MILKING MACHINES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 19 June 1913, Page 5

MILKING MACHINES.

A STRONG INDICTMENT.

i c lhe difficulty which besets all' daiiy t Kwmers m keeping their milking vroa- : cnuies in good order was the subject of ) a discussion at the annual meeting of _ tne National Dairy Association at Pal- - merston on Tuesday. [ Referring to the statement by the* I president m his address that it would , tie unfortunate if the Government found it necessary periodically to inspect ruihcmg machines, Mr Connett (Bell Block) said that, in his opinion, such - an inspection would be a very good ; filing. It was this that he and others ; had been agitating for, as they were of ■ .tiie opinion that it,would result in a. i wetter quality of butter and cheese. ; Mr F. Nathan (Defiance Dairy Com-. • pa-iiy) said that the inspection was very , badly wanted. The previous Government had drawn up a. set of regulations ■ which it they had been supported by tne aairy exporters would have resulted , in a marked improvement in quality. A member: They were extreme. "MACHINES WERE FILTHY." \ Mr Nathan said that they might have been extreme, but if the members would only realise that some of the suppliers were holding back the industry they would get a better price for'their produce. (Hear, hear.) Some of the milking machines were filthy, and it was on record that some farmers' milk had been refused by the factories, and they had had to go .elsewhere to get rid of it. .The factories that took milk after it had been refused: once had onfrr fciiemselyes to,blame if their'butter; was only graded as second quality when; it arrived at Home. Mr Nathan added that he himself had seen maggots in separators and milking machines,-: and machines that had been cleaned by hut company were as badly 'dirty* and choked a. week /afterwards as^hey had -'; been a' week before the'cleansing. Later Mr Nathan moved: ',lThat.th_s--meeting views with grave Concern tho public utterances of the Prime Minister (Hou; W. "F. Massey) and Mr _>. Cuddie (chief of the Dairying Division) in reference to the influence wnich. milking machines are having upon tha* Dominion's dairy produce,''and- expresses the opinion that some steps should be adopted to- mitigate th& evil.." .. ' • --' , ■"': The motion was seconded by Mr Par-' sons (New Zealand Dairy Union). Mr Forsyth (Eitham) 'said that ho would like, to-sec the motion icclude all milk. and. not supplies from machinesalone. There was dirty milk receiyed from suppliers who did not use machines. . -~■■•• Mr Wilkinson (Ornru-Fairbairn) suggested that all factories should adopt tne method- adopted by his factory. The man who sent good cream was paid well for it; the man who sent secondgrade stuff got a halfpenny less, and the man who sent third-grade'- cream gob in back. (Laughter.) Mr Griffiths moved as an amendment that the matter be left to the executive. to confer-/with Mr Cuddie. ADDRESS BYMR CUDDIE. The president then asked the Dairy Commissioner. (Mr D. Cuddie) to address the meeting on the subject. .'• > Mr Cuddie said that they must re--oognise that there had been this year many complaints from Home, and in some, -cases-they..-were justified." T_h»- ---• weekly report of Mr Wright, who was appointed to examine the butter and cheese at Home, : stated that a very large proportion of the produce this year.had been disappointing.*' A nam- - ber of merchants at Home had private ■ly • written to him.. making campl_i_*_"~: against the quality. ' IhstanCeJK'^ere cited by.the writers of ma^toris of Kew Zealand cheese that' had heeih ..rejected because of its inferior..-■'quality; ' and in some cases the Canadian articlewas being substituted. He believed that the inferior quality wa. due to si combination.of circumstances. Firstly. the industry was forging ahead at an enormous rate, and it. was difficult to keep up a high standard of quality in the increased exports; again, in _ome>* districts the milk supply was going back, and this tended to an inferior quality.

A VERY SERIOUS POSITION

Referring to milking machines. Mr Cuddie'said that.they must first recognise'that these; had come to stay; ii_ fact in some districts they were essential to dairy farming.- When the complaints from Home began to accumulate Mr Cuddie went on, he appointed' inspectors to- visit the farms and report on the machines. They -found, after inspecting some 300: of them, that only 23 per cent were really clean— a very serious condition of affairs. When they cam© to think that them were now some 4000 machines in the Dominion, they would see that the quality of the butter and cheese could be very greatly affected. He was not in favor ot appointing inspectors to go round, because adequate inspection would need an army of. men. ' There* -were 30,000 dairy farms in the country* and if one man were given 500 to'visit frequently, it would take sixty men. No Government would agree to such ah:!ex- ' pensive system. However, the position was acute. He himself had conferred with his staff on the matter, but they were at a loss to know how -to cope> with the difficulty. It rested with th<_ factory managers to refuse ' inferior milk arid the manager should be backed up by his directors. (Hear; hear;) The'-department was only too willing to' help the dairy farmers by sending, a. " man to report and to bring a. little pressure on the factories to make :a> firm stand against accepting inferior . milk.; '_- - .'.--■- •> .-'• :•--.-.- -:9-';.', -CMr Nathan's resolution was. carried ( by a substantial majority.—;N.Z.,Times. "•: