BUTTER AND CHEESE MIKING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2211, 16 July 1896, Page 4

BUTTER AND CHEESE MIKING.

♦•British dairj-farmerß," writes Professor Sheldoo, England, "ask for no protection save that sgsinst deceit snddhease. I>t fo-eigners sefiS us all the fo )d the/- will, bas let it be genuine, *nd let theic live atook ba free'froai disease. This i*. all -wo a*k in the .way of protection." The pu.iby and healthfulness of milk products is a subject whfoh in recent years , has attracted- more attention in jthe United Kingdom thaa even tho soundness of the meat supplies, because of the more general knowledge of the insidious ohar»ober of milk birne infectious diseases. Tho risks attendant on the con* sumption cf milk of cows suffering from tuberculous udders -were fully understood, bub only recently hs s it b^ea proven that the tubsrele bacillus may still retun its vitality and iufectivo power when milk afl^cted has baen converted into butter and oheeie.

Now ib is known that other pithogenio bacteria find access to, find nutriment, and rapidly multiply in the milk' produtfs -buttsr and cheese. It was beli>vid that the process. of manufacture of cheese woald destroy infectious bkcto-ia, aud tb.it the fiuiahed ar.icle would be. proof »giiiutt hiVAMOi ; but iv 18JW it w-ts reported to tho New York Boird ot Hra'th that the klebs-^oeffler (diphtheriaj bacillus had been cultivated from the cheese made from milk stored in a dairy fa r ra in which a case or oasts of diphtheria had occurred. It was represented that under men circumstances the diphtheria bacillus, if allowed to ga : n accts* to the cheese-making rcora, might find its w*y into the miik or cheese at any pare cf the process, so that any treatment of ihe milk itself which might interfere with tbe vitality of tbe bacillus would be of little avail. In the case re r erred to the New York Bo*rd of Health tracad aud confiscated the whole consignment of cheese from the sffooted farm.

An obvious advantage of the factory system is j that OBca milk w aches the factory it is noi j exposed to unwholesome influences ; still there j . ia. wanting jn these colonies eafe,juirdß »g*inst ; 'contamination from unhealthy sources and thegeneral disregard of sanitary laws by mi-k , suppliers. The weak points of ourdairy.mamgemenfe appear to be well known to continental competitors in the B itish dairy-pro'duca market*, who persistently urgf upon cousumera the exceptional purity aud soun )ue->a of tbe goods btcauso if the strict contiol ezerciied <m i r the dairy farms oontributirg the milk supply. They 1 say that the establishment of factories is all very I well in its way, but that drawing their milk I supplies frcm farms in the vicinity, with no [ regulations enforced regarding the cleanly ' handling of milk and healthy surrounding*, j and mixing at tbe factory the several supplies obtained, introduces into the busmen a comparatively now s.uroe of daDger; th«t the mixture of infected milk with milk nob inieoiol is calculatsd to specifically contaminate the whole, and that the risks incurred by the consumers of the product* must be patent to all. Mr David WiKon, the Victorian Government dairy expert, iv his latt rtporb states that the market values of Victorian exports of butttr and cheess bave been de^reoiated in the Home inaikits by such rrp-eieutations ; and recognising the fa-it?, and the nvults of the invest igvtions of tbe Perishable Products Commission, tbe dai'y asiociations of that colony have resolved on carrying out in future a regular system of iuspection of the dairy cattle supplying the milk, and of the surrounr'ings of the farm*. OHvicusly, similar mra'-ures must be adoitsd b) tbe associations iv other colonies in order to^cemmand and maintain a high reputation for thfir product?. ,16 is .ve:y commonly supposed that by the pasteurißg. process milk is purified of bacteria, but this, is questionable, and at best dependent 6a the exhaustive, nature of tbe operation. In point of fact in the rep rfc c-f the Royal Commission on tubercalosjts suapio'on,isexpreseed pf any advjcJ to the public j to attempt to sterilise milk' bf healiog it to a ; temperature short of boiling.ppiut. Mr David j 1 Wilson regard* tho pasteurisation- of milk ie- ! tended for butter-making vith little favour, and is firmly of the opiuion that pasteurised butter will not do for expert, as it will not keep. He is supported in his coutoitiou, to 5, by several authorities. Mr W. Suphan, in a pampb'efc on paateurwation, writes :— " The real object in view in putting milk through the process of pasteurising was to destroy all living bacteria, aud to cause the spores, or setda, to remain dormant. This, of couise, was applicable only to milk that, after beiog drawn from the cow, had been exposed to contamination, or milk kspt for attribution as milk food. Milk intended for butter or cheese makiDg, especially now that cream separ&tora were so commonly used, need not go under the prooss3 ; in fact, leading authorities advised against it. For instance, Herr ZcfEmann stated that cream intended for ' butter-making fhonld never be pasteurised, unless absolutely necessary; it should be the last resource— firstly, on account of the increased expanse it entailed, aud secondly because the consiatei.ce of the butter suffered from the process. There were but few— in fact, scarcely any— dairies in Denmark where the conditions were so unfortunate that pasteurising the cream was necessary. If a good strong acid were used and tbe cream was aerated, then, evea under unfortunate conditions, a fairly good fresh butter | might be prodecsd. T ea, agaio, pasteurised butter was unfitted for etport ; its faults be-; canse mor« rronounred. w,le » lie^fc for a tirr-e It would alwujs pay bitter to sell su h 1 butler j for home csnsamption than introduce the fxpenso of pasteurising andexport thflbutter-."' Mr A. N. Pearson, Victoria Government analytic chemis*-, dissents from these views. Questioned on the subject, ho said that he did not profess to form a decided opinion, but from experiments made it had been found that pasteurised batter had kept longer than butter made in tbe ordinary way. He did nob agree with Herr Zoffman's ideas even with the email ezDerience he had bad. Whatever differences

of opinion prevail as to the efficacy of the process, experts are agreed that care and cleanliness in the handling of milk are the essentials towards the production of prime butter and cheese.