HIGHER STANDARD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21935, 19 October 1934, Page 14

HIGHER STANDARD

BUTTER AND CHEESE COUNTRY-WIDE INSTRUCTION REGISTRATION OF FARMS DAILY CREAM COLLECTIONS [by TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER} "(vEL-LINGTON, Thursday Although New Zealand butter and cheese are in 'general very acceptable to buyers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the Dairy Industry Commission considers that every effort should be made to raise the quality to a standard definitely superior to that of other countries. The evidence showed / that tho quality of products was affected by a number of small defects in production and manufacture and by insufficient knowledge of the real cause of these defects. The quality of butter and cheese exported during the past season had shown an improvement, but there was ' still the necessity to concentrate upon the complete elimination of the small proportion of second-grade butter and cheese. i; Voluntary System Inadequate The introduction of a universal system of farm/dairy instruction is recommended. Ihe present voluntary scheme of instruction was incomplete in its scope, as it often excluded farms in districts where inspection was most urgently needed. It is proposed that the Dominion »be divided into areas, each controlled by an officer employed by the Dairv Board. It is probable that the supervision of 600 milking sheds would bo a reasonable task for one inspector, and on this basis 120 instructors would be required for a Dominion- ' wide scheme, compared with 34 at present. The careful Ejection and training oir suitable men Was lmperaThe registration of all farms supplyire milk "or cream to dairy factories is proposed, the owners or occupiers to be licensed. A nominal fee, not exceeding 5s a year, is recommended to cover administrative costs. As a condition of the grant of licences, farmers would be required to bring their tarm equipment up to standards laid down bv the farm instructional service. Ihe standards laid down should be the same as those laid down for farmers supplving city milk. This standard could not, of course, be attained by all fac- / torv suppliers at the outset, but where a supplier reached the required standard his licence should be endorsed to permit him to supply city milk. Better Farm Equipment The improvement, where necessary, j of farm buildings, equipment and water supplies is recommended. Some sheds needed rebuilding, or repair and yards needed concreting. An unsatisfactory position existed in regard to the provision of boiling water in sheds. In view of the vita! need for economical methods of producing boiling water and steam, the commission recomI • mended that the whole question be thoroughly investigated by the machinery testing organisation elsewhere referred/to. An abundant supply of pure and cold water was also necessary, while many..of the coolers used by farmers were not efficient. Tbe provision of suitable cream-stands on roadsides should be required by regulation. Butter should be manufactured mainly from fresh cream to ensifre a rich creamy flavour in the product. The daily collection of all cream, subject to certain exceptions, is therefore re- ~ commended. Com petition < for and the / overlapping of transport services arising therefrom were prejudicial in several ways to the quality of cream accepted by factories. The tendency on the part of some factories to relax cream-grading standards in order to attract more suppliers was another important cause of low quality. Competition had been so keen in some areas that the value of cream-grading as an incentive to the delivery of high-grade cream had largely } been lost. Cream-grading Standard The rationalisation of cream-collec-tion and the termination of excessive competition was therefore recommended. Other recommendations dealing with the production of butter are:—The cancellation in certain circumstances of the registration of cream-receiving depots; < raising the standard of cream-grading and increasing the differential pricemargin for second-grade cream (secondgrade to be paid for at a rate of 2d per lb. butter-fat less than finest); separately manufacturing cream of different grades; requiring greater care in manufacture; improving the "Saranac" box. The report then ' deals with the quality of cheese, concerning which there had been, much criticism. The two commonest defects were openness of texture , and the development of a "horny" appearance on the cut surface when exposed to air for some time. In cases where openness of texture was ;.i problem, no method could assure tho consistent manufacture of close cheese, but the degree of openness could be materially reduced by paying the closest attention to,,the cleanliness of the milk supply and to details of manufacture and curing. In view of the importance of overcoming this major defect, the commission recommended that existing research work should bo intensified. The commission recommends that the milk-grading regulations be altered to permit factories to use alone either the direct microscopic test or the methy-iene-b'ue test, on condition that the standards set shall be sufficiently high and shall not be relaxed, and that milk shall also be graded by the use of tho faculties of taste and smell. Waxing of Cheese No cheese should be waxed until :t was a month old, but further investigation in England should be made to determine whether waxing should be entirely prohibited. Other recommendations concerning ' cheese are: —Requiring more care in manufacture;' compulsory control of temperatures of milk during pasteurisation and in cheese-curing rooms; prolonging the period of storage in fac- ; tories and grading-stores of cheese made in spring; determining methods of payment for milk based on cheese-yielding capacity. / In regard to both butter and cheese, the following recommendations are made: —Payment of a bonus according to grade-points for tho higher grades; publication monthly of factory grading returns; improvement in the transport of produce from farm to / market; rebuilding and renovating dairy factories where necessary; providing a system of universal laboratory assistance; frequent inspection in New Zealand of stored produce; extending present instructional services for managers and assistants; improving labour conditions; extending and intensifj'ing present research work on cheese openness and other defects of dairy products; providing for the testing of dairy factory plant and materials; arranging for commercial demonstration ||pjJtactories. j