The Dairying Industry.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4379, 27 February 1909, Page 2

The Dairying Industry.

PRIZE ESSAY. The following is Miss Isabella. Given’s essaj’, (open to School Children) which took first prize at the I'e Aroha A. and H. Society’s Show, held last month : Owing to the suitability of our Dominion, dairying is one of our chief industder. With the exception of a few southern districts, it is unnecessary lo stable the animals in winter; also to feed them much artifice! dry food, thus saving time, labour and money. The quality of New Zealand butter and cheese, on the ' whole, is steadily improving year by year, therefore, if New Zealanders are careful, they need have no fear for the ready sale of their produce.

The amount of dairy produce exported from our Dominion is, at - present, valued only at about two millions and a-quarter, whilst that cousumed in Great Britain is three hundred and eighty-six millions annually. Dairyfarmers need to be very particular to have all their implements very clean, because the quality of butter and cheese is largely due to the quality of raw materials. It should be the aim of every dairy man to keep everything in connection with his dairy perfectly clean, since so much depends on it, namely, the reputation of New Zealand dairy - produce New Zealand has to compete with Canada and Denmark, a dominion and a country, both of which have a decided advantage over our Dominion, because of the nearness to the Home market place London. Improvement in quality is also desired because Russia and Siberia are straining every nerve to improve the quality of their produce.

One of tli 3 worst defects in butter is tallowiness, caused by carelessuess and lack of cleanliness in tbe handling of milk and cream. Occasionally tallowiness causes bad colour as well as bad flavour. If butter is inclined that way, after several mouths’ keeping it will turn a very pale colour. Sometimes the colour is helped by the use of preservatives and one English merchant, controlling three hundred shops, says they cannot sell New Zealand butter simply because it is too blight in colour for their trade. In the Dairy Industry Act, 1898, the use of preservatives was reduced to one-half per cent, but some butter, with an excess of that quantity, has since reached the Home market. The companies which use too much, are, if found out, liable to a heavy fine. Some New Zealanders think it necessary to use them because of the distance the butter has to be shipped. This is not the case, however, for, were cleaner and better milk .produced and a better system of pastuerißation used at all factories and creameries, preservatives could be entirely done away with. To be able to produce better milk, the best, and only the best of cows ought to be het)t for dairying purposes. Probably it will not be possible to have cows equalliugthe Ho steir, which Mr 11. 11. Dean, Professor of the Ontario Agricultural College, says they have in their stables.' This superior beast produced 2522 pounds of milk in, thirty days ; in seven days she gave six hundred and forty three pounds, that is ninety six pouuds daily. In order to know the best cows, testing them is necessary. The people of Denmark found this out in 1895, when the first “ Gav Testing Association ” was formed. Since then four hundred, have been formed there ; three hundred in Sweden, and the first in New South Wales commenced its work on November the Ist, 1908. Although the Government has made practically no provision for helpiug ■ dairy farmers in the art of ■ butter making, they have made much F improvement ih factories and creameries, this is, of course, the greater importance in maintaining high grade butter for exportation. Perhaps this is hardly fair, when we consider the dairymen in outlying districts, where they are unable to deliver their milk at a factory. As in many parts of this Dominion, the quantity of dairy- butter exported has increased, steps should be taken to enable the dairymen to make better produce, for, as yet, the bulk of dairy butter is inferior. Naturally this tends reduce the value of New Zealand ■jpoduee generally. The Dairy Com■mssioner, Mr J. A. Kinsella, has sug■rested that private dairy' produce should ■emarked with a brand different from Bhet used for marking creamery butter. ■Tilled butter, also, though well got up ■or the market is of an inferior quality ■ ach y'ear. This is partly due to the ■utter being kept too long before it is Bpnt to the freezing works. ■ Although cheese-making has been a Hnancial success, it is not increasing very' Bkpidly except in a few districts of and Otago. The quality of has greatly improved in these y'ears and is likely to improve iu the near future. The recognised for cheese - making is from 60 F. to 70 degrees, but by the produced by * abcock and ssell it is seen that splendid cheese be made whilst the temperature is fifteen degrees. These two men five experiments in the years 1897 at the refrigerator temperatures oi ■ty-sve and fifty degrees wen I '. to those placed at sixty and ■fonty -/degrees, while those placed at and thirty were exceptionBly fine.; The worst fault found in tht Iheese vvas too much acidity, while ptliers \jvere irregular in body and texture, j Too much acidity' is caused by the excessive moisture which often causes the cheese to mature too rapidly. It also impairs the flavour. Milk cans should be washed im mediate] y they are returned from the factories. and creameries, and scalded at fcast three times each week. A new Lf-ution has placed the “ whey ” or carrier ” before "he public. Hben this whey-carrier is used it is ■necessary to return the whey or milk ■mi the factories and creameries. This is suspended uuder an ordinary cart. At present this is used only

