MILK SUPPLY CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20284, 18 June 1929, Page 12

MILK SUPPLY CASE.

"DISPUTE OVER CONTRACT, A QUESTION OF QUALITY. ACTION' IN SUPREME COURT. The .Interpretation of the definition of milk and ..cream supplies as "absolutely P." 1 ' 6 '''• VV i na ,0 chief point at issue in an action commenced in tlie Supreme Court yesterday, before Mr. Justice Blair.,. ,William Porcival Levy, farmer, £487 17s lid from Raymond C. Rowlandson, .dpiryman, of Auckland (Mr. Glaister). The,sum included £245 stated to be loss sustained by .plaintiff through" an alleged, breach of contract by defendant, £l3O alleged to bo owing by defendant in repayment of a loan, and £94 as payment for milk and cream sup-, plied. Defendant counter-claimed for £566, comprising £2OO general damages, £2Bl loss of profits, and £BS extra cost involved in purchasing supplies elsewhere when lie ceased buying from plaintiff. The statement of claim set out that on August 7 last plaintiff entered into an agreement to supply defendant- with milk and cream. From Septeinbor Ito December 4 defendant accepted 4146 gallons instead of the 5225 gallons agreed upon in the contract, and on December 5 he refused to" take more. " Plaintiff alleged that as a result ho had, lost £245, which he would have received for milk which ho expected to supply for some 38 weeks more at the rate of 55 gallons a day. In addition, he alleged that defendant still owed £94 for milk delivered to him. Mr. Fleming said that the case was largely concorned with milk described in the contract as "absolutely pure." Such .milk was characterised as '.'free from taint ,of feed ,or .herbs." .It appeared that the onus was on the defendant to prove that ( taint meant something moro than possessing the attributes of putrofaction, as stated by the dictionary. Defendant declined to continue the con-, tract on the ground that the milk ho received from plaintiff was tainted, and that as a result ho was losing custom.: There was a difference between tainted milk and that merely having a flavour. During:the spring it was commonly,found: that milk was strongly flavoured through, the lush growth on which cows fed after the winter. Flowovcr, there was no suggestion that this flavour was a taint' in the accepted sense of the word. On the other hand, turnip or other herbfeeding would produce a taint. It was . denied that plaintiff's, milk ever was tainted, although it was possible that it contained a flavour last spring.' Percy Burnett .Davis, dairyman, said that he always had tho words • " free from taints of feed or herbs" in his contracts for milk supplies, but he always considered that the word taint referred to the effect of herbs other than grass, such as turnips. He had experience of milk flavoured by spring feed, but this was unavoidable. Similar evidence was given by Ernest John Read, dairyman, of Edendale. Ernest Horspool, dairyman, of Great North Road, said that lie had- been receiving about 95 gallons, of milk,a day from Levy, and he had been quite satisfied. Tainted milk was not that merely flavoured by ordinary feed. The case was adjourned until this morning.