A PERMANENT BUTTER EXHIBITION.

Bay of Plenty Times, 24 April 1890, Page 1

A PERMANENT BUTTER EXHIBITION.

The Danes are ever on the alert to adopt any means that will enable them to iirprove and develop the da?r< n<z industry, so as to compel sue -e^«*"nlly with othfT countries. TVv have now arranged to hold a contiguous butter show at the expend of the State dnring several months of each year. Fresh samples of butter will be accepted erery fourteen days, to remain on exhibition until the j v dges , have given their decisions; firstly/ on the sample as jecetved j and secondly, 'fourteen days later. The caaks of- butter will be submitted to the judges in no par- , ticiiUr order, and $o Jtwansed thaj; it v wilt ; be im possible for'tbetn td bg>j guided in toeir decisions by any out- ! ward sign or mark. The treatment of exhibits and precautions adopted to secure absolute fairness in awards may be briefly referred to. Every eask^ia to be weighedvon receipt, fiwt in bnlk, an& then the 1 rately. The hoops at one end having been removed, th% cask; with contents replaced, is lifted on to a funnelshaped stand made of tin, in the bottom of which is a locked receptacle, containing ft glass bottle to receive the brine or water which percolates through* the loosened staves. When the judges go their rounds, the cask . itself will be further entirely concealed from view in a tin cover secured by lock and key to the stand above mentioned. An aperture at the top allows th© contents to be tested. The-flocond test is made after an interval of two weeks, in order to more fully determine the character of the butter, aa well as of the loss of weight which feequentfy arises daring transport from the dairy to the merchamtaVwarehouses. In order to check the exhibition of specially prepared butter, there is a regulation that dairymen desiring to take part in the shows must, on the same day as they receive a request by letter or telegram, send in a cask of ready made butter, and undertake [this as often as required. Further, |t is stipulated that the butter must not be pressed or kneaded again after receipt of the notice; and that comfating dairies furnish a return of feeding and system generally followed on the ten, with especial reference

to tbe week during which the cask was sent in. From a comparison of the feeding in the different dairies, it is expected to gain a valuable insight into the iufluence of certain food on the quality of butted "Within scarcely more than the. first fortnight 360 dairies hare entered £6t competion. The butter received is paid for at cunent market price, the authorities also defraying carriage. As the same dairy will send in butter several times in the course of the year, great facilities will be afforded for ascertaining which are tho best managed dairies, or the reverse ; and in this way reliable information will be forthcoming as to where the art of butter making can best be learnt. The expense of the exhibition is provided for by a special G-orernment grant.