DAIRY CONFERENCE AT STRATFORD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 100, 2 June 1900, Page 2

DAIRY CONFERENCE AT STRATFORD.

[by our special reporter.]

Although the weather was as miserable and uncomfortable as possible—a nasty driving, sleety, cold rain above, mud and water in profusion under food—the town of Stratford was fairly full of those interested in dairy matters. Considering that since the recent fire Stratford has been one hotel short, the way in which the army of visitors was accommodated was most creditable to those on whom the difficult task devolved.

The proceedings of the opening day Iwere confined to purely matters of administration, election of officers, etc., of what is now called the New Zealand Factory Butter and Cheesemakers Association. It was somewhat late in the evening, however, before the business cf Thursday was concluded and the factory managers dispersed to recruit themselves for the Conference on the following day, to which all interested in dairying were iavited. In spite of the weather being worse than on the previous day, there was a large muster at the Fire Brigade Hall on Friday, when Mr. J. Young presided and opened the proceedings shortly after 10 o'clock by giving out the programme of I the conference, remarking that as the programme was leDgthy the speakers should confine their remarks to the point.

Mr. Ruddick was the first speaker, and explained the history and merits of a

COMBINED CHUBN AND WOBKER exhibited in operation the previous day at the Stratford factory. After expressing his pleasure at the interest taken in dairying matters, as evidenced by the large ittendance, in spite of the iaclnn«u weather, he said that it was ten y«ar> since he fiist saw the churn. Ii imorica it was almost the ouly sun in use, and iu many parts of Canada it had stood the test of many years' u.-e most Euccsssfully. Ho entim- rated tit Advantages it possessed as a labour am space saving machine (no butter wotkn baing required), and pointed out, thm [it did away with one woili'ip, tl ■reration being conduu'el in mm horn He was r.ot, howev< r, iu favour i.f 01 ]\ me work;n<;, as he consider*.! tl" iocond woikiiig whs better for the px port, tradr, and gave 'hat waxy aiippmincu vv.ib he'd ia favour. Thevi ■■■ms a necessity for oV't-jiuing the b. s i'l'Sults, ar.d towards this the control o. tempe:&'.ure was essential, There was

some prejudice against the combined churn and buotor worker, on the ground il^.t it was too mechanical, tendering the process a matter of time more than of judgmeat, but working butter was, after all, a mere mechanical matter and not a matter of judgment; for instance, when only half worked no man was able to tell whether the work was satisfactory. He wished it dislinctly understood that he was in no way interested in advocating the churn and did not even know its price, but he could state that a No. 3 chum would make lOOOlbs, of butter. He would not, however, advocate its übo in New Zealand, unless the factory managers would observe all the conditions under whioh it was worked. Its chief recommendation was, as he had said, that it was a labour-saving appliance. FISHY BUTTBB.

The cause of fishy butter had for some time past been one of considerable interest, It seemed to him that one of the .'obstacles in the way of obtaining a solution of the riddle was that unusual causes were looked for as giving rise to it. It was now considered that the cause ot fishiness was attributable to improper handling. First there was the question of its character. The flavour was not detected in fresh butter, but only in butter of a certain |age; that being so, it was evident fishiness must be the result of fermentation or the flavour would be noticed in fresh butter, therefore the evidence was conclusive that the flavour was due to micro-organisms getting into the butter at seme stage of its manufacture. There was a separate report in connection with each of the two samples which they had before them. One •stated that the butter came from " the dirtiest factory seen in New Zealand," and in the other case that " there was much room for improvement in cleanliness "in the factory. Both reports agreed, but still it would not do to assign want of cleanliness as the sole reason for fishy taste, as some samples he knew of came from factories in the pink of condition, therefore it must arise in milk prior to reaching the factory. An expert had given his opinion that the flavour arose from organisms —not One in particular, but many. He hoped Mr. Gilrnth, as soon as the plague was over, would devote his attention to the matter, andmake it the subject of bacteriological examination. There was not much complaint and no need for worry, as by taking proper precautions there need be no fear of fishiness.

There was no discussion, the Chairman remarking that the principal objection to the combined churn and worker was the difficulty of keeping it sweet and clean.

[The remainder of the report is unavoidably crowded out of this issue, but will appear on Monday.] The banquet held at the Club Hotel ia the evening was largely attended, and passed off most successfully. Advantage was taken of the occasion to say farewell to Mr. Ruddick,