FARM AND DAIRY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 3031, 28 May 1895, Page 2

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEW ZEALAND DAIRY ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL REPORT.

The following extracts from tbe annual report of the New Zealand Dairy Association will be of interest to a large number of our readers :— DAIRY INDUSTRY ACT, REGISTRATION OF

FACTORIES, &C.

At tbe time of our last meeting " The Dairy Industry Aot, 1894," was about to be considered by tbe Legislature, and the association duly considered the matter and suggested some alterations and amendments, nearly all of whioh were duly embodied in tbe Aot wbioh came into force on October 23, 1891 ; and although all tbe olauses and provisions therein contained have not been as yet enforced, there is no doubt thai it has been of great benefit to tbe industry.

The parts of this Aot wbioh the Government has thiß season enforced were principally those dealing with tbe registration of factories, tbe branding of produce and packages, and the grading and marking of butter for export. Ex. pert?- were appointed for this purpose — Mr Busok for Auokland, Mr Thornton for Wellington, Mr M'WiHiam for Lyttelton, and Mr Lang for Dunedin. Government also provided cool stores with proper refrigeration by^leasing suitable premises already in existence. This was done free of charge to tbe shippers, who thereby secured freight at id per 1b cheaper than if tbe butter had been shipped unfrozen.

THE WOBX 01 THE GRADERS.

The gentlemen so appointed have, it is generally considered, oarried out their duties with ability and taot, and have not been unduly severe in their,, oritioism, and have in their grading inclined to the lenient side, as it appears to have been tbe wish of tbe Department of Agriculture that tbey should at first deal Bomewb&t lightly with faultß unless too pronounced, and gradually lead up to improvement by advising makers of tbe faults and pointing as far as possible to their remedies.

Mr Busck, in Auokland, appears to have met with appreciation for tbe manner in wbioh be has performed biß duties. In the South Island Mr Lang gave general satisfaction, and nearly all tbe faotory butter was graded " First," bnt it will be Been by returns tbat the batter export from Port Chalmers is small in quantity as oompared with tbat of Wellington, the shipping pott of tbe North Island, or even with Canterbury. It will also have to be noted that our temperature in the south, being much lower than in the North Island, makss it easier to get the butter to port in good order, and it is also to be said that the two largest batter factories in this district had provided themselves with refrigerating plant in their factories.

A smaller quantity of butter was shipped from Port Chalmers than last year, this being due to the fact that those who used to ship a good deal of very inferior batter were restrained from doing so, knowing that the grader would duly brand it " Third "—if, indeed, be did not prevent its shipment. Tbis may be considered one of the benefits conferred by the Dairy Industry Aot.

This association has no butter factories among its Canterbury members, and so was not interested actively in (hat diatrioc, but it appears tbat many Canterbury factories appreciated Mr M' William's work, and expressed their approval of it to tbe Department of Agriculture, and looked upon tbe grading as benefioial and helpful to them.

Mr Thornton, the grader at Wellington, bad the largest and toughest work to face, and it must be allowed that he oarried out bis duty faithfully, and was in no way harsh or overontical in his judgment of the batter coming before him. Whatever may have been the original quality of a great portion of the butter when it left the maker's bands, much of it was ruined in transport to the cool stores, and came in greasy, soft, and altogether out of firstclass condition ; and this state of matters will not be improved until railway cool carß are available and universally adopted for tbe transittot. gutter, or until coastal steamers are fitted with refrigerating machinery— and tbe latter oan never be so economical or effective as the railways ought to be. Naturally those near ship* ping ports would like to support local trade by shipping, but it seems qaite apparent that local interests must give way to tbe general good of the dairy industry, and the railway system for tbe proper oarriage of dairy produoe made effective and economical ; and the members of tbis association should make it their business to take Btrong and united action to get the-Government, who have now full charge of the railways, to effect such improyemeMeiand bring about such reductions in freight as will aid tbe dairy industry, esjpftpallf aft the present timer when the very existenoe of tbe trade is threatened by the strong competition with State-aid rivals in lhe markets of the world.

Mr Thornton, however, was of course in no way responsible for the state of matters, and had to deal with tbe butter as be found it, and naturally incurred tbe displeasure and adverse criticism of thoße interested in faulty butter. His work, however, will bear good fruit, as doubtless it had a highly eduoative lendeaoy and enlightened many who were under tbe impression tbat their batter was first class and that their modes and methods of manufacturing left nothing to be desired, tbat such was far from being the case, and that tbey bad muoh to learn, Tbe good sense of most of those will ultimately lead them to learn in meekness, and they will yet be thankful for the grading olanses of " Tbe Dairy Industry Aot 1894," and for Mr Thornton's, mode of working under them. THE NECESSITY OF REFRIGERATING PLANT.

One thing seems oertain, and tbat is tbat until butter factories are made complete by proper refrigerating plant being fitted up m all of them, first olkbs butter cannot be made, and it looks as if nothing but the making of a firet-olasß artiole would pay or enable us to carry on the struggle against tbe Danes, Frenob, and Canadians. Eiperts have reiterated this truth over and over again, and Mr McEwao, the Canadian expert, at tbe Hawera show tbe other day emphasised the conclusion by Baying—" Tbey must ac tbe least possible coet put on tbe market the best possible production of a uniform quality, and one of tbe main things w»s the proper control of the temperature in the factory and in transit " ; and be expressed the opinion tbat under tbeee conditions New Zealand, with its favorable olimatio conditions, should be able to produoe fancy qualities, and to take tbe lead against the Danes, or any other country, in the butter market.

BRANDING BUTTER AND CHEESE.

