THE DAIRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 662, 31 October 1884, Page 11

THE DAIRY.

MILK AND DAIRY APPLIANCES. Lecture by Mr Long, of Hitoham. In his second lecture at South Kensington embracing this subject, Mr Long said that milk might be estimated as weighing 10J lb to the gal., and containing 1 13 per cent of solids, although the analyst’s standard was but 11J. In milking there were two important things to be remembered, first, to prevent the milker dipping his fingers in the milk, a regular trick when no one is watching, as it enables him to milk easier, and second, to entirely empty the udder, the last milk retained being the richest. When drawn the milk should be weighed upon a small spring balance, the milk at once strained into the cooler, and afterwards dealt with. The cooler is not generally used, but a 3 it aerates, sweetens, and helps the milk to keep much longer, it ought to be universal. In summer some producers heat the milk to 130°, and afterwards cool it to from 65° to 75°, this process enabling it to keep sweet still longer. The two best cooling systems are those known as Lawrence’s and Dr. Bond’s, the latter machine being called the “ Temperer.” It resembles two pairs of lenses placed with the concave surfaces together, the milk enters at the top and runs over the convex outside until it reaches the bottom, being both aerated and cooled, the lenses being filled with water. In the Lawrence the milk travels over a series of tubes also filled with cold water, but in this instance the water enters at the bottom ; consequently, the milk at its coldest travels over the coldest water.

Setting the Milk.—The principal systems of setting are, first, the open pan, as practised in England and France ; second, the Swartz, or ice system ; third, the Cooley, or cold water system ; and fourth, the Harden, or cold air system. In the open pan system the disadvantages are, quantity of space occupied, the fact that all the cream is not obtained at

any season of the its slowness, in summer time, its constant liability to cause the loss of cream, for within twelve hours it freciuontly happens that the whole Ot the inilk is spoiled, and has to be thrown away before the cream has entirely risen. The best kind of pan to use for this purpose is the glazed earthenware pan. It ie preferable to metal, and cheaper than glass. Milk is sometimes set in open leads, but this is a bad plan, the lead affecting the milk through the action of the lactic acid. The French open pan is slightly different, being deep and conical ; but the milk is suddenly soured before the cream is taken off. The pans, too, are stood upon the floor in streams of running water, which are carried round the milk room. By the Swartz system ice is necessary, unless water can be obtained under 45° at all seasons. A vat is used, usually about 6 feet in length by 3 feet in breadth, and made of concrete. This is filled with water, supply and outflow P l P 0 s bein» provided, one at either end. The broad o?al°cans, holding about 3 gallons ea-cu, are plunged in, when the cream rises rapidly, and can be used in twelve to eighteen hours, in a sweet state. Like all cream raised at a low temperature, it i 3 thin, but large in volume. There is some similarity between this and the Coo lev system, in which deep cans are plunged into a refrigerator of cold water of fro in 40 to 50°. These cans are 20 inches high by 8 inches in diameter, and, unlike, the Swartz, are covered by a moveable lid, the water being kept out by the air underneath it. Here also the cream rises in twelve hours, and can be seen by the glass let in at the side of the can. It is not skimmed, but the milk drawn from beneath by a tap at the bottom. Cream raised in this way is not so liable to feel the effects of atmospheric changes, being under water, and, although not aerated, the low temperature prevents the development of anything objectionable. Ihe Harden system resembles the Cooley, except that air is substituted for naier, and cooled ice placed in the small chamber at the top. The fact that air is cooled quicker than water was the principal cause of the invention. There is a comparatively new idea invented by Mr Richmond, of Colne, in Lancashire. A square shallow pan, holding from 30 to 60 quarts, is used, which has a double lining throughout, wich an ice chamber at one end communicating with the water. There is also a lid made to hold water, so that the milk in the pan is entirely surrounded by cold water. In the centre is a metal plug, which, when lifted, allows the milk to escape from beneath the cream.

