THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1181, 17 July 1911, Page 8

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

N.D.A. -EEPKE'iENTATIVE'S VIEWS. MR, ELLISON IN WELLINGTON. ■Mr. It. Ellison, the London reprcsenta'tivc of the National- Dairy Association of New Zealand, has just returned to tbo Dominion after spending-eighteen months in' England in the .midst of the dairy produce trade. Last week Mr. Ellison was interviewed by n DOMINION reporter. ' Fishiness" in Butter. On the subject of fishiness Mi - . Ellison ■ paid.that he had found a .certain amount of: it in New Zealand butter, and while tho proportion was' very small, at the same time, it was a defect that people very .strongly . objected to. "This, practically," he continued, "is. tlio only defect noticeable ii) New Zealand butter, but once .1 brand acquired a reputation of having an inclination to be fishy, the trade very soon hears of it. Customers decline to; have anything to do with it. Some .factories, .1 find, have had .a tendency towards developing this flavour. I. found, however, that a factory might suffer from tlvis defect one season and be absolutely fi;eo from it in the following season. No doubt our climatic conditions are such j-tltat we are not likely to bo troubled (o • the same extent as are tho Australians. I'ishiness, although found in other butters, seems, to be. more noticeable in colonial than in Continental makes. There 'is no generally accepted theory in England as to the cause, of iishin.ess. The same theories as of old are advanced, and 'they are. numerous. Pasteurisation is.not 'a remedy." ' The Moisture Uontcnt. The moisture content of butter was next mentioned. 3lr. Ellison said that, during his eighteen months' connection with the /butter and ctice.se trade in London, ho ■had very rarely found any real causo for complaint as regarded moisture. "I have made a point uf having ;>, large nam ;ber of samples' of butter tested for moisture," he said. "The butter came from all parts of New Zealand, and I do not Tecollect any instance where the sixteen iper cent limit was exceeded. I have found many people jumping to the conclusion ,that-a butter which shows a fair amount lof. free .moisture must of necessity conitriin. a large amount of water. This, howjjyor, is not the case. Some years ago, .there was a desire on the part of thr 'grading staff of New Zealand to look for a dry butler, and there is no doubt that jthe lesser amount of-moisture then constained gave an impetus-to the sale of our /butter-more particularly amongst those ;.J-ho uso it for blending purposes, and I '.Believe Hint, at that time, a certain f amount of advantage accrued to the industry. , . There is, however, no need foVtroublo any further ovor the question of moisture in our butters; the reputation of the lirti-" clc is well established, the limit of m'oiV Euro iixed by law, and wo nre not. in .my opinion, suffering anything on this point.

--■Tho Grading System. I 'Speaking.of the grading system,.. Mr. ■fluson said that the Dominion was largci Jy indebted (tor tho position occupied bv its produce to-day) to tho fact that it had, earned out a fair and reasonable svs- ' *?"' f*• S?' at,ln S-, Everyone interested "at the .London end would admit that the . grading- system, as applied to our ;■• produce had been a ■ bi- • faotoim perfecting the'articles. "There I .may be, and, no doubt, are," ho continued, occasions on which a few nack- : 'ages marked second-grade, could be' included as first-grade, and . vico. ver-a It niust; of-course, ho admitted 'that grading is a matter of personal'opinion, and . not a mechanical- process. The fact that Australia 'has at last decided to follow up our system will, I feel sure, very much ._ assist them in the near future. Markets and Marketing. .As to our.system of marketing, Mr. Ellison said that a certain amount had been clone towards improving the system. This was, howovor, a matter which lav lavely ; , with the factories themselves, and there was no doubt that concerted action would very much assist them in their future operations. It was a desire and an aim :•, ot the Dairy Association to work ■ out a comprehensive scheme which mnst bo given effect to as soon as the factories were convinced that it was the correct tuing. There was really only one explanation for tho rather low prices of this season, and that'was tho very heavy increase in \tho importation of colonial butler, largely duo to the excellent season in Australia, and the stacks held at the opening, of the season. .There was' a certain amount of butter and cheese required for the West of England, and it was a market whicli required :, very careful watching, .and should not he over-supplied. An over-supply in the West of England, resulted in tho surplus being sent to London in the end. . London, always did and always would control the price. "Tlio Siberian butter is a very much better artielo than most people credit," Mr, Ellison proceeded, "arid dairying there ! is a growing industry. The Silcriaiis are striving to make a better Quality year by year. With reasonable prices, tliere, , however,, is no danger of anything like over-production. • , "Butter is an. article which is being . used by all nations, and, as long as the price is reasonable, the consumption is something tremendous. It is high prices which check consumption, and it is. abnormally high prices,. which force people off butter itself; and on. to butter subsft i titles.. ' . _ . ' . . # "'Thcre is p. big lot of butter. coming i" out of Siberia, ami more will follow as the country is developed. Much of the j development is being done with English capital." Our Future in Cheese. '.• .'The matter of the cho3se trade was mentioned, and Mr. Ellison said:. "The chcesi! is giving very great satisfaction. At the sanio time no effort should he spared to maintain a high .standard of , quality as the groundwork is now being" laid for tlio future success of the industry. I look for-thu time, when possibly 75 per cent.. of •■the output from this country v.ll b; cheese. It is. only a matter of time' till tho larger portion of tho.'Canadian cheese will lind its way. into the L ? uitcd States. Dig handlers ot-our ohees'c .peak very well of its quality, and its uniformity..- . Our cheese, may some day nccupy a position. similar to that now held by Danish, butter.- We must, how--1 ever, always strive for quality."