CHEESE.

Southland Times, Issue 21429, 25 June 1931, Page 3

CHEESE.

To the Editor.

Sir, —Amongst other letters on the above subject I noticed recently one from the energetic secretary of the Friesian Breeders’ Association claiming that all the faults are due to the use of milk from the yellow milk-producing breeds of dairy cows, and that Canadian’s superior quality is due to the universal use of white milk.

Mr .Kalaugher never made a bigger mistake ’in his life. All the strains of cattle producing yellow milk are descendants of the Brown Swiss, whilst the white milk strains, which include Friesian, Ayrshire and Shorthorns, come from a different foundation. What is the actual position ? Cheese made from Brown Swiss milk is superior to cheese made from Friesian milk. The Hawera Experiment proved that the yellow Jersey milk testing 4.3 per cent, butterfat produced the ideal cheese. We learn from reliable sources that Canadian cheesemakers instead of encouraging the white milk breeds, as Mr Kalaugher tried to make out, actually pay a premium on hightesting milk and dairymen are using Jersey, Guernsey and Brown Swiss bulls to raise their standard up to 3.8, which is considered their ideal. Also that factory managers have power to reject milk testing below 3.4 per cent butter fat.

Now, Mr Kalaugher claims that to remedy all the ills of the cheese industry is to adopt a system of payment for milk on the total solids (i.e., casein butterfat test). Sir, is there such a thing as an accurate test for casein that would be applicable to the ordinary cheese factory manager? I have yet to hear of one. What would be the position at a cheese factory if such a system was in force? Taking my factory at Mokotua, the average test last season being 3.7, my average working out at 4.64. Now, Sir, take this season with an average pay out of lid for all cheese factories with his proposed premiums of Id to the low testing herd and a deduction of Id from mine. Would I continue to supply at the lOd? I would either partskim my milk or else supply a butter factory which would pay from 12 Ad to I3d per lb butterfat. What would be the inevitable result, slowly but surely? The supply would dwindle and the average test drop below 3 per cent, and the managers would produce a tough, dry, leathery cheese which would be classed by the buyers in the skim-milk class. No, that is not the trouble. In New Zealand we have chased the boggy yield whilst Canada has concentrated on quality and she has lined us a treat. The High Commissioner of Canada, after investigating New Zealand methods of manufacture, said that Canadian cheesemen had nothing to fear from New Zealand methods of manufacture. I wopder if Mr Kalaugher read the condemnation of New Zealand-making methods by that champion English cheesemaker which appeared in so many of our farm journals some time back. If not, I would advise him to seriously study her criticisms of our manufacturing methods and he would find the solution of most of our troubles. Her strong condemnation of our rush methods of manufacture were, whilst fairly caustic, hardly, I think, severe enough. Whilst on the actual manufacturing methods she raised her hands up in horror.

Now, can Mr Kalaughter deny that our cheese industry has in the past been swayed by the “get more yield per lb of butterfat” craze that has actuated our so-called leader? Look at the huge sums spent in cool stores, the super insulation of our cargo steamers, to keep shrinkage down to the lowest level, with the result that our cheese is marketed in a green state and at six months is not as matured at Canadian at 10 weeks.

Now the remedy; to my mind we should take a leaf out of Danish marketing methods. License our cheesemakers manufacturing export cheese and, should anyone persist in forwarding low quality cheeses, refuse him a license until his quality has improved up to such a standard that he can compete with success against our crack cheesemakers at local shows.—l am, etc., JNO. BOURCHIER. Mokotua, June 22, 1931.