THE DAIRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1194, 18 January 1895, Page 6

THE DAIRY.

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. COOL STORAGE AT WELLINGTON. As the Dairy Industry Act, which renders it necessary that all butter must bo ' graded before being exported fi*om the Colony, has now been in force for some time, a description of its working, as far as the district for which Wellington is an outlet is concerned, will doubtless prove of interest to a large section of our readers. The cool storage which the Government provide is supplied by the Wellington Meat Export Company, whose capacious premises on Waterloo quay are conveniently situated, both as regards the two railway stations and also for shipping purposes. When interviewed by a New Zealand Times reporter, Mr D. Sladden, the manager and secretary of the Company, willingly undertook to give all the information in his powei*. Speaking of the various quantities of butter passing through the works since grading operations first commenced, the s.s. Gothic, Mr Sladden said, was the first vessel to leave Wellington with a cargo of graded butter, and she took 7293 boxes and 802 kegs. The next was the s.s. Kaikoura, with 7775 boxes and 808 kegs, and lastly the Doric, with 7222 boxes and 775 kegs. The next boat to leave is the Rimutaka on the 24th Inst. The major portion of the butter entering the stores is from the West Coast, and for the accommodation of shippers a special train leaves New Plymouth on Tuesday and Friday nights, and is timed to reach "Wellington at six o’clock the following morning. A considerable quantity is also brought down by boat from Taranaki, while the "Wairarapa is served by the usual train service. As to the capacity of the Meat Export Co/s works, Mr Sladden sets one’s mind completely at rest by stating that they ate capable of holding all the butter that was exported from Wellington during 1894. In company with Mr Sladden, our representative then made a tour of the building to see in what manner the produce is dealt with on its arrival. The railway trucks are run along the siding at the rear of the premises, the boxes and kegs brought out immediately and placed on hand-trucks, which are then run into the building, placed on a hydraulic lift,. and. hoisted up on to the top floor, where they are placed in a largo room kept- at a temperature of about 40 degrees F. It is in this room that they are graded, and they are then stored in a freezing chamber adjoin- ; ing and kept there until ready for shipment, in a temperature varying from 25 degrees to 28 degrees F. The manner in which the butter is despatched from the freezing chamber to the ship is as expeditious as that of its ingress to the works, but instead of descending by means of the lift it is passed down a shoot ,on to the waggons below. Our representative, having thanked Mr Sladden for his courtesy, turns his attention to Mr A. A. Thornton, the Government grader, who is engaged at his work with the aid of a number of men, who are opening the boxes of butter for his inspection. The scene is a busy one and goes to show that the position of grader is by no means a sinecure. Dressed in dungaree trousers and a thick black jacket with the collar turned up (the temperature of the room is 40 degrees), Mr Thornton attacks the open boxes with a butter trier, a long fluted weapon, which he pushes down to the. bottom of the package, bringing up a sample of its contents. By taste and smell he grades its quality, and replaces the sample in the package, which is then branded according to his decision. This done, the lid of the package is nailed on again, and it is then placed on a truck, on which it is wheeled into the freezing chamber, where the air strikes chilly and the visitor involuntai-ily buttons his jacket, and is thankful he is not compelled to work in such a temperature. However, the men do not seem to mind it, the work of placing the packages in stacks keeps the blood circulating, and their stay in the chamber is brief.

In conversation with Mr Thornton, our representative gathers that the train from New Plymouth is not so punctual in its arrival here as it should be—in fact, it is frequently two hours and sometimes as much as nine hours late. For instance, the train which should have got alongside the works at 6 o'clock last Saturday morning 1 did not put in an appearance until 2.15 in the afternoon. It is most essential, he remarks, that the produce should arrive to time, because the men are all ready to deal with it at 6 o’clock, besides which if it is kept in the trucks all day in the sun it is likely to get heated, which deteriorates considerably from its value in the Homo market. The temperature of one truck on Saturday last was 73 degrees—about 13 degrees higher than it should have been. Then again, some of the butter from Hawera was sent down in a van in company with several bales of wool, the result being that when it arrived it showed a temperature of 69 degrees. The butter which comes down by boat from New Plymouth also occasionally arrives in a heated condition, and Mr Thornton expressed the opinion that it would be better for everyone if the whole of it was sent by train—that is to say, presuming that the railway authorities would deliver it at the stipulated time, because in that case it would be travelling at night time, and would not run any risk of becoming heated. The difficulty is that freight from New Plymouth by train is 5s more per ton than it is by steamer, although even with that disadvantage the train service is very largely availed of. As to the grading itself, in dealing with factory butter Mr Thornton opens and tests two or three boxes of each date make, but dairy butter requires more particular attention, and almost every box has to be opened and to undergo inspection. The packages are opened quickly, but with great care, and as carefully nailed up

again, so that the fears expressed by shippers that the boxes would undergo damage in the process are proved to be absolutely groundless. As soon as the butter has been graded and stamped the boxes are placed in the freezing chamber, where, to facilitate the process of freezing, battens, one inch thick and two inches wide, are placed between the boxes so as to allow the cold air to permeate them more thoroughly than it otherwise could. While pointing out this arrangement Mr Thornton makes the suggestion that small refrigerators should be provided at the factories, in "which . the butter could be cooled before: being sent to await carriage at the railway stations. If that were done, he says, the butter would reach him in far better condition than it does at present, and he instances a case of butter which had been frozen by the Auckland Dairy Association, and was at a temperature of 25 degrees when it arrived at Wellington. There are also one or two other subjects on which Mr Thornton has a word to say. In the first' place he complains that the quality of the parchment paper placed round the butter in the boxes is inferior, and gives the produce a bad flavour “ tallowy ” he calls it —which of course detracts from its marketable value. Then again, most of the butter is “twangy, apparently due to the fact that the milk is not aerated by the farmer. The fault does not rest with the factory ; the milk should be aerated as' soon as it is taken from the cow, and, he adds, the sooner the farmer is made to take this course the better it will be for the industry in every respect. In conclusion, Mr Thornton points out that some of the boxes arrive in a very dirty condition; that the wharf men are not sufficiently careful in their method of handling them; and that some of the boxes are not made sufficiently strong to stand even the legitimate amount of handling to which of necessity they have to be subjected. From his inspection, our representative gathers that in selecting the Meat Export Co.’s building for their cool storage depot, the Government have done a wise thing, that Mr Thornton is an up-to-date man who knows his business thoroughly, and that interests of producers and shippers are well conserved.