THE MILK STANDARD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 440, 24 February 1909, Page 5

THE MILK STANDARD.

WHAT FARMERS SAY. REQUIREMENTS TOO HIGH. At a .meeting of tho Farmers'.' Union at Pahiutua a committee appointed to. inquire irito the reasonableriess:of..the,milk standard as fixed by law submitted ,a report,, .of which tho following /summary iis reproduced from the "Pahiatua Herald : — - L :',TKo committee report 1 that,' from the; information' they have been ..able to gather in the'short, time, at-their disposal, .they - ■ are. convinced that- the /' present legal i standard in New Zealand /is. uHnecessarily -high. and: difficult to obtain.. This is borne out by the statement -of the;', local ; inspector that fully 25 per cent, of tho' cows m the Dominion do' • not come '..up: to the' required, standard, and ought to oo culled out—'wasters' he called them. - Your committee'find thai.in many of tho more'recent ,milking/competitions held-Mn../New-/Zealand and Australia several of .the . cows "placed -first- and,/second/ did /riot give 'mill: - rich enough in;: solids, to admit of its being sold for human consumption. . • '; • . ./ --/'/ ; ;,:• Tests Vary ,; "Not only this, but we find that a given : cow- ,mav - very materially ' alter in her 'solids' during a short period. .- For instance, in a careful tost extending"; over';, a', certain 'pdribd,- the morning :.Mtter-fat ; tests were as follow: —2.70, 2.35, 2.20, 2.05, -1.55, 2.15,' 8.10, .2.00, 3.10, and so on—a different ;test; each morning.-;. -This: cow, j perhaps.-'rthe'; best ■ cow. in {the/Australasian'colonies, . /is /a loiig -'way-below the.l;legal standard, : ;and, is a 'waster.'. . So;far as .wc have been', able : tci / gather,' =; the ./.recein'b, / prosecutions.through* out New /Zealand as. tho result of- the analyses have ' beeii 'forselling' milk slightly ~b3dw';"thiV, s taiiidafd, dence; of : the' urijustiiesa of,.this; standard we, .find ;in;fthe:; possibility.of, to'-day'ssmilk!;-,dif-fering: from.'to,-mpnow's; in : Mlids./r ; One/-inay; be 'the Jstandard,',';the : other];below;''i:t; A cow in the early period of lactation may frequently give Zmilk v below . the;'standard, .■whilo' ? lat»*'ori-'-Isho-:xriay--^iid-'/freqneiitly- ? 'dpeß'' —give milk much above the standard. No Standard In Denmark and Sweden. ; , •: "The' Danes; who are: tho milkmen of tho 'wbrtd)S ; : fore;-there"'is''no' legal standard ?for, milk:, in'; Denmark, 'except in ; ; thecity or . Copenhagen, where the fat standard'is fixed at 2.76-por cent., a standard so low that it can /be- ;obtained ,-very_ easily. In Sweden, again, no legal'.- limit ;is: fixed, as it is;: held that 1 it.: would ; be "a most/difficult:/matter :to fix- a fair one: on / account of the / variety. of breeds -of cows- Jin that - country . .The same thing - must surely - apply , .to, this ' : Domini6ri; : ; •for the: breeds of cows hore are legion. In Scotland tho, legal standard is fixed' at- 3.25 for; butter-fat: and 8;5; for solids . other/than butter-fat... - ' i/,/.;■■: v ; 'A-. Not a Question of Water.

"From these ■ comparisons, from tho fact that so . many good cows do not como' .up •to tho required standard, and. from" the statement of Mr. James, S.M., when giving judgment ;.in ; two recent,-': : prosecutions /ot ": local milk vendors, that ho had n<j> doubt : that 1 the milk ,t<ikenin,theso cases for analysis and found to bo bolow. the' legal standard .were i genuihe-.samples. of ■ puro milk ; : arid, unadulterated, ;we .-.are/convinced; that the: present standard;ought to-'be' reduMdy ifora is easily seen that hardship may bo, and often is, inflicted upon a milk vendor, who. perfectly;honest.man. ...It appears /also .; that it!-is:' quite'; possibl© ; for a. given'oah of - milk, te/'show,' on/:analysis, ''as -many, as v fou'r/dif-; .ferent. quantities of- solids. / Tho ' milk; at' the bottom much^'different. .Miaiysis/'fro^ down,-' and : the the', top .'may bo .'-quite : quantity-'of 'sofids ;from!:, ; .thel other ..two. .//-This goes . to' show -/how,; unsatis- ; factory, is the. method of taking samples." .. Tho Now Zealand Standard. ■ . ; > In commenting upon,tho report, Mr. WagstaffCsaid'that the -information "contained; in, it had been acquired - principally from tho Agricultural Department of Australia.' Tho legal; standard for : butt'er-fat; in New ..' Zealand was 3.25, but the; law, required that; the. proportion of other solids must bo in accordance with the butter : fat tost, so. that if a cow gavo a 6.00 test tho solids-not-fat "riiustbe proportionately greater/ The lawalso declared that a milk-vendor adulterated his imilk.' ; (whethef ;he/a'otu'ally; .did' so or 'hot); if ; triilk'. did-not como ,up'. to tho;'standard." [In " view; of. the' prosecutions . that ' were ,tak-. 'ing placo; all over/New Zealand, he thought • something . ought fto j bo done': to; put' .things• on a■ moro reasonable footing.. '- / : Solids-Not-Fat. Mr. Brechin said that, the cow whoso tests wore given in tho .report was. tho best cow in ;ftho,rGommonwealth;' /; The/.standard-"/for butter-fat in Now Zealand was 3.25 and for solids-not-f at/B.s;'''/ But ■if -. the 1 actual test '.of a sarnple. of/milk ; was .4.00 the. test for other, solids ~must: bo proportionately : higher;,' He considered - that neither /reasonablo: nor . fair..

■ Mr. Cooper said 'it was .'absurd,, because, an\ Ayhhire! ;co'w, .which (ho'. said) usually: gave the - most:casein; would' ' give ?morev solids:not-fat; .than. l was ; for '-.the buttor-fat test. ' '' ;-;v ' v,: 'i-.--10- Captain Whyte thought the report waß a very good-one, and' moved. a;vote of thanks to the' committee for.;' the,, trouble they had "gone to. in preparing it. •. The motion {was seconded by Mr. Cooper and carried. Referred to Health Department. I i'i Tlio i president suggested that the ■" committee should . mention in.' the report the -authorities which tfe,information cdntaindd.' : in it: ,was : obtained,- .and.;,that'' the, report ' should then l>o sent - to 1 the colonial; executive; of the union, with a .that; it bo forwarded to the Health Department. ■'. it' was 'decided to act. upon, tho suggestion. / -■