MILK PRODUCERS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 182, 3 July 1936, Page 16

MILK PRODUCERS

„ ADDRESS BY MR DENIZE. Members of the Manawatu Milk Producers’ Association listened to an interesting and highly instructive address by Mr H. R. Denize, inspector of stock, of the Department of Agriculture, on matters concerning milk for human consumption. Mr J. Linklater presided over the meeting and extended a warm welcome to the speaker. . • In opening his address Mr Denize made it plain that it was not his intention to enlarge on the regulations governing registered dairies, as these were common knowledge to those present. He hoped to show how important a part milk played in the human diet, and how much consumption fell below the position it merited. Ho stressed the work his department was doing, stating that it was a farmers’ department whose activities were very largely instructional. “The females of all mammals,” Mr Denize said, “have the physiological capacity to produce in more or less abundance according to the demands made upon them a fluid which has received the general name of milk. Every human being lives for a time entirely upon milk. Indeed, milk is the chief food for all the higher animals or mammals during babyhood, for the food elements needed to build and nourish brain, muscle and bone are found in milk in the most easilj digested form. There can be no dispute as far as the wellbeing of the young is concerned; the best milk lor each species is that provided by the mother, but in the ease of human beings their modern requirements', social conditions, etc., have resulted [only too olten in children having to be fed on cow’s milk, and properly used, this lias given excellent results. ft can be said without fear of contradiction that cow’s milk is the only satisfactory substitute for human milk—milk and milk products are most important foods at all ages. Authorities tell us that in families where there are as many children as adults, as much money should he spent on milk as on meat. Our average consumption is approximately four pints per head of population per week, while in other countries where the standard of living is no higher than our own this quantity is more than doubled. By doubling our present consumption, producers would he telieved of an additional forty million gallons annually. MILK A LUXURY

“In thousands of New Zealand homes milk, to say nothing of cream, is still -being regarded as a luxury, and it is a deplorable anomaly that the more children in a family the smaller the per capita expenditure upon milk. Tlie main reason is a general lack of knowledge as to the true value and importance of this, the best and cheapest of all foods. Milk in New Zealand is obtained all the year round from cows fed on grass in the open. We do not realise this advantage; it means that our milk is more perfect as a food, because the vitamins present in the rich green grass are passed into the milk as body-building and. protective agencies. Milk being such a perfect, food, it has also to he remembered that it provides a perfect medium for the growth of undesirable bacteria, and for that reason it behoves us to produce, collect, and distribute it in as perfect a condition as possible. “The geographical position of Palmerston North is such that our milk supply should be second to none. M e have within a radius of ton miles of the city thousands of acres of first-class dairying land readily accessible by good roads, and from the herds on this rich country it is possible to have fiesli raw milk delivered to consumers in the city area within a few hours of milking. This indeed is a very happy position for the producer, vendor, and consumer. “As it is the duty of tlie .Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture to deal with the production only of milk, it is not necessary to go iiito the question of delivery, as this is a matter entirely in the bands of the Health Department and the local authorities. To produce milk in a perfectly clean condition entails continuous care on the part oi each individual concerned with its production and distribution, which entails in a general way the following points: A clean healthy herd of cows; adequate supplies of good food and pure water; well constructed and clean cowsheds for milking purposes; properly concreted yards, and also concrete exits from slieds ; good drainage ; clean, careful milkers; and, further, a good supply of water and facilities for boiling same for all dairy purposes. TESTING FOR TUBERCULOSIS. “It is the policy of the department to recommend and encourage the testing for tuberculosis of all cows in registered dairies. This work is carried out on application by the owner, free of charge. The department, however, makes it quite plain to the farmer that all reactors must be removed from the herd and destroyed, compensation being paid in accordance with the provisions of the Stock Act.” At the conclusion of the address many questions were put to tlie speaker from which a number of interesting discussions ensued. Mr Denize was accorded a hearty vote of thanks by those present who made it clear that they had benefited considerably by tlie address, and appreciated the trouble the speaker bad gone to in its preparation.