THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1194, 18 January 1895, Page 4

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

What becomes of the dairy produce after it leaves the factory or dairy ? How does it fare on the road to the chief ports of shipment, to which by law it has to be directed? How is it treated at those ports ? What happens between the cold store and the hour of shipment? These are the questions every dairy farmer in New Zealand is asking himself at the present moment and worrying his friends about —with reason, because he has an Act over him which he has to obey in many matters of minute detail. * f Is this is a free country ? ” someone asks. Of course it is; a country eminently free. Freedom, however, when it is true freedom, consists in doing, not what one likes at every turn, but that which is for the advantage of the greatest number. That point the laws passed by the representatives of a free people decide and regulate. Much depends on the quality of these laws, of course. One of these is the Dairy Industry Act which has just started the dairy farmers on a new course. It was objected to as drastic. But unless a law is drastic, it is, as a regulator of industry, not worth the paper it is printed upon. This Act is not so drastic as the Acts in force in Canada and Victoria, and the prosperity of the dairy industry in those colonies —the envy and admiration of all the other colonies in this respect—is due to those measures. The New Zealand Act is simple, clear, easily obeyed and certain to produce good effects. At least, we can all hope for the best, on the excellent grounds supplied by the Act. The great thing for the public to understand is the working of the Act. The questions we have referred to they want to be answered. In another column we supply the answers. One of our representatives has visited the cold store at our port, he describes the accommodation there, he gives the views of the various experts who handle the dairy produce, he tells of the grading, and the freezing, and the shipment, and of many other things besides. His account shows that on the whole the produce (butter is the only article he speaks of) gets very good treatment. The producers may make their mind easy on that point. Their goods are not cramped for want of room, the (packages are in no way injured in the grading, the freezing is very well done and the final shipment is expeditious.

Still there are a few things which require adverse comment. The produce trains ought, for instance, to be more regular. Some latitude must be allowed as a matter of course. But these trains are sometimes unconscionably late. The essence of the thing is that the butter ought to have the cool night hours only. But sometimes it gets long day hours, and during these hours it gets a dozen degrees too hot. That should be ended without any delay. We may add that if the factories had small refrigerators the temperature would leave nothing to be desired. It is a question of cost and profit. Necessarily an article that arrives at 25 degrees is more likely to sell well than one which gets here at 73. Then there is the grading, which can be done far more reliably for factory than for dairy produce. The point is worth the attention of the farmer. Again, much of the parchment paper used in packing is found to give a disagreeable flavour, and, more important still, there is a “ twangy ” flavour about many of the consignments which tells of the lack of aerating. In this connection, we draw the attention of producers to the 12th section of the Act, which provides that “ every person supplying milk to a dairy, factory or creamery, shall, immediately the milk is drawn from the cow, pass the milk over a cooler or aerator for the purpose of being properly cooled or aerated.” We may add that “ every person who contravenes this Act in any manner is liable for every such offence to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, and not less than one pound.” We should, under the circumstances, decidedly advise producers to aerate their milk. Then the boxes are not always as clean as they ought to be, in some cases they are not strong enough, and in others the handling they get is too rough. These defects we feel sure only require to be pointed out to be remedied. The great thing the working of the Act has shown in . the short time it has been in force is that it is possible to get a grip of how things are going from hour to hour, and devise remedies immediately for defects. It has been objected that the grading here may not be accepted at the other end. That may be so in the commencement. And the question largely, of course, depends on the treatment on the voyage Home. But given good treatment on the voyage—and we see no reason for doubt on that score —and a prompt remedy of all defects coming to light on the way to ship, the grading here will come to be accepted at the other end, and all will go well For the present the Act, by focussing the trade under observant eyes, promises to work wonders, and so has done much to justify itself handsomely to the country at large.