WHERE THE BUTTER IS GRADED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 92, 11 January 1908, Page 3

WHERE THE BUTTER IS GRADED.

ANVINTERESTINC PROCESS. ... SOME: i'OINTS, OF THE BUSINESS , . . ; DESCRIBED. , •■'' : ; i i. -• All. tho back of: tlie Government , railway '■ station-, at ;■ -Wellington,' skirted by a -sido , itrack, where freight , trucks" run,'is a tall, ' dingy .building, dusty as' the 'street itself, ;grcy as a London 'fog. Herein, on the' top 'floor,' .the butter graders work'.: -.'An .air. of mystery is imparted .'.'to the building by. the' apparent difficulty, of•'access. , On the' railway, side you climb upon ..a liar- ; row? wooden platform, 'alongside which the ; goods train ■■ halts;- and thence "the ' upper stories- riiay./be reached (if your agility is adequate) by . means of almost perpendicular . ■stairways. From the street below, you may ' •look up sometimes and. see a comely, youth- ' ful man', ruddy of countenance,-auburn and shapely as«-to moustache, whito .of uniform, sure-footed as a goat', climbing or descending i this, stairway. He needs all hi 3 surc-footed-.iiess:' Some day ho will mako a false stpp, and—there will be, a vacant gradership. Or you may be shown a narrow, dark'inner cor-' ridor, whence an upright ladder rises through the 'floor's above, and reaches by a director route tho same destination.' , "It is a short cut-," the man will say .to you, "but yon will ■ neck." . The. building extends through tp Waterloo Quay, and here another crooked but safer stairway leads up to the graders' office. But it is an office only, and ifeyou.art? looking for butter, you will have to descend again and risk your neck on one .of-.'thp-"..other, - routes: Why aro the.graders .thus- off from the; outer world?' - Are these: barriers merely accidental, that call for/removal? or. does New Zealand.de- , sire ;to repel irate-butter makers who may ' hayo been graded down among the "seventies," and provide, swift,means of ejectment? -.Obviously behind i such barriers there/is no danger of our butter graders becoming contaminated by-; influences from outside. The grading room ; itself—airy, cool, and ,very light—adjoins a freezing 'chamber, the •door, of which occasionally slides back to let a loa'dy of buttor: come, out for grading. A -whiff-.-of winter accompanies tho load. . Tho ; temperature inside'is-below, 12 degrees, and frost •• piakes curious outlines on the inner door; - : Step inside,but shut tlio door ; quickly. The hand.of winter passes over your, limbs with a- clammy : feci .that! makes ' you shiver, ■ and you .become conscious of a ■ soft, , crisp- sound , beneath-your feet as you .tread! on the frost. The icy air soaks pierc- - ingly through 1 your thick garments. They might'as l well be. but!a layer, of butter cloth! - The .shock is sonyewhat'pleasant for,a few moments in these; hot- days, but -by the time : you have walked over to . the thermometer - and taken its' reading, you are glad to-re-:tufri'to" the warmth, - and leave the taste-of, winter'to .the, menVwhoje .'livelihood ' takes them .'there! .. ■ The grading :room itself was once a freezing "chamber, -but. ; the ceiling has now'been : removed'and . the skylights sbuilt. Tlio walls aro'clean .and white; the solid wooden floor is. strewn '.with,.',boxes-, of- butter bound: for 'Britain,- and strong;'men,: with mallets ..and .! broad-edged .chisels,.-make, much noise while they'lay'them out' in;-rows:..fdr the'graders, . ;and" lift np ithe : lids. '-In each 'row 'the steii- • ciljed"■■ ends: are.-.turried outwards" in 'order; ■that, after., grading; ..the;. brands may ; be ! :quickly. seen; for ,'ejitry tho grade note; 'But.'befo'ro and during, grading! ,a long board is",clamped' -over.' all.;tho stencil marks',!and :the. grader .'sees- nothing, hub wood. and ; paper . and abutter.'. >• All. idenf ificat-ioii marks - are ' hidden!', .. . _•....! , . . .; . '. ';Hoiy"!docs "he .grade?/'and'.what.'qualities ;dbes-..a-. gwdgi; .ppediito: .At : him ,'for.'-liis..task ?. • A keen.,h6so7/a*'!healthy.'palafe!''a 'li'iibwledge . ■ of,''odours and :_flav,gurs,'-and : 'what.'.they 'mean, : a .power .to' (discriminate between' a. flavour : : th'at:_w;ll; improve I'.aijd.'one -'tliat!. will, de- . ,'preciatej .'a.,'grasp,'d,f .market .''requirements . •and'-popular tastc's. - "Ho'needs''to be a con-;noisseur-from end',to. end. -And lie' needs ■a .stoinacb that can: stand butter. He . eats; in the course of a year, .between 'meal hours, two- solid' hundredweights of butter —four boxfuls,, and without, bread 1.-It is true that ; lie does not,swallow it all.- He chews it, 1 jtiirris it over "on his /tohgiic, deliberates, ' smacks "his lips, 'arid! finally ejects it into 1 a neat little box of; sawdust provided, for the. I purpose.' He devours butter in, this .-way 1 for six days a week, and eight months in . the year, at a .speed'of at ,least .a pound a ' day. , two solid hundredweights per annum of Now Zealand butter,, mostly first grade, .• ! worth over £11 on the English market, . wasted in a sawdust bos! , ■ ~. . . . Grading is. expensive', work.; Beside the loss of butter just indicated, and the graders', , salaries, there are half-a dozen men'seen ' in tho graders' room handling the boxes for -. the various processes, and there .are other i brawiiv arms at work oil the. cargoes in the ■ lower -stories. Tho-handling, and haulage,' ; iand storage in freezing chambers' are a . charge, on the owners of .the butter,, but the , -.services ■ of the graders ' themselves, and ; , ;their incidental expenses, are paid'for by a I ;generous country, .which, counts the cost'as ; ,cheap against the benefit derived. Grad- ! ing is tlio New Zealand' dairy industry • 'advertisement, and, though all. advertisements cost 'money, advertising pays. ' Watch'the grader at.his'work. What are . ibis equipment? A ; no : se, a pala>te, and'a ;ghoulish-Jookiiig " tryer "—each well sharpj. : ened—seem to be'the sole essefitial parts of , a; butter-grader. The. tryer is an instrument I 18in, long; like a hollthved' chisel, with which |- ' the; grader, stabs .the butter, to its innermost , parts. ,Ho. gives tho tryer:,a twist, and with- , draws a : quarter of n pound of' glistening ! butter. The butter' withdrawn is a complete - scction of the boxful from top to ' bottom. It lays ,bnre all its faults. New. | Zealand butter is one of the few tilings in the world -that cannot bo faked by the j makers. With a swift .movement- the grader passes the tryer,with its freight past the tip of his nose,; absorbing the odours' in a .long breath. It is a singular ■ operation,, and if you are a novice you: start-with approhchl sion lest butter, and nose should meet. liut ' your fear is groundless. Graders apparently ! have a steady hand,'and can approach, to within a millimetre of the butter without actual contact. Von wonder next —especially if you'are a lady—if graders should be allowed to wear moustaches. But then, if you ret fleet,. it' will occur to' you' that- probably a r good many moustaches, not half as'neat, will r hang over that, box of. butter before, it is finally split up in London for consumption. So one refrains from suggesting that any. f Government should pass such drastic Icgis- . lation as to restrict graders' billets to clcanc lipped youth: i The smelling over—and it takes but fi s moment—the grader takes a thimbleful of buttor from tbo tryer'. and submits it to his i, palate. He is a gentleman who thinks hard s and talks little. Occasionally, as he hands p tho tryer to his colleague for confirmation, i. lie-will comment .briefly:— ", • • [j "Second grade on tlio nose," or "Salt, a t triflo gritty, or "A good butter, that." a And tho colleague will pass ' tho tryer _ across his noso, and roll a pellet of butter _ around his tongue, and .deliberate and smack 1 his lips—or pull a grimace, as tho case may be—and confirm,. Then the "points" aro entered on the grade-sheet for tho informa- . tion of-the'London buyers,-and at-tho bottom the comment is written. The comment is for the. benefit of' the -butter-maker,- who will tear it- oft' and perhaps preserve it if it is g 'complimentary, or puzzle his head'over it'if -it is -bads : And finally,'when'the wliole row 6' .is judged, the board- that hides the stencil p marks is. pulled down,-and the brand'is read • and entered, up. d One box from each churning is brought >' in for this examination. Tho churmugs are d marked' on the boxes. Thus "I—3—l" !- means ■ that' it' belongs to the first churning >f of. tho third .day,of January. .."2—3—1." o would be' the mark 'on the boxes of the ?r senoiid churning. of that (lav. Occasionally y little tin dockets ' are fixed to the boxes. 1- This announces the terrible fact that the 1- butter is judged to be second grade. Some ?. factory manager will he puzzling his head io' to-morrow, and thinking Government graders ly are " not much class." Alongside is a lino ;s of half a dozen boxes of butter of rare excellence. The grader has smacked bis lips