Cream Separation.—On a comparison in Denmark, the open pan with the Swartz and the Lefeldt separator, while the last-named gave 100 per cent the open pans varied from between S 3 to 95 at thirty-four hours, and the ice system from 84‘9 to 93 at the same period, or 87'8 at ten hours. The Danish centrifugal machine gave the following percentages more than the pan system at thirty-four hours, namely, May 10, June 9, July 13, August 11, September 16, October 14, November 15, December 13, and the other four months, between S and 6 per cent., while as compared with the Swartz system, it gave from 4 per cent more in April to 28 per cent more, in November, indeed, there is no comparision between any system and the separator. The chief advantages of the Swartz or Cooley, however, over the pan system are that they are much more expeditious, occupy far less room, obtain sweet cream, and, in summer time, all the cream,-which the open pan system does not do. Mr Long then referred to the principal separators in use, the first and best being that known as the Danish, sold in two sizes, a smaller size, a smaller size suitable for small farmers being promised by the maker, Petersen, ot Copenhagen. This machine has a speed of 3000 revolutions. It works with less power than any other, skims more milk per hour than any, and obtains more butter per cent. The large machine requires 2-horse power, and the small 1-horse, the former skimming 120 gal. per hour, and costing £62 in Copenhagen, against £3O 10s for the latter one. The regulator of Professor Fjord enables the worker to regulate the quantity skimmed, as well us the quality of the cream, and its speed can be measured at any moment. The system of the skimming and the machine itself were then minutely described, as also that of the Lavel, the bert-known machine in this country, which has a speed of 5000 to 6000, and skims from 45 to 70 gallons per hour, according to the number or revolutions and the power from 1 to lj-horse used. There is much merit in this machine, but it cannot be modified in size or shape, and in the recent competitions in Denmark, where it was beaten by the Danish it did not skim the fat so completely or work with so smalbpower relatively as that machine. The Petersen", of Hamburg, was next dealt with, this having vertical drum?, one or two of which can be worked on a single shaft, both in large and small'sizes. The drums are almost lenticular in Bhape, and Bkirn from 50 to 100 gallons per hour, with a consumption of 1 to 1J horse power. The trial in Hamburg witnessed by the lecturer was much more satisfactory than at the “Royal” at Reading, more fat being obtained, and the whole working eminently satisfactorily ; but good ns the machine is, its price is so high that it cannot well compete with others. The Nakskov, a new Danish make, was then explained. This appears to be worked by a horse, skims from 35 to 40 gallons, leaves only 14 per cent of fat, and costs L2B, some of the farmers who have worked it in Denmark expressing great satisfaction with it, but it does no such work as the Petersen or Danish machine, although it undoubtedly has a future before it. The other machines referred to were the Lefeldt, the first ever made, the Fesci, and the Solid, made by a Swedish engineer. Cream Raising.—Whereas in open pans cream can only be obtained in the hottest weather in twelve hours, it can be skimmed for forty-eight in winter ; but if antiseptics, such as glaealine, are used in summer, a difference of some six hours is made, although even then cream is lost. The first cream, or that raised at twelve hours, is always the host, ancl there is no comparison between butter made from it and that made from subsequent cream. It will be remembered that in winter, cream is thin, and in summer, thick ; this is accounted for by the influence of the temperature, which causes the fat, always most susceptible, to expand or contract. In summer the fatty globules expand to such an extent that thev coffesce in rising and so carry less milk with them, but in winter they con-

tract, and are entirely surrounded in their ascent by milk, thus increasing the volume of the cream. So it is in the system of scalding, which can be done either when the mi'k leaves the cow, or at the end of twenty-four hoars. Wehre butter is made from sweet cream it yields a Je<s quantity per cent., but keeps better and develops a richer flavour; this being believed to be caused by the partial decomposition of the cream in the process of souring, hence the preference of some people for sour or lappered cream, as it is called. The Danes invariably sour their cream artificially after having obtained it sweet. In the same way the Normans sour their cream, but before it is taken from the milk although after it has risen. Ice was then referred to as being of great value in the dairy, and it can be kept for a long period,the Danes and Swedes saving sufficient for two summers, packing it in a small building or brickyard and covering it extensively with sawdust. Twenty-five cows would require for one summer 25 ton of ice by the Swartz system, and this quantity could be packed in a space 12 feet square. In describing the aspect, position, and formation of the dairy, Mr Long refe.rred especially to drains, which should on no account be present, the water being carried out either under the doorsill or through a hole in the wall into another compartment, where the drains should preferably be situated. The floor should be of concrete, and the shelves of slate or wood, unless the Norman system is adopted, when the deep pan may be stood in a g itter, 2 feet wide carried down the walls, a stream of water running through, or u less revolving Btands are used on which three tiers of open pans can be placed. Th describing churns, he stated that there were two desiderata in a churn —a large mouth and facility for cleaning, or absence of internal beaters or arrangements. Given these qualifications, little else rested in the churn but in the person working it, for a good man would obtain the best results with almost any good churn in existenc; and it should not be forgotten that if equal quantities of the same cream were placed in three similar churns and worked by the same mathematical power it would almost invariably be found that different quantities of butter would be obtained, and yet while there is so little certainty ab.-ut churning the churn is often blamed without cause, and prizes are of en awarded to one churn over another upon no other basis than a result which might be changed the very next day, and which can under no conditions be controlled.