The Opunake Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1894. WHAT MILK SUPPLIERS WANT.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 27, 2 October 1894, Page 2

The Opunake Times TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1894. WHAT MILK SUPPLIERS WANT.

What milk suppliers want would appear, at first sight, to be a large order to fill, as they have the name of being terribly exacting. We think, however, that we may be able to ofler a few hints, gained from our observations, which may be worth tbeir wbile to give a little attention to. In the first place, tbey want a farm and the requisite labor to handle the number of cows at their disposal. In order to make the most of the cows, they should endeavour to improve their pastures as much as possible by providing grasses which have been proved the best for supplying the elements required for producing milk of the best quality. Then they want to pay every attention to their yards and milking sheds, so as to make both themselves and their cows as cpmfort-' able as possible, during milking time. Absolute cleanliness with regard to all milking utensils is essentially necessary if good results are to be obtained. The next important point is the quality of the cows. There are many cows being milked which it would pay better to fatten and turn into beef than keep iu the dairy, and such as these are decidedly unprofitable. They consume as much food as a good cow, and take the same amount of time to milk and attend to, but are not producing sufficient to warrant expenditure. With these, then, we say the first loss is the least loss, and would adyise any daijry* man who holds such to save his grass, time, and trouble, and let the butcherdeal with them. They next waut a dairy factory. It is necessary, of course, that the milk should be taken there, but according to the present system, this entails a terrible loss of time, and as labor-saving appliances in milking are being sought for, som& attention should be given to this branch of the industry. At present there are at least four men and four horses employed to do the woik ai one man and one horse, which must entajl a heavy indirect' loss on the producers. Then with regard to the testing : this must be done equit-

ably between suppliers and the factory. Unless a manager qualifies himself to take a test, he can hardly claim to be an efficient man as manager. In a very short time he should be able to make himself so, if he is likely to be a success iu his line, and if he cannot, then he should seek other employment, According to the Babcock test, 3-0 butter fat should produce 3-27 of butter, or a shade over B±lbs to the 1001b3 of milk ; 3-6 test should produce 3-98 of butter, or nearly 41bs; 4-0 test should produce 4-44, or nearly 4 Übs butter to the lOOlbs of milk. For all practical purposes for every point which milk is higher than 30, Babcock test, every lOOlbs of milk should produce a further 1% ounces of butter. To a supplier of 100 gallons this means lib of butter extra per day for every point higher his milk is in quality. As the manager, therefore, can verify his tests by the churn, there should be no difficulty in his soon becoming an expert in the business. The method of usiug the Babcock is not easily explained, but the following will give an idea :—A sample of milk, measured in a tube, is placed in a bottle having a long, thin neck, which neck is marked off in fifths from 0 to 10 per cent. An equal quantity of sulphuric acid, measured in the same way, is then placed in the bottle with the milk. The sulphuric acid destroys all such solids as sugar of milk, albumen, &c, excepting the butter fat. The butter fat being now separated from the milk, it is necessary to bring it into the neck of the test bottle where the register is, and to do this the bottles, which are fixed in a circular cau, are sent round at a high rate of speed, which throws the bottles into almost a horizontal position, and, by means of the centrifugal force, the butter fat rises into the neck of the bottle, after water has been added, when the percentage is then read off. The first essential is to have the sulphuric acid of the ascertained strength for the purpose, and this is a most important point. If the acid is too strong, it will disarrange part of the butter fat, and will therefore read to the detriment of the supplier. If, on the other hand, it is too weak, it will not separate the fat, which will equally tend to under-rate the quality of the milk tested. What the supplier therefore wants to be assured about is that acid of the proper strength is beiug used ; otherwise he will suffer. The factory is safe from all tests, because the price fixed for milk is based on the total extraction of the butter fat, and therefore, if a correct test is made, bare justice alone will be done to the suppliers, but anything which cuts them short is so much benefit to the factory. Each supplier should have a bottle set aside with his name on it, so that he should see and know what his milk is doing. These bottles should be placed in the factory under efficieut charge. Precautions are taken in some factories by using numbers, so that milk suppliers will have no inducement to enter the factory surreptitiously and make any additions of specially rich milk to their samples, as, owing to their names not being on, they do not know which is their own bottle. This preventative at once suggests an equal protection to the supplier, as any interference with the sample on the part of the factory would be detrimental to him. What is wanted to meet this is mutual confidence, and to inspire this the simplest method would be to make a daily test in their presence. If this cost a small sum per week, it would be worth paying, so as to have thorough satisfaction,. There should be no reasonable objection to this, because, as wo have already stated, the most a test can do is to bring out the total amount of butter fat, and as this is what i 3 supposed to be paid for, no injustice can be inflicted on the factory by letting the light of day in on the transactions. When these several conditions are complied with, then there may be a reasonable amount of content amongst suppliers. Iu a future article we shall endeavour to point out how these ends can be obtained.