Temperatures and Shrinkage

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1160, 22 June 1911, Page 8

Temperatures and Shrinkage

' It has been frequently implied by those interested in the,dairy industry that tho produce shipped by the forl'nightly steamers under contract with the N.D.A. was not carried at. the temperatures specified. Further, than, this, when complaints have been made by consignors that their consignment's" had not realised the prices anticipated, it was alleged in defence that the quality of the goods had. been detrimentally. affected during transit by defective 'temperatures. It will be admitted, by all that the above are two important points'which should, as far as possible, be cleared up. There' was also the further question to determine—that of "shrinkage.", ..What.is the actual loss per cwt. on * cheese as between the time of shipment, at Wellington and delivery at London docks? It will, of course, be admitted' that this is a matter: of vital interest to the shipper. . •. ■ In - connection with the "ocean transit of cheese, N'ew Zealand has been. (for. the last. .20 years) carrying out a great experiment.' ''Before, leaving Wellington for London in -December, 1910, 1.-obtaincd permission from ■ the agents of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion'. .Company, to take independent, records of, the.dairy-; produce shipped per s.s. Tainui on the voyage to London. This had. never previously been done. The shipment consisted .of 59,714 1-o.xes of butter, and. 14,313 crates of cheese. The tests consisted of .twenty records taken during .the voyage at such times during the day as were considered advisable and, occasionally, the.thennometers used wero checked to prove their temperature ..of,',..butter received'for ■ shipment at-Wellington was as follows:—Auckland Sodeg. fahr,; New PJymo'utii,. 28deg.. Falir.: Piitea, 3Qdeg. Tahr.j Wellington., 20deg. Fahr. In all 110 records were registered, the.maximum being. 19 , degrees • on December 30,, and the. day after departure,' and, the minimum 90dcg. : on; January' 2, 1911. The average • was from : 12deg. to' 13deg. It' may .therefore be accepted as a fact that every care is exercised in t'lie oversight cud attention given to butter and, without exception, .the conditions of the contract are fully complied with. "Following- the method adopted in re-, ference to butter it is. necessary .to state that 'the temperature of cheese, as forwarded for -shipment,--was from:—Auckland; 6Sdeg. I'ahr:; New Plymouth. 68 dog. Fahr.; Patea, -TOdeg. Fahr.; Wellington,- GGdeg. Fahr.. The average • ranged from -70deg. to 71deg: Naturally more records -were taken of -the cheese than of the butter chambers. In all 135 were examined and tabulated, the highest being'66deg. on-December 30, and the' lowest'-' 45deg. on January 23, 1911. With cheese shipped, at' 71deg'.,: jt is impossible (and not-.-advisable) to reduce this temper 7 ature rapidly to that required by-the con-' tTact. Naturajly it will be asked: Why not-, the chcese chamber be reduced wit'h as little, delay as possible to' between 45 degrees; and'so? The answer .is-'.that, the cheese, beiitg solid with a.'circumference, of 43.1 inches and a depth of If'inches, would'so chill on the outside as to pre-' vent' the evaporation . 6t. heat from the centre. This would have a,-fendency;to keep the outside in' an immature condition, whilst' the inside '.would develop and' inatUre 'at a.greater ratio,, and consequently, lie. uneven in ripeness. In about' 11. to 1G days after departure this heat has been extracted, and the chambers are kept fairly: uniform., ...

"After".describing, the,'system in vogue on'the.Tainui:to..r.ednce and control temperature,'by .'.the play of ai.r, Mr.' Harkness continued: ''Now the'lesson to be mastered' and', put 'into. practice is that the 'manufactured, article .should be allowed a. greater-length of time to mature in-the .factory beforo being weighed and cased :for 'shipment. -If the cheeso were shipped in a less green', condition, - tho shrinkage between the weighing and sbinment ivould.bb less: It would save freight" .payable, by. tho shipper, reduce the shrinkage whilst in .transit; aiid the total, loss 'debited against a .consignment in this .'connection (as between . the factory and- the actual weight, at.'which the cheese is,-sold). should not in any, case cxcred one pound per cwt. From the experiment' niacle, it would "appear, even now, that the rule adopted-by agents iu deducting from 2 .to 2ilb. per cent, is excessive. ' During the season: 1911-1912 it is proposed to put this matter to a further test. ' .