THE CITY MILK SUPPLY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11647, 29 July 1903, Page 5

THE CITY MILK SUPPLY.

At a meeting of the Canterbury Dairymen's Association, held in the Zetland Anns Hotel last night, the Chairman (Mr C. Burgess) referred to a recent article appearing in "The Press" dealing with some prosecutions under the Dairy Inspection Act, and also certain other newspaper comments which had been published. He said that these articles were certainly not jrery encouraging to dairymen. "The Tress" article was not correct in stating that one person prosecuted was supplying the general public, because he had given up business as a milkman for several years, and now took his milk to a creamery. The dairymen of Christchurch had done their best to supply the very best milk to their customers, and as fur as he was aware the Dairy Inspector kept them up to the mark. They also possessed a very good herd for the city milk supply. Their cows were periodically inspected, and some of the sheds he had himself seen were clean enough for anyone to eat his dinner off the floor without first laying a tablecloth. The public hael nothing to complain of in their present milk supply, and to say the least, tho articles appearing were most uncalled for. Something had been said about pasteurised milk, but many authorities held that raw milk was the more healthful and nutritious food. What was wanted to protect themselves and the public was that all dairies should be put on the same footing, and thoroughly inspected, whether tliey supplied to the public direct or sent their milk to the creameries, or made it into butter. He would impress upon members of the Association to, as many already did, carry out the Act in its entirety, and invite the public to go to their dairies and see for themselves. Speaking of the clause compelling piggeries to be a certain distance from cowsheds, Mr Burge.ss said that at Sencliff Asylum, a Government Institution, the piggeries and cowsheds were under one roof.

Another member of the Association said whatever might be said of pasteurisation, one fact he could tell them, and that was that a dairyman's milk would keep better in summer than pasteurised milk.

Mr Burgess said the fact was that if milk w<is bad no machine could make it sweet. What they wanted to do, and were trying to do, was to supply good, pure milk to the public, and they welcomed inspection.