THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. PROSPECTS NOT ENCOURAGING. COASTAL SHIPPING.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 81, 3 October 1904, Page 2

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. PROSPECTS NOT ENCOURAGING. COASTAL SHIPPING.

That section of the report of the Department of Agriculture which deals with the dairy industry contains a con-" eiderable amount of interesting material. The Secretary for Agriculture reports that unless a very decided rise in the price of dairy produce takes place the prospects for the next season are far fr6m encouraging. The competition is becoming more acute every day, and unless the utmost care at all points is exercised in the manufacture of our produce nothing but disaster need be looked for. The one thing wanting to place the industry on a firm footing and. to insure that nothing but the highest class of produce will be made, is, he ufges, the proper inspection of the milking herds, sheds, etc. The registration of every supplier complying with reasonable sanitary conditions in connection with his muking premises is also strongly urged. He adds that Mr. Pedersen, a Danish expert, who is now employed by the Department, 'considers our best factories quite up to. the bulk of the Danish in equipment and quality of produce. The Acting Dairy Commissioner (Mr. D. Cuddie) fays that the reports which have come to hand during the season just closed with ''regard to the quality of New Zealand butter have been more satisfactory than hitherto, but it must not be supposed that the quality of' even the bulk of our bufcter has been considered quite satisfactory by the gradeis at this end, for there certainly is veiy great room for improvement in much of the produce delivered at the various grading etores throughout the colony foi export. A note oi warning is required with regard to the question oi a belter milk supply at the factories and creameries, as many of the defects now existing in connection with the flavour and keeping quality of cheese and butter are undoubtedly due to the faulty condition of the raw material. Mi. Cuddie goes on to say that in older to be able, to cope with tho increasing work of instruction in butter and cheese-making it will be necessary to obtain further assistance, as it had frequently happened that urgent applications for instruction and iin estimation could not receive immediate attention. Turning to the quality of creamery butter, Mr. Cuddie. says it cannot be disputed that there is great room for improvement in a large percentage of the butter exported, and a visit to any one of the grading stores throughout the season would .prove this conclusively to any competent judge. The principal defect in the second-class butter is its flavour, although faults, are also found in the body and textuie. "Our great aim," he urges, ''shold be to place on the market butter with the highest keep-ing-quality, and in order to accomplish this impoitnnt object it is necessary that more attention should be given to the care of the nri.k, and that every detail in connection with manufacture should be strictly obf>erved. Under the heading "Dairy and Milled Butter," the Commissioner remarks that the bulk of the dairy butter exported from tho colony is of inferior quality, and besides this loss to the producers the export of the inferior produce tends t to reduce the value of New Zealand butter generally. Therefore, seeing that fhe production of dairy-butter is on the increase in some parts of the colony, steps should be taken to effect an improvement by encouraging the makers to adopt better methods in the process of manufacture. ' He further expresses the opinion that the use of the word "separator" should not be allowed on the packages of milled butter, as it is apt to give a false impression as to the merits of such produce The exportation of inferior third-grade milled is a menace to the industry, and "should be discouraged by every legitimate means. It may be said, continues Mr. Cuddie, that the coastal shipment of frozen butter has now been placed on a satisfactory basis, with the exception of that forwarded from the Auckland port. It does seem absurd that the steamers used for carrying frozen butter from 'the most distant 'port should not be fitted . with a freezing-plant, while those engaged in the same trade to New Plymouth and Patea, which are only about half as far away, have the benefit of mechanical refrigeration Tie consequence is that the butter from Auckland is transhipped to the Home steamers at a. much higher temperature than that arriving from New Plymouth and Patea. Those factories situated in the Poverty Bay, Nelson, and Marlborough Provinces aie placed at a serious disadvantage in having practically to ship their butter by coastal steamer as oioinary cargo, which causes deterioration in the quality. With the object of overcoming this trouble, representations should, he uiges, be made to shipping companies for the provision of cooling chambers for the purpose of carrying butter. The Commissioner also deals with the necessity of a proper.y-equlpped station for experimental purposes, remarking .hat valuable time is being lost through the delay in placing at the disposal of the dairying division of the Department suitable premises for the purpo&e of investigation work. During the" last few months of the season several serious defects in the flavour of both butter and cheese 'were reported from various parts of the colony, but owing to the absence of facilities * f&r investigation no action could "C taken. The amount requiied t6 establish such a station would be about £6500, including the cost of the land. On the subject of milk supply, Mr. Cuddie inwsts on the necessity of adopting some definite scheme to overcome the most serious difficulty vith regard to the large quantities of inferior milk delivered to the factories, v There is not the slightest doubt, he says, in the minds of those competent to judge that this is the weakest spot in the production of choice New Zealand butter and \ cheese. Therefore the supply of cleaner and muie wholesome milk must be insisted on in the future if we ..are to reach a higher standar of excellence in our dairy products. Some solution of the difficulty must be attempted sooner or later in order to bring about tilt desired "result, and he urges that the appointment; of qualified instructors is imperative.