FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 122, 16 October 1914, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

SYOTttIETIC MILK, am AGE of HUBsriTUTEb.

Is the cow to have a rival in the soya bean att well as in tho cocoanut? Xll»' latter, uu providing tile vegetable 0 j b now 60 extensively entering *^ to in He Manufacture of lhas l a - 60 3 a looms up ar ? ft us the 'basis of counterfeit rniik, lilie products of milk. -More or lofls i ague references have been, made during this year to this synthetic milk, and steps have even been take-ji in England to cnmire it beiug sold aa a substitute and not as the genuine article. More detailed information is to ihand in tho Agricultural Gazette, published by the Canadian Department of Agriculture. Tour years ago, it is remarked, the soya bean, apart frosin its use aa a stock food) in certain sections, was considered somewhat of a curiosity to Europeans, Afi an article of diet, it was considered only suitable to the natives of the place fif ){•) origin—Manchuria, Korea, Japan and o<miii China. So great, liowerer,' lhas been the awakening to its possibilities that in lefes than one half-year it may So said to have captured ite place I .in tlie markets of the world. .Many patents have been taken out all over the world, covering the process of manu- j facture into such articles of diet as milk (ioit'led, condensed, dTied, etc.), butter, cliecse, oils for margarine and aa a substitute for casein in the manufacture of imitation ivory. Aililicial milk hag already won its place on the nrankdt. To begin with, .it is possible to make anjji variety of milk desired' and of similar composition that of the cow or any other anima]. Such milk can scarcely be distinguished from the natural and 1 exhibits all