! The provisions of tbe Act were duly carried out as regards branding both ol butter and cheese, tfie only difficulty being with private makers and packers of batter at first bb to registration, and possibly some alteration in the Aot may be needful to meet tbe requirements of this class of produce, which, however, is gradually decreasing in quantity as the benefits of co-operation under tbe faotory system are being more appreciated and aoted on. With regard to branding cheese it seems that little, if any, New Zealand oheeee comes before consumers as snob, as tbe cloth or cheese bandage is removed by purchasers in London, and it is stripped of all marks, and may be sold as English or Canadian, and no doubt muoh of tbe best is thus disposed of to consumers— English obeddar being quoted wholesale at something like 20a per owt over New Zealand cheese. Some more effective method of branding sbonld be devised if we wish New Zealand oheese to be cold on its merits for what it really is, and it ib to be presumed tbat we wish this to be done. ADULTERATING OB WATERING MILE.

The clauses of the Dairy Act then that have been enforced may be fairly considered as beneficial in result, bat some olaosea, and more particularly those that deal with the question of purity and good quality of milk supplied to factories, were not strictly, and perhaps in some cases not at all, enforced and put into operation, Government evidently wishing to lead rather than drive at first.

With regard to adulteration or watering of milk, the power to deal with each offenders should be simplified and more power given to owners or managers of faotories to take steps for prosecution, aa it ia now understood that tbe act requires tbe intervention of the inspector who is not always at band just at the time required. Some prosecutions bave taken place under tbe Food Adulteration Act, but not under this act, and offenders it is satisfactory to know were duly and heavily punished.

Such cases, however, will, it is to be hoped, always be few and far between, and tbe more important question is not to deal with fraud, but with ignorance, and the resulting carelessness in dealing with milk from its production, and for this reason clause 12 of tbe Aot should be Btrictly enforced. Tbia clause makes

THE USE OF AERATORS OR COOLERS

for passing the milk over immediately it is drawn from tbe cow compulsory. It we are to progress at all this is a point that demands attention now more than anything. Our best makers of cheese and butter are now fairly abreast of aU tbe best methods of manufacture, and are still making every effort to improve, and though they would all repudiate the idea of baying attained to perfection, it is undeniable tbat they cannot progress much further until tbe quality of tbe milk given them to manufacture is greatly improved. Tbis faot oannot too Btrongly be put before direotors and suppliers of our factories, and must at once be attended to. Some may think tbat a first-class maker oan make first- claea cbeese or butter out of any sort of milk, and that unless be can do so he is not a first-class man. This is a mistake — a good maker oan only make tbe beat of a bad job in tbe oase of inferior milk supplied, and the produot oan never be tip-top, although it may be a fair artiole and reflect credit on his skilful handling of tbe inferior milk ; and tbis is what our best makers have had to straggle with all along to a very great extent, and perhaps indicates the reason why our best oheese, for instance, brings 20s per owt. less ihan English Cheddar, for English experts who have seen our beßt cheese here bave admired its texture and make, and when asked why it is not so good as English, bave pointed out tbat it bas not the fino, clean flavour of tbe English, duo to tbe latter'e being manufactured in one man's dairy, and where the very greatest care is taken as to quality of milk, this being more easily attained than in a factory supplied by many Now although a factory gets milk from many suppliers there is no reason why eaoh lot should not be of equally good quality at ' least as regards purity, cleanliness, 'and sound condition, and ▼hen tbis end is attained we may expect to Bee onr cheese quoted at rates much nearer to those of best English, and that will bring more money into all suppliers' pockets eventually. It is therefore hoped that all members will welcome tbe Btrict enforcement of tbe clauses of the Act which Drovide for the prevention of the supply of inferior milk, whioh bas greatly hindered the attainment of finest quality in onr manufactures.

THE WEIGHT OX MILK PJtR GALLON.

One other matter demands attention before passing from consideration of the Dairy Act, viz., that it fixes tbe gallon of milk at 10}lb avoirdupois in tbe absenoe of any agreement to tbe contrary, and it seems desirable that all factories should adopt this as their standard so as to bave a uniform system, and prevent some undesirable competition wbioh wdold be better avoided. The adoption of tbe system of payment on butter-fat value, as ascertained by the Babcook test, should also be generally adopted, and farmers should have facilities at the factories for testing their cowb' milk, so as to enable them to onll their herds by turning out unprofitable cows and generally improving their oattle, bo as to make 20 cows produoe what 80 did before, and thus cheapen production, which is the great desideratum to be attained at present.

SHIPMENTS OF DAIBY PRODUCE.

The arrangements for regular fortnightly shipments were duly completed by the association with the New Zealand, and ShaWi Savill, and Albion Companies, and has worked on the whole very satisfactorily, the produce going regularly in the mail steamers with the exception of one fortnightly shipment from the North Island which was sent in the Tokomara, and one from the Sooth Island in the Buteshire, these steamers, however, arriving in London close on mail boat dates.

Absolute oorreotness in estimates of quantities available is diffionlt of attain* menti and some epaoa was nob available for one or two North Island shipments, bnt against this obeese advised for shipsuent for wbiob spaoe had been provided by the shipping company did not come to hand) so that we have no great eanse for complaint againßt the companies, who gave our produce all attention and did their best to meet all onr requirements— a matter not always easy for them to do, as the rush of the meat trade take place along with onr prodaoe shipments, and with bo many ports of shipment to eater for it may be fairly said that they have really done well in carrying out the oontraot with us in auoh a satisfactory manner. These oompanies will now have to be approached on the question of rednotiona in freight, and it is to be hoped that some large shippers who now bold aloof from the association and lend ub no assistance in the work we are trying to perform for the benefit of all concerned in the dairy industry will join our association and cooperate with us and strengthen ns in trying to secure considerable reductions in freight.

(To be continued.)