Danish Butter Factories.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7267, 21 July 1893, Page 2

Danish Butter Factories.

In Denmark the dairying industry has assumed national dimensions. It is carried on with great individual energy, and pro* moted by various co-operative agencies. Within the last ten years the receipts of Danish English butter in ports have risen nearly threefold, and those from Sweden in a still greater ratio, while the supplies from Germany have not augmented in this interval. The Danes have the advantage of a Royal Agricultural Society, directing its energies to practical ends. The encouragement offered by the Danish Society to the farmers of Denmark induced a number of scientific men to undertake a series of investigations with the object of determining rational principles for the various processes of dairying. As a result of these inquiries the thermometer" and scales were adopted as indispensable appliances in properly managed establishments, and a detailed method of book-keeping was gradually introduced. State aid has been liberally given, and Denmark possesses a systematic and thorough organisation of practical instruction in dairy management. It has become usual to cream tho milk in deep cylindrical tin vessels by means of ice. Particular attention is given to the selection, feeding, and management of cows, and the system of autumn calving has mada it possible to produce large quantities, of butter in the winter. It was formerly the practice to make the butter from sweet cream, but in most of the dairies the butter is now made from sour eream. M. floggild, the consulting dairy expert of the Danish Agricultural Society, states that it is becoming more and more recognised that the quality of the butter depends upon the souring of the cream, for which various interesting devices are employed. Bacterial preparations are said to be used in some dairiea in others sour milk is obtained by exposing cream, half skimmed milk to such, a degree of heat as is- considered sufficient to develop the souring processes ; but experience hay shown that uniformity in quality is best obtained by using as a souring medium tha butter-milk produced in the dairy. Oo operative dairies are a feature of the industry in Denmark. In the dairy the milk is separated in centrifugal separators, and the cream is manufactured into butter for sale. The separated milk is then made into cheese to supply the requirements of the neighbourhood, The regulation os regards the admittance of members has an air of quainthess about it. Any person holding miloh cows may be admitted to tho association provided two-thirds Jof the members vote in favour of his admission, but any member admitted after the association hu begun its operations pajs an entrance fee of 5s fid per cow, and each'member has as many votes in the association as he has cows. The total value of the assets of an association is apportioned as shares among the members in proportion to the quantity of milk each has. delivered since the foundation of the dairy. The annual profits aro divided in such a my that in the first place five per cent, ia paid on every share and the remainder is distributed in proportion to tho value representing the milk delivered by each member during the previous year. The articles of association are devised chiefly with a view to the making of profits, and their authors seem to be convinced that the best way to ensure good profits is to. produce the best hatter. If the rules are* strictly enforced, the high quality of thebutter is a matter of oertaintv. Every member is required to keep his transportvessels perfectly clean, he must see that tU$

milking is properly carried out, that all the milk is immediately passed through a strainer into the vessels, and that the latter are placed in cold water, which must he changed when necessary. It is prohibited to send milk from sick cows to the dairy, and it is the duty of the dairyman, when weighing the milk at the dairy, to see that it is fresh and good Members are also to feed their cattle in such a way, that the milk possesses uo flavour which is likely to depreciate the quality of the butter.

Formerly the butter produced in Denmark was delivered to local dealers or agents, who were in the habit of mixing' and grading a portion of the butter, which they afterwards disposed of through a broker to the wholesale exporters. But with the increasing demand for Danish batter in England the export, merchants found it to their advantage to negotiate directly with the producers. The middlemen have gradually disappeared, and as the weekly trade communications have become regular, the ■ exporters have arranged for the delivery of the butter from the dairies, many of them having erected branches in the country districts, where the batter is received bn certain days and paid for in cash. Having thus disposed of the middleman at home, the Danish exporters afterwards succeeded in avoiding the Eng* lish commission agents, by ’ entering into direct business relations with the wholesale batter merchants, and even with the retail dealers. The trade is now arranged in snob a manner that the English merchants and dealers telegraph their orders weekly on Thursday to the wholesale exporters in Den* mark, and the batter is dispatched by steamship on the following day. The freight is paid by the purchasers, and the price is regulated by the Copenhagen quotation on the day of shipment- The arrangement has, according to M. Boggild, three advantages. In the first place, the risk is avoided of the butter remaining unsold in the hands of a commission agent j secondly, the agent’s commission of 2 or 3 per cent is saved ; and, finally, the English purchaser is sure of receiving the article in such quantities as be requires.