STANDARDISATION OF MILK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXXI, Issue XXXXI, 10 July 1920, Page 7

STANDARDISATION OF MILK.

DISCUSSION AT PALMERSTQN NORTH. Following on Mr Conwett's resolution, moved by him at the conference of dairy men at Palmerston North, Mr Greea (Rahotu) asked whether Mr Connett considered that cheese made from milk with a 4.2 test would contain more of that fat than cheese made from 3.6 test. ■■ - Mr Connett held that if would. Mr .Green: "Well theft, J think that it would ntot, and you are wrong." Continuing, lie said that his company had had an, analyst a\ work and had fqurfd that the cheese made from th.ehighest testing milk contained less f/ap. The fat was driven out, so what Mas the difference "between being driven out in the whey and skimmed out. Mr Breton (P-ahifttuA) said that his poinpaJifr had had a similar experience with opposite results. Continuing Mr Connett, said that he would like to know from the Department what was the ..correct ratio of fat casein and moisture in the cheese, but there appeared to be life) definite standard. Producers were now out to get the best returns from the industry. If the surplus f^t could be removed from the, milk without detriment to the quality.' of tlfe cheese, it considered" that it should be. .»?.... i .. ( Mr >V. R. bright (Rahotu), in S^conjling, said that the. fyw tes-anig co,w would come out oh ijop, every time,. How was i\? h.c asked., \}\aX cheese, which, took prizes $t sho\vs \va.s made fr.oiii sktm nn"^. * Mr Parsons (RQ.ng<p:akoho) said that' ■a I'qcto.r in of th&. proposal ras |hat clieescj ai the commencement of the season, when the milk tested low graded as lsigh as it did later when! the test was higher. Mr AY. V. Harkness (Tariki) said that the experience of his comuanv was the same as Bell Block. One "fact that Mr Connett overlooked was that ii^ separating you did vpt tnk^ 01,1^ baitiierfat only,' but a proportio,ir ©r cas^'i^ un well, an_d thu' yiel^i ojE c^e«s^. wowHl pro.b^bly' Ip^e less. ' ' v M^r^ (Ma'^gaiokf) said that the §olu^ic\ii Ava§ g<i in for 41 breed of cows suitable for cheese making or to ■juanufaeture butter from the high testing milk. . Mr F. llanford (Stratford) said that of his company's four branches, the Stratford branch, with the highest average test came out with the highest yield through several months t^f the season. Experiments cavx-iett tmt at Tariki showed thai; \l\o percent-age of butter-fat in the whey at a high testing factory was lower than at a low testing factory. . Mr Taylor (Cape EgmoUt) said that the men who sent high testing milk to the factory received payment for a. ; greater quantity of butter-fiat each 1 month, and sp woulnl not expect a ' higher payment, per $OY!ucl at the er.1.1 !of the season., Mr Bonsoii (PahiaUia) said that many suppliers took matters in their o,wn hands, and reduced £he butter-fat content by adding water to the milk. From practical expei'ience he | could fully bear out what Mr Connett had said. They could make a fatter cheeso out of high testing milk_ but not a moi'e profitable one. Mr Forsyth (Elthani), while not being antagonistic, said that Mr Con-

nett had not made it clear whether he would standardise the milk for cheese making purposes, or standardise the fat content of the cheese. Mr Contnett said the latter. He did not know whether the solution was to reduce the fat content of the milk. It would, he said, be interesting if some of the managers could tell of the methods adopted from their point of view. Friendly rivalry was Till right to a degree, but whew, the results oF one factory were held up as an example for all others to follow, without knowing the absolute hypothesis From which that manager started, it .was, ho said, only encouraging managers to obtain results from fair meaits or foul. Managers of branches were always instructed when appointed, that yield should be the first consideration. Mr Wells (White Cliffs) supported Mr Connett. Mr Gibson (Kahotu) also suported. He 'considered that the best way to overcome the difficulty would be to fix a basis of the percentage of fat required to produce the best cheese and pay on a sliding scale, upwards or downwards. A good deal also depended ou the condition in which the milk came to the factory. Mr Singleton (Acting-Commissioner of the Dairy Division), who was asked to speak, congratulated Mr Connett on the way in which he had put forward his proposition. It was, he believed, correct that very few oi the factories were inak'ng cheese from high-testing milk. The Dairy Division acted without fear or favor, and held that the butter-fat content must be at least 30 per cent, of the solids in cheese. Glaxo and condensed milk were special articles, .and it was unfair to bring them in^o comparison. New Zealand's cheese business had been built up on the fact that our cheese was made from whole milk. A number of tests had been made by the dairying division showing the average fat content of cheese in proportion to the solid content for each month as follows: September 53 per cent. ,October, 53.18; November, 51.73; . December, 52.59; January, 52.58; February, 54.65; March, 53.65; April, 54.1-4. It would thus be seen that there was -a respectable but not an extreme margin of safety. Mr Marx (Mangatoki) moved that the matter be postponed for the present, and that Mr Connett be thanked for his interesting address. Mr F. Ranford (Stratford) seconded. Mr Ellison, representative of the National Dairy Association in London, said that the matter was a vital one, and he Purged them all to be careful. Cheese was sold on the market as halfmilk cheese and three-quarter-milk cheese. The Dutch made many grades of cheese, some skim milk cheese, others 15 to 20 per cent, of fat, and others with larger proportions of fat. His experience regarding New" Zealand cheese was that while we did not obtain any better price at first hand for cheese including a greater percentage of fat than the average, they should be careful not to have our cheese .standardised and allow it to become known that it was not full cream chesee, on which New Zealand had made its reputation. There never had been a suggestion that anything but full cream cheese came from New Zealand. - It took many years to build up a reputation, which they could lose quickly. While the matter was of vital importance they should enquire fully and exhaxistively before committing them : selves. Mr W. X, Wright said they had made up their reputation on fool's milk and fool's cheese. Mr W. C. Green considered it would be preferable to standardise the moisture content. Mr Connett said that there "tv&s no argument about that. Everyone ,recognised 37 per cent as bemg safe. Mr W. C, Green said that twothirds only contained 33 per cent., because- owing to ihe excessive fat the cheese could not contain the moisture. Mr Powdrell asked whether it would Hofc be better to make butter from hightestuig milk, Mr Moss (Eketahuna) suggested that they might change the breed of the cows. He regretted to hear how lightly the question of skimming milk was treated. It appeared to be. a question of getting the better of the other fellow. A voice: Panic co-opei'ation. Mr J. R. Corrigan (H^vtra) said that it appeared to be a case of one fellow pitting his. brains to get hold of the other fellow. After all what they got per acre was what counted. If men bre,d the best bre.ed of cows let them stick to it. The hest cow would; come on top in the matter'of £ s, «L.at the end of the year. Mr Connett said he could not find a remedy. Welt, his advice to producers was to go in 'for the best breed of cows thaV produce the most butt©r-fat per acre. Mr J. S. Connett, in 'reply, said he was satisfied from the discussion. that this matter affected only a few in a practical way, and they were not sympethetic because it did not affect their pockets. When it did affect their pockets they would try to find a remedy. It was interesting to hear that Mr Singleton looked on 50 per e&nfc. of butter fat in the solid contewi «f cheese as satisfactory,,so he would leave out the. stipulation that it, had to be made from whole milk and it would meet the case. In, inference to the variation of pay-outs, he pointed out that it could I be brought about in various ways, and they should have, a sound hypothesisvto work on before, leaking comparisons. He stressed the need of carrying out research work- as early as possible. [ The. amendment* on toeing put, was ! carried.