THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3439, 21 May 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

AMONG TH® DAIRY FARMS AND DAIRY FARMERS OF WELLING-TON-TARANAKI. No. VI. THE MANGATOKI BUTTER FACTORY. Under the slope of Mount Egmont rises the Mangatoki stream, on which is situated one of the largest and best butter factories in the colony, and which takes its name from the stream on whose banks it stands. If asked to say what is the most striking characteristic of this factory, nine out of ten would answer “ The manager," A strong man with a decided will of bis own, Mr Mo-William cares little fop the fads pf “ tbs department," and the idiosyncrasies of the purpeyops dairy experts that have honoured this colony with their presence at different times trouble him but little. Unlike most men in the industry, „Mr MoWilliam learned his business in the Old Country, under that Canadian professor that the Scottish farmers had to import from Canada to teach their sons and daughters the “lost art" of dairying. So much does Mr MoWilliam run his factory on “his own" that the magnates in the business bad assured me that I woul<| not gain admit: tanoo to Mangatold. However, having duly introducedimyself, I was invited to a dinner of roast pheasant as a fitting introduction to the factory of the coast. Whilst discussing the pheasant with my host and his family we talked “ shop ” and the prepent craze for cooking nqillf op partly epoking it which is the name of 11 Pasteurisation," ; Nothing short of right down absolute boiling is, in Mr MoWilliamV opinion, necessary to' kill all the disease-breeding bacteria in unclean milk. At one time in his career my host had been a user of “ raw ” milk, but a closer acquaintance with-New Zea land dairying has cured him of this. On entering the factory I was surprised' to find the boiler surrounded with tiers and tiers of butter-boxes—a precaution necessary now that the supply of seasoned timber is getting exhausted. At times the graders find boxes of butter mottled with blue mould; blit if the precaution taken at Mangatoki were general the complaint of unseasoned tiiiiber would not so often be heard.

One of the heaviest items of expense in most factories is almost entirely avoided at Mangatoki. A big factory like this uses over a cord of a. day, whan steam is the motive power ; hut the Mangatoki stream and a small turbine wheel supply all tie power at Mangatoki, and the cost of a cord of wood a day is saved.

In connection with the factory ,are five “ skimming stations,” viz., Hastings Road, Kaponga, Kapuni, Inf.b?, ani} Mangawhero, ap4 from these stations the arrives lb covered carts at different hours throughout the day.

On arrival at the factory the cream is emptied into a large weigh-caj^, ffjd weight trptb' fhepca H ppakos ;ta way by gravitation over the famous Mangatoki “cooler" into the cream vats below.

.This cooler (the work of. Banks and Sons, of Wellington) is quite the best thing of its kind in the colony. The cost of the cooler, was £70,. and its. value has been sated to the suppliers many scares of times during the eighteen months it has been in use.' For the benefit of the uninitiated I may explain that the cooling machine is exactly like a mammoth washing hoard inside. Through the

inside of the cooler ammonia, at a temperature many degrees below freezing, circulates, and as the cream flows quietly over the outside it is brought down to any temperature desired. A film, or thin stream of cream, eight feet high and as many feet wide is quite a pretty sight, almost worth a visit to the factory alone. From the upper floor, my guide conducted me into the butter-making room on the lower or ground floor. Here another surprise awaited me. The factory chum in general use is an oblong box; but at Mangatoki tho churns are almost square, a better granulation being secured, in Mr McWilliams’ opinion, by the cubicle shape.

The freezing machine is a British Linde, and a beautiful piece of mechanism it is. Its ice-making capacity is one ton a day ; but it is used first for cooling the cream, and then to keep the storeroom at a fitting temperature. The output of the factory in the flush of the season reaches 550 boxes a week and the product is well known to Wellington consumers as the famous “ Mercantile ’’ butter.

In one respect alone is Mangatoki not up-to-date. The boxes are still branded with the out-of-date stencil plate, instead of having the neat printed inscription now in general use. By the way I had almost forgotten to mention that the factory is owned by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company ; and that it enjoys the peculiar distinction of being neither a proprietary nor a co-operative business. It is, as it were, a conglomeration of the two systems, being financed and controlled by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, for a commission, the suppliers being represented by a local Board of Advice. That this method of working is not altogether without its advantages is proved by the continued success of the factory, and tho thriving settlers who are its suppliers, whose only anxiety is to milk for all they are worth. And everyone round does that.