BUTTER IN ENGLAND.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 231, 5 April 1928, Page 6

BUTTER IN ENGLAND.

SOME OBSERVATION S. When so much is heard of the respective merits of New Zealand and Danish butter it is of more than passing interest to hear the comment of such a well-known authority as Mr J. G. Harkness, of Wellington, after his recent visit to Denmark, states the Auckland | correspondent of the Evening Post. Mr Harkness said that it is a bitter thought for those interested in the dairying industry of the Dominion to know that butter produced under such ideal conditions sells on the London market at 2T£d per lb less than the price paid for Danish butter. Although not inclined to speak too freely of his experiences in Denmark, Mr Harkness described a special visit he made in November to a State experimental farm in that country. He asks if he might see one of the best herds. ■ He was directed to a great barn and was told that he would find the best I milk producing herd inside. By force ' of contrast with our own conditions, he received something of a shock, for in I that barn were 50 cows and three bulls, i and they had been kept there for I months on end. It was impossible for • the hygienic conditions to be as favourable as those under which milking is done and separating carried out in New Zealand. “I was there ror a couple of hours, from about 11 o’clock,” said Mr Harkness, i ‘ and even then the cows were being milked. The milk was run through the pipes to an adjoining section of the barn, and the separating was carried on there. Our authorities in Now Zealand would demand better conditions, but, of course, we must not overlook the handicap of the cold winter weather (snow on the ground) which causes the herds to be kept entirely indoors for several months in the i year. ’ ’ I It seemed strange to see the animals having no more exercise than they ob j tained by getting up and lying down, and, stranger still, to realise that milking was carried on throughout the winter, and butter made under the conditions which obtain in Denmark.

Ensilage was in universal use, and root crops were used to the fullest advantage. The herds were milked practically all the year round. and the Danes had evolved a dairying type of their own. These were red cattle resembling Poll Angus in style but having horns. They are large, well-conditioned cattle, and good'producers. Mr Harkness expressed the belief that New Zealand butter is of superior quality, but it has to undergo a severe test in the way of refrigerated transit to London, and he doubted whether butter from Europe, arter 'such transit, would open up as well as the New Zealand article.