NEW ZEALAND DAIRY PRODUCE.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13152, 26 June 1908, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND DAIRY PRODUCE.

Tho first of tho experts of the Department of Agriculture sent Home to examine and report upon our produce on arrival and enquire into the wants of the market, lias returned. Mr D. Cuddie, the Dairy Commissioner, who represented his branch of the Department's work, arrived on Wednesday, ond yesterday visited tho National Dairy Show at Palmerston North. The opportunity was thus afforded him, without losing time,, to give an account of his mission, tho results of which havo boon anticipated witli great interest by those engaged in the dairy industry. Mr Cuddie, it appears, bad not much that is new to dtisclose, or, rather, he did not, in. the address ho gave, bring out any fresh information beyond details that are chiefly of interest to tliose immediately concerned in the maiuifacturo and shipping of our dairy product-. Tho keynote of his address was "quality," for, as he remaxked, it teFts all tlie time. He has able to give the assurance that the host of our butter and cheeso is highly spoken of at Home, and! if the lower grades can bo brought up to a good or fair standard the reputation of our produce as a "wiiolo would be second to nono. The value of Mt Cudidie's- trip Home lies in tho fact t-Evt be now better undor--ixmds what those in the trade at the other end require. Ho has discovered what are the defects that need remedying and with, the knowledge that be and his experts have of tho processes of rrranufacture, there should be no doubt about the lines upon which they will have to work to secure the doaired improvements. There appear to be two chief points upon which attention requires to be specially directed. One is in regard to that highly objectionable flavour that sometimes develops in butter known as ' _shiness," becauso of its rceom-lance to the smell and taste of fish oil, and the other relates to tlie condition of choose on shipment. Tho former is perhaps tho most difficult problem, because, so fat, no scientist has been able to do more than suggest that it is caused by a putrefactive germ. The lengthy timo that colonial butter takes to reach the Homo market allows tho objectionable flavour to develop to a greater extent than in other makes on tho Home market, though Mr Cuddio found that it is not unknown in Danish butter. The only known remedy at present is to o_erci_c care to preserve milk and cream: from contamination, or to pasteurise the cream, the latter course being rocomroended by Mr Cuddio in tho case of those factories whose output is liable to -, develop tho objectionable flavour. The chief cause of complaint against our cheese is that much of it is apparently shipped too soon after manufacture, and before it is properly matured. The question of the tempera turo at which tho cheese is carried on tho direct liners also comes into this question., Mr Cuddie supports the South Island branch of the National Dairy Association in their demand for the use of a thermograph, or self-re-gistering thermometer, to chock tho temperature in tho holds in which tho cheese is carried. This instrument is used on all steamers carrying Canadian cheeso this season. Our cheeso last season was not, as a whole, up to tho usual standard of late years, and the opinion was expressed at Homo that quality had been sacrificed to quantity. There may be something in tho contention that tho conversion of so many butter factories last year into cheese factories, aud the consequent difficulty of getting sufficient expert hands to do the work of manufacture, has caused the failing off in quality of somo of our cheese. No doubt Mr Cuddie will report more fully to the Minister in char_o of bis Department, but from the information ho has already given it is apparent that his mission should boor good result. j