. Right through the 11 boxes the ranks went, and after listen- f ing to the remarks and comments one ] realised that there is more in butter j than stickiness. { The cheese-tasters had a rather less 1 1 cloying job. From time to time a grader,! would come in with a tray bearing strips'_ j of plank about 6in wide. A double row j of nails, driven in like hat pegs, served j to hold dozens of little rolls of cheese, a bit thicker than a lead pencil, which had been drawn by scoops like those used for butter, but in miniature. These gentlemen did not use the sawdust j boxes. ; I This testing was the preliminary gathering of the conference of the Dairy Managers' Association, which opened j at Auckland this morning. One could j not help being impressed by the fine class of men engaged in turning out one of our great sources of national wealth.'