ITEMS OF INTEREST

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXV, Issue 12255, 19 February 1937, Page 2

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Freezing Milk. After several years of experimental work, the United Stales Bureau of Dairy Industry announces a method of keeping milk fresh for long periods by a simple process of concentrating and freezing it. Ordinarily. when milk freezes the emulsion is destroyed and the thawed product is not the same in its physical properties as the original milk. But the bureau has found that by concentrating the milk to one-half to one-third of its original volume it can be frozen without injuring its original properties. In the process, the fresh whole milk is pasteurised, condensed, and packed in suitable containers. It is then frozen and held at effective keeping temperatures. The frozen milk may be shipped long distances and held for weeks until ready for use.

.Stoat Attacks Pheasants. A resident of Ngongotaha Valley on Sunday was given first hand evidence of the destructiyeness of stoats in levying toll upon game birds. He was attracted by the excitement of a hen pheasant in one of his paddocks and on investigating discovered that a stoat was attacking the pheasant’s clutch of chicks. He immediately returned to the house and secured a gun with which he shot the stoat but not before it had killed one of the pheasant chicks and devoured the head. Stoats are reported to be plentiful in the district and the same farmer reports that he has on several occasions noticed that the number of young quail has been reduced, presumably as a result of the stoat’s depredations. The 11 ig Viaduct. The progress of the railway is the main interest to motorists using the highway between Gisborne and Napier and the construction of the Mohaka viaduct to the south of Wairoa attracts the attention of all. At first sight from the Gisborne approach the viaduct is outlined on the skyline and gives an impression of frailness, but on closer inspection the piers, with their mass of cross-tied steelwork, do not fail to impress on the minds of motorists the strength of the construction. ‘Hobbcr Pukekos. In view of the damage being caused by pukeko and the substantial increase in their numbers, the Wanganui Acclimatization Society has requested the Government to allow a short open season oi ten days from May 1. Pukeko are very numerous in the Wanganui district, where they cause a good deal of damage to farm crops. This bird has been known to disturb the nests of duck, both wild and domestic. It is also under suspicion as a destroyer of pheasants’ eggs, but the Wanganui Society has no direct evidence as to its depredations in this connection. It is believed, however, that a short open season, as suggested, would be the most effective way of keeping t{ie birds in check.