is probable that, in the near future, ■ting machines will bo in active in every dairying district of Zealand. It is so hard to obtain K>d milkers, that dairy ~ farmers are Beady installing milking machines in B-ir sheds. It is not enough to ■nply rinse these machines. It is Bsolutely necessary to take the parts [sunder and wash each part thoroughly. Phis should bo done every morning after miking but in the evening it is not [eoessary to take the par's asunder I ilk is as pure and clean when milked by icbines as it is when milked by baud', fche machines are properly washed ; if I ly are not washed properly the milk is, Pcourso, unfit to be accepted at the | ftory or creamery. On visiting a' certain factory and testing milk milked by a umchino, Mr Singleton found it to be unfit for uso, Ho had ouo of the

i u sttors brought to the factory where it vv.is properly cleansed. It was then returned to tlm owner and used the same evening; the milk pro limed was ah tl at could be d-sir d It is pleasing to note th it but er - boxes are being t) iraffined ; this is to prevent the biter from absorbing undesirable fliv nrs, also to prevent unnecessary shrinkage . . , Each year shows an increase m tne dairy outpu;, an 1 the sea on 1901-2 made no exception although the increase was small compared with those of the two former seasons 1899 1900 and 1900-1. In 1902 elieese was such a poor price at the commencement of the ' .-eason, that many cheese factoues turned their attention to buttermaking, with the result that a large quantity of butter arid less cheese was exported. Because of the continued drought in Australia and the demand for dairy prod me in Africa, high prices were realised later on in Ihe season. The increase was valued at £121,i04. The increase next year was £277,148. whilst next year the price was six shillings . lower than the previous season. This ! decrease in price was made up by the . increase in quantity. ] The 1904-5 season was a splendid one for this industry, except in a few places ’ where lack of rain occasioned lack of ; fed. This scarcity, however, did not prevail long. At the commencement of this season • cheese realised the high j price of 70s per,, hundredweight, hut I lowered to 49s towards the latter I part. j The next season, 1905 -6, saw a ! decrease in the quantity of butter i exported, because there was practically no butter in store for shipment in September and October, whilst in the previous year a fairly large quantity was shipped then Although there was a decrease in the quantity of butter the increase in the quantity of cheese, ! brough New Zealanders an increase of sixteen thousand three hundred and thirty seven hundredweight in their dairy produce. During the seasons 1904-5 and 1905-0 Danish bhtter realised 9s 2d and 8s 7d more than New Zealand butter, but our butter during the same period was Is and 4s 8d more than Canadian prices. In 1907 the increase was large* because higher pribes were paid for both butter and cheese than were paid before. The weather was unfavourable the next season, but the present season appears to be very profitable indeed, the fortnightly shipments showing an increase on the amount shipped during the same period of the previous year. The huge increase since 1883 shows how the industry has prospered. In 1883 the amount of ■ dairy produce exported was 10,388 hundredweight valued at £45,912, while the amount for 1893 was 104,345 hundredweight valued at £354,271 an increase of 53,957 hundredweight. The increase at the end of the next ten years was £1,096,092 worth, whilst during the last two or three seasons, the value of the dairy produce exported has amounted well up in the two millions.