NEW ZEALAND DAIRYING

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 70, 24 March 1914, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND DAIRYING

AN EXPERT'S VIEWS

SOUTH AFRICAN VISITOR

- "A"visitor to New-Zealand is Mr E. 0. Challis, Superintendent of-Dairy-ing for the t/nioii Government of Soutih. Africa, who is conducting an important jmssion in- Australia . and New Zealand, studying, the. various aspects of the dairying 'industry of those two countries, with a view to reporting to the Union Government. In an interview at Wellington last week he summarised his impressions of dairying m New Zealand., and they are, on the whole, very flattering, and place us in favorable comparison with Australia.

DIRTY MILKING MACHINES

But there is oiie fly in the ointment. Perhaps it is well to examine this first, though it was' not placed in. that: order by Mr Challis; v Jt will be remembered that some time ago complaints were made in London as:to the condition of some of the New Zealand cheese, as a result of inyestiga■bioiis by the Director of Dairying (Mr D. Cuddie) and his staff. It was field that the cause of the trouble was failure adequately to clean milking machines. Many of these machirieiS were examined, and a very large iiujnber of them—in fact, a huge proportion—were found to be in an unclean state. A circular 'of warning was issued, and it- was thought that the evil had been remedied, but, judging by the experience of Mr Challis, there is Jstill room for improvement. Questioned as to our cheese factories, Mr -Challis • praised their methods. .... •He had examined a large number of cheeses which were" partly matured, iand,, generally speaking, they~ were well made- and 0f gppd. quality. ."'At the same time,"" ho

added, "I noticed in a.number of cheeses that the flavor was none too clean, and ■possibly this was due to the use of milking machines which in themselves are quite good, but, if not kept stricbly clean Irea source of very great evil. ' ;v

HOME SEPARATION

Passing on, he said there were various details of our cheese industry which South Africa could copy jwiw. very beneficial results. In NewZealland there has been some'difference of opinion as to' merits of Borne 'separation, but in remote andbadly-roaded districts home separation of the cream has had perforce to be adopted. In South Africa, .owing, to,, its distances and scattered population, home separation is almost universal..."...

A considerable part of tshe business of Mr Ghallis is to find what Australia 'and (New Zealand can teach in home separation,, and therefore he has toured North Aucklandr-^-well ; known as the roadless north—where that system of dairying specially flourishes. He says that no one with technical experience would venture to deny that tilie.creamery or skimming station system is the ideal one, but the geographical and other conditions of South Africa compel home separation. Home separated cream, if frequently delivered, produces under sanitary conditions a very sound butter. The difficulty is to induce the% supplier to send in his cream as fast as possible, and to observe the ordinary rules which apply to the ripening of cream before it arrives at the central factory. • . A weakness of the South African system, as compared with ours, is the non-pasteurisation of oreain. He is convinced that South Africa will have to adopt pasteurisation on lines very similar to those followed in this country.

A LESSON FOR NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand, however, has something to learn with regard to the grading of cream at the factory. If this system were established, the factory, instead of paying one price for all sorts of cream, would be able to pay the careful supplier more than the careless one, and'thus give an incentive to improvement. Grading of cream at the factory was addpted in Soutib Africa after some opposition, and he was sure it would eventually be adopted in this country. . , After referring to South Africa's drawbacks in the way of droughts and cattle diseases, for which latter he recommends compulsory dipping, Mr Challis went on to say that Australian and New Zealand pastures were far superior to the natural grasses of South Africa, which in many instances had very little feeding value, and would be replaced by sown grasses.

HERDS COMPARED

In purebred herds South Africa compared .favorably witih New Zealand, especially in Holsteins. "When grade herds were compared, the South African were very much inferior. "In milk production," he added, "the somewhat iniquitous method of allowing a calf to suckle a cow while it is being milked is extremely prevalent in South Africa; and I was most agreeably surprised jbo find that this practice does noi? exist in Australia and New Zealand.

Asked to compare this Dominion and the Commonwealth, the South African said: "Generally speaking, I consider that New Zealand has a better climate than ' Australia, but if Australia had more rainfall sine* would undoubtedly be one- of the greatest dairying, countries in the world.". Mr Challis went through the Boer War, and knows his South Africa intimately. . He pays a special-tribute to the kindness shown by the Director of Dairying (Mr D. Cuddie), whose assistance has enabled him to make avery thorough' investigation.