CHEESE AND BUTTER GRADING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 September 1924, Page 7

CHEESE AND BUTTER GRADING.

(To the Editor.)

, Kind, y a b°w me snaee to reply to Gheesemaker” on ..the above subject. Gheesemaker” says that my 16 P a^~ol, ts are answered with the difference between selling and consigning. Now that is not so. There are several companies that consigned their outputs and had a better pavout than the two companies mentioned. However, leave the pay-outs out “of it t ! ie <^ Ces actuall - v realised at +1 an i d Gheesemaker” will find tnnt the lower graded cheese brought just as much as the high article. When 1 say the lower article I mean a first grade cheese with a good averaffv> ■'Without going to extremes. Then Gheesemaker” says that if I sent a ury, brittle cheese to the . grading werks I would get a very poor pointing of same. Yet earlier in his remarks he practically admits that the 25 or , crates from Kakaramea were too dry, yet they were graded at 95 points Surely “Cheesemaker” would not cal! that poor pointing. The dry, buttle cheese that he refers to is a totally different article to the one under discussion. Take the first-men-loned. cheese, and it could be termed a well-manufactured article only for the dryness, while the latter cheese is one made from a curd that has been overcooked and is short of acid. At times there are curds that the manager can’t get enough acid into, and consequently makes a very brittle cheese, which usually receives a poor hearing from the graders, and rightlv so, because it is of a very inferior quality. Re one of the highest grading factories having the lowest shrinkage, this applies to one of the companies mentioned in my previous letter. The other also had a low shrinkage, which only goes to prove that the cheese is too dry when it leaves the factory. For “Cheesemaker” to claim that the moisture is retained is where all the bosh comes in, because it was never there. It is worked out during the manufacturing process at a loss to the companies,concerned, and although the shrinkage is so low it takes place at a much greater detriment to the consuming qualities of the cheese if compared with a cheese that is provided with sufficient moisture to allow for a moderate shrinkage- Take the low shrinkage obtained by these companies, together with the unfavourable report from the agent at Home that reported on a portion of the output; also the report of the Home grader, and the remarks in the report of the Alton Company, where the manager told the chairman that he could not maintain a high grade without making a dry cheese, and there is plenty of evidence to begin investigations. I am quite confident that if this subject was thoroughly investigated by the Control Board or the directors of the companies in Taranaki it would be found that there are a few managers manufacturing too dry an article, which if allowed to go on will consequently take its place with the second grade article, helping to endanger New Zealand’s position on the overseas markets. Now “Cheesemaker’-’ should not overlook the fact that the merchants at Home know what kind of an article is required by the millions of consumers at Home, and it is not likely that thev are going to send' out a report that the cheese is considered too dry if it is of the high quality it is claimed to be. Thanking you, Mr Editor, for space.— I am, etc., SHAREMILKER.