QUALITY OF BUTTER

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 28 January 1933, Page 7

QUALITY OF BUTTER

ADVENTURES OF A BOX QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO PREMIUM OVER DANISH. The following, letter on quality in New Zealand butter from Mr. J. H. Oldham, of Hamilton, appeared in the "N.Z. Herald”'recently. Some writers have referred to the quality of butter made in New Zealand years ago and compared it with the article made to-day to the disadvantage of the latter. The following authentic record of the adventures of a box of New Zealand butter some years ago may therefore be of interest: About the years 1907-8 U.S.A. Government dairy officials desired to obtain further information concerning Australian and New Zealand butters. To that end a visit was paid to London and six boxes of butter were purchased in Tooley Street from the bulk supply. Among the six boxes was one branded “Dairy”—surrounded by tne words “New Zealand Association. This butter was made by the late Mr Sydney Morris from unpasteurised cream, iu the Ptilcekolie butter factory—isince destroyed by fire. For details of the incident- let me quote from a letter which 1 received from the late Mr Wesley Spragg in Julv. 1929: “The butter was held in New Zealand in the usual wav jn those clays awaiting shipment. It went forward as part of a bulk shipment, lhe import upon it was published in a United States official publication. This set out that, the box was purchased in open market in Tooley Street, London, and was taken without further selection from a stack of our butter theie. It was sent, with some samples ot Australian butter, similarly taken from hulk parcels, to New York. It ha< seme vicissitudes of delay, but it was winter weather and the butter does not appear to have suffered from lying in the opeD. From New York it travelled in comyanv with the other samples under the v care of Government officials, from '•■tat 0 to State, being exhibited at the State shows of agricultural and dairy ' reduce in competition with local American production. Finally they reached a place named Grand Rapids md were there scored by the Government officials. The results were extremely interesting. The dairy brand buttei was awarded 91i points the next (Australian) 90 points, and the others to P 8 points. The judges commented unon Hie excellent flavour of the -.Dairy brand butter and said it was equal, it not superior, to the best fresh American butter then offering. They atibuted its long keeping qualities to its dryness—it contained about 10 i:ei rent, ot moisture—but in this they may have been astray.” ~ f think it is sale to say the t buttei we make to-day would not give such a oood record under similar conditions «f “treatment. Conditions in the dairy industry change, hut fundamentals semain the same, and if these were studied and given effect 'to we should be able to equal our previous performances. I recollect that this brand ot butter .sometimes obtained a premium of several shillings per hundredweigbb over Danish on the London market.