DANISH BUTTER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 6

DANISH BUTTER.

Some interesting particulars respecting methods of making and marketing Danish butter were recently given to a representative of the Herald by Mr W. Halberg, a gentleman who has had considerable experience in this department of industry. It is generally admitted that if Australian butter is to-take the place to which it is entitled the milk must be more scientifically treated, and in order to enable this to be done with due regard to economy, large quantities must be dealt with at the same time. The Danish farmers have become thoroughly apprized of this bedrock fact. By the application of the cooperative system, they have formed numerous large and well-equipped factories, some of which deal daily with the milk of 2000 to 2500 cows, and work as many as 8 or 10 separators. Great care needs to be taken with regard to the temperature at which the various operations are conducted. Iu Denmark it is found necessary to control the temperature by means of ice, large quantities of which are stored in the winter for use in the

warmer months. In the much hotter climate of Australia, control over the temperature is much more urgently required than in Denmark, though 'ess expensive means than the ice-houses have to be resorted to in securing it. In deviling with the milk, great stress is laid upon sterilisation. This is effected by a machine which keeps the milk in very rapid rotation in a. tin vessel, which is exposed to the action of' the steam. The rapid motion prevents the milk from being burnt, whilst the heat kills the micro-organ-isms or ferment germs which the milk contains, and confers upon it the power to remain sweet for a much longer period than would otherwise be the case. It is found that butter also, when , made from sterilised milk or cream, will keep much better than that which is made in the ordinary way. An ingenious machine for tliH sterilisation—or. Pasteurisation, as it is sometimes called—of milk has been invented, and can be obtained at leading implement importers in Sydney. It is made of a size capable of dealing with 500 gallons of milk per hour. Some small loss is incurred by sterilisation. There is more fat in the buttermilk of sterilised milk or cream than in unsterilised, but on the other hand there is less water in the butter, which, moreover, keeps much better, and is of sweeter and purer taste. All microbes, bacteria, and microorganisms are supposed to be destroyed by sterilisation. To "ripen" the cream, however, after it has passed through this process, the Danish dairymen add a " lactic acid ferment," which is itself prepared from the cultivation of a certain description of micro-organism, whose operations produce in the cream the change called souring or ripening. This microbe is one of the harmless or beneficent germs ; otherwise the knowledge of his presence in Danish butter might give a very welcome impetus to the demand for Australian. Careful watch has to be kept on the " ripening " process, and, as soon as it is sufficiently advanced, it is stopped, or " killed," by lowering the temperature. When it sinks below a certain point the bacteria can no longer live, and the ripening is stopped. The whole of the processes attending the manufacture of the butter are conducted with similar scientific precision.

The salt used is microscopically examined and chemically tested. The proportion of colouring matter is also determined with the utmost exactitude, being regulated so as to suit the market to which the butter is to be sent. Here attention may be called to a very important point in the marketing of the butter. Danish butter is not shipped to an agent to find a buyer, as is the case with most of the Australian. It is purchased before it is shipped, and goes straight to the buyer from the factory. The buyer, having found a certain mark of Danish butter suit his trade, contracts for future supplies of the same mark, and the manufacture is conducted with such care that the quality and appearance can be maintained with wonderful regularity. This works greatly to the advantage of the producers, for tastes vary, so that it may happen that a butter which would be classed as only second-rate in London may be considered first-rate in Wales or in Scotland The factories have agents, not only in London, but in all the principal consuming districts of Great Britain, and their chief aim is to work up a steady and continuous trade by proving that the quality and uniformity of the product with which they deal are thoroughly reliable.

The Danish cows are fed on grass fro n about the end of April to September or October. After that colder weather sets in, and stall-feeding has to be resorted to. The food, of course, must be of such a nature that it will not convey any unpleasant taste to the butter, and in this connection it is stated that rape-cake imparts very nearly the same flavour as grass to the butter of cows fed upon it. Immense as are the present proportions of the Danish butter industry, it has not been fostered by the granting of any bonus on the part of the Government. What the Government did do, however, was to establish laboratories fitted with the most modern and delicate apparatus for testing dairy products, and to appoint competent chemical and market experts to conduct them. Samples of butter were sent in weekly by the factories to these trial laboratories; their butter was thoroughly tested, its defects (if any) pointed out, and certificates given to the senders, setting forth the character ! of their product. These, if favourable,

were forwarded with tlie btitter, &nd rid doubt materially assisted to gain the confidence of the British constimerY