BUTTER MOISTURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7078, 16 March 1910, Page 7

BUTTER MOISTURE

TAEANAKI FAKMERS' DIFFICULTIES. GOVERNMENT FINDS A WAT OUT. Considerable trouble has been experienced owing to excessive moisture in but- [ ter produced by Taranaki settlers. It has been shown that they are not wilful offenders in the matter. To meet tho difficulties which the-makers of private dairy butter are experiencing in prevent ing their butter containing an excess of moisture, the Hon. T. Mackenzie (Minister of Aigricultu-ro) is considering a proposal which he hopes, with the concurrence and assistance" of settlers, to give effect to. It has been suggested by the Director of the Dairy Produce Division that a depot be established at one or more of the central shipping ports, through which the makers of dairy,butter would have the privilege of sending their produce. At such a depot, it would be tested before shipment, and, in some cases, where any excess of moisture in the butter was detected, it could be reworked and repacked Before being shipped, for a small charge, estimated at 6d per box. Those dairymen, who elected to send their butter through this depot would avoid.the risk of beinjr prosecuted for a fault in their produce which 6ome of them cannot ayoid, owing to the adverse conditions under which this class of butter is made on many of the farms. This serious defect is largely brought about by the excessively warm weather, and the lack of any cooling medium for controlling the moisture content of their butter. Those dairymen, of course, who did not avail themselves of this privilege would have to take the risk, of being proceeded against, if their butter happened to contain more than 16. per cent, of water.

It is. thought thai • the expense involved in providing the facilities referred to would not be heavy. There would be the necessity, however, of the emplovnient of an extra man to treat the butter under th© guidance of the dairy produce grader at the port of shipment. Although the full details of the proposal have not yet been considered, there seems to be no serious obstacle in the way of'carrying out the scheme. Con- [ siderable trouble, and annoyance has been caused to settlers by their butter being withheld from shipment, which I has necessitated the sale of it locally to someone who has the facilities for reworking the butter and shipping it under the ordinary milled brand. AVheri thus disposed of, the dairymen have also to. stand the loss of receiving a lower price for their butter than would be the case if it were shipped to the British market in the ordinary way.' It may be mentioned that the departmenfe officars have kept a strict supervision over all butter passing through the different grading stores, from the point of view of its moisture content, and, while the Government is very anxious to avoid taking legal proceedings against any of the producers, who, owing to the disadvantages under which they have to work, cannot help making ( up butter which contains more moisture than that laid down, in the Dairy Industry Act, the necessity of protecting the good namo of New Zealand butter on the Britr ish market has to be kept in mind. "Of course," stated the Minister when explaining the proposals to a "New Zealand Times" representative, "it must be clearly understood that what is proposed is only to affect butter produced in private dairies, because of the fact already stated, that they are unable during the warmer months to control the moisture the butter contains, and also in older to assist that class of the butter industry. As regards dairy factories and packing houses, there can, of course, be no excuse . for butter from such" containing excessive moisture, as they can have the facilities for controlling it. It is gratifying, however, to be able to report that .practically no excessive moisture has been discovered in dairy factory butter this season. This is exceedingly satisfactory, and justifies the firm action which the Government recently , took with regard to excessive moisture, in the face of much opposition, and we I see the effects no doubt in the splendid position occupied in the Home market at the present time, where our butter is commanding 130 s per ewt., as against 126 s for Australian, and 137 s for Danish. It is not so very long since the price for Danish butter on the British market was much more above the price obtainable for the New Zealand article, the difference being as much as 12s per cwt."