with some emotion over tliis, and, on tho pretenco of verifying his opinion, lias gone back for. a'second taste. ..Finally, remarking with'great fervour, "It does me good I" lie. aWarils it top points for the season —9G — 'ahfl' -thereby commits an net of justice of wliicli. Governn.ient graders are-held to be ; rarely guilty. '■ There will he excitement .ill sprite factory * t.o-niorrr\jv, and some. crusty manager will admit that at last the,graders • have known a good butter when they saw it-Vand tasted it.. ;A ■ slight- difference of treatment' in ' extended to farmers' butter and milled butter. What ;a>rcfleotipn -upon good'farmers' butter to 'class it. with milled' stuff 1 Every box-of these makes 'is examined., Here- is a. box of : milled butter, 'just opened. It must have , been .lying in that for a long time, for the whole, of the side is black with mildew. The paper has become decomposed, -and a ■ largo lump of.the .butter has come away stuck to the wood. Here is another box of milled, butter. It is clean and firm, . and g6od-looking. : But—smell it! Whew!/' .It will'take-your breath away. Jt is " all in the smell." ■ - ' The gra'ders. are'not compelled to. taste. ■ They would probably strike rather than do • so.; .'lf,,Mr. M'Nab' ever has trouble with his ' .graders, it will be only necessary for him to say, quite' softly, I think it'desirable that in future milled butter should bo .tasted," and-there will at once be peace! . There, is a butter known in Europe, as Paris Fresh." It is classed as superior to. the-very best grades'of-ordinary .butter, and is made up in pound rolls and packed in 241b boxes! It is saltless. There were a few boxes of this class of butter, from one well-known maker, in tbo grading room at . the. .time when the facts for this notice were obtained. Ono of the graders, who appeared to admire the article greatly, said it was now selling:in London at 118s. "It is," he said, N "tile kind of butter that would be put before you- in tlio very best London hotels. It is tho 'butter you would receive, in the'best I'ari* restaurants on your French rolls. Try-this and imagine what it is like with a good French-roll."