DAIRYING RESEARCH

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 124, 28 May 1938, Page 17

DAIRYING RESEARCH

N.Z. INSTITUTE HELPS PRODUCER

DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESSES

KNOWLEDGE ESSENTIAL TO PROGRESS

During recent years there ha» been much evidence of the New Zealand Institute's help to the primary producer of this country. The development of the processes of dairying from the stage of a labour to that of a science has been recognised in many parts of the world for some time, and where this recognition has been practical, °»'T factory workers have been given an understanding of the processes which are utilised, and consequently a greater measure of control over those processes. In common with other parts of the world, New Zealand has its institute, the work of which is research into dairying science. Not only has this institute carried out much research on its own account, but it has been quick in selecting and adopting promising innovations emanating from other countries, particularly America. There is a limit to the degree to which the results of work in other countries can be adopted, however, and, in any case, leadership in industry can never be gained or maintained by waiting for others to provide knowledge essential to progress.

The New Zealand Dairy Research Institute was founded in 1027 as a branch of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, under the control of the management committee, including representatives of both the Government and the dairy industry, and it was located at Massey Agricultural College at Palmerston North to avoid as far as possible the duplication of buildings and farm. The institute is now able to use the milk produced from the college herd under carefully controlled conditions and to conduct research in the experimental factory.

The counterpart in New Zealand of similar research organisations which have existed in America and European countries for many years, the institute is a recognition on the part of the industry, of the necessity for an orderly investigation of problems by the scientific method.

Although the industry in this country has in the past successfully embarked on many new developments, the knowledge underlying these was directly the result of scientific investigation in other countries. New Zealand butter makers and cheese makers deserve every credit for their alacrity in selecting and adapting these developments, for they proved themselves alert to the possibilities of new apparatus and methods, and, with the aid of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, they were able to mould the progress of the industry to suit New Zealand's individual requirements. But there is a limit to which these overseas developments may be adapted.

It is an important function of an organisation such as the institute to act as a clearing house for information and as a place where new information is collected for use when the occasion arises. Knowledge which appears to have no practical application to-day may be the key to a mighty problem to-morrow.

No review of the work of the institute could give adequate recognition to the vast amount of research undertaken, for research has to explore many possible avenues of usefulness, some of which may prove quite unprofitable. And the institute must be always on the alert watching the possibilities of new developments.

The institute has also found it necessary to do a considerable amount of educational work. There is no power to compel those engaged on the technical side of the industry to adopt modifications and improvements in technique. Education and persuasion are necessary. In this lies one of the greatest advantages of the location of an institute at an agricultural college, for the research workers are in touch with students, many of whom will occupy managerial positions in the future. In addition to this, dairy factory managers are invited to visit the institute for a week in May each year, this meeting serving as a valuable point of contact between those at the institute and the practical workers of the industry on whom lies the responsibility of putting the latest developments into direct application.

Since the foundation of the institute in 1927, a vast amount of experimental work on butter has been carried out. Repeated experiments in sending to the English market a highly flavoured butter of the Danish type showed that it was impossible to carry such a product halfway round the world and land it in good condition. Nevertheless, a butter with a fuller flavour is sull hoped for, and experiments are being continued by the institute.

All this is based on the quality of the cream delivered to the factories, and appeals are continually being made to the producers to supply the best possible article.