CHEESE INDUSTRY

Otago Witness, Issue 3293, 25 April 1917, Page 11

CHEESE INDUSTRY

IMPORTANCE OF INSTRUCTION. SOME INTERESTING EVIDENCE. An interesting statement in reference to the cheese-making industry and the -work of instructors jn connection therewith was made by Mr F. S. Pope, secretary of tha Agricultural Department, before the Third,. Military Service Board at Wellington lasi week. Mr Pope appealed on behalf of O. Stevenson (dairy instructor, Manaia), who had enlisted voluntarily. In a memorandum Mr Pope stated: " From the commencement of the present dairying season it has been impossible to cope fully with the- work of instruction, at dairy factories owing _to the limited! number of instructors available, and many of the applications for assistance received from dairy companies have therefore had to be deferred from time to time. Further, the instructors are called upon to visit) many of the dairy farms throughout tha dominion, in order to help the owners to locato the causes of defective milk and cream supplies, and in this respect the present number of officers is totally inadequate, with the consequent loss of quality in tha products manufactured. '' Altogether there are only 12 instructor! available in connection with the actual manufacture of butter and cheese. Four ot these men have also to attend to the grading of dairy produce. for export, which is compulsory by law, in addition to thei? instructional duties. Two have been laid? up with illness for many months, and ara not likely to resume duty for a further l period. " There are 381 cheese factories and 173 butter factories in New Zealand, all of which are registered by this department, and tha dairy instructors have to exercise a general supervision over these factories in addition to their duties in regard to the manufacture of dairy produce. It will therefore ba seen that the number of men employed ai instructors is comparatively small. In fact, this number could bo doubled with, advantage to tho industry, " The cheese industry in some districts it undergoing a complete change as the re* suit of attention being given to tha pasteurisation of milk for this purpose-. Mtf Stevenson and other cheese instructors havo been devoting a largo amount of their timo to this special work, in order that the system may be carried on with seme degrea of uniformity, and the help of these men is required in making the change from the old system to tho new. "It may be pointed out that all dairy instructors and dairy produce graders hay*

to bo recruited from among- the most successful and experienced dairy factory managers throughout the dominion. If, therefore, the dairy instructors are called upon for military service, it will be impossible- to fill the vacancies thus caused without creating a further difficulty for those dairy companies who have in their employ suitable men to become instructors. '"The work'bf instruction in dairy factories is even more important now than before the war, for the reason that many inexperienced employees have had to be engaged to fill the places of those men who are already on active service. "Mr Stevenson has 40 factories to supervise in his district, amongst which he is doing excellent work in helping the managers and factory employees to keep utj the standard of quality in regard to cheese." The Chairman of the board (Mr J. W. Poynton) stated that the board fully realised the importance of appellant's position. Leave would be granted until the First Division is exhausted.