MILK GRADING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 31 August 1929, Page 16

MILK GRADING.

American r ese at? ch

At the present time one of tin* ques- ‘ tions exercising the minds of dairy i factory directors most seriously is that i of the adoption of a system of milk i grading. The following extracts from i an article bearing on tbe subject, com- , piled, by two prominent American • scientists, E. G. Hastings and Hari riet L. Mansfield, will be read with interest, as giving their point of view: • If Wisconsin cheese is to hold its pres--1 ent high place in the markets of the > world, its quality must be maintainqd. ’ The grading of milk and the, payment f by grade is one means ,of securing and ' maintaining quality. The use of the 1 methylene blue, test is tbe best means of grading, milk. Poor milk, hasty making, and quick curing all combine to make poor ’ quality cheese. j Good milk is necessary for good . cheese though it is possible for the . maker to spoil it in the making or curing. On the other hand, even the skilful maker cannot make geod cheese from poor milk. Improvement in the quality of cheese should therefore be- ’ gin with the improvement of milk. GOOD MILK DEFINED. The best milk for cheese is the clean, fresh product of a healthy, properly fed cow. Such milk will always contain few bacteria. In the first instance, because of cleanliness in production, the minimum amount of foreign matter and of bacteria, which such material always carries, will have been introduced into it and, because of cleanliness of the utensils, few germs will have come therefrom. In the second instance, it will have been bo handled as to limit to the greatest possible extent tlie. growth of bacteria. It must be remembered that freshness is not determined by time but by the extent of change in the milk which is due to the growth of bacteria. One sample of milk 24 hours old may be less changed, or more fresh, than another 6 hours old. THE IMPROVEMENT OF MILK. The chief problem in all of the factories at the present time, and one which will probably continue in most for a considerable period, is to find

which patrons are delivering the poorer milk and aid them to produce better milk by changing their methods of handling it. Tf the scheme tor improvement is limited to educational efforts, any one of the tests above described will assist in the work Their limitations are not important here, for even though other farmers than those most in need of education are thereby singled out to receive it, no harm is done. If, however, the scheme for improvement involves some more persuasive agents to action than education, such as the price gradient, errors may become of great importance. IMPR.OVEBVIE.NT OK THR SUPPLY. This should be begun in the-' factory. The best plan is to require that separate eans he provided for carrying whe\ from factory to farm, and by washing and drying the milk cans at the factory. Tim second best is to heat the whey in the whey vat each day to degrees Fahrenheit, thus thoroughly pasteurizing the whey and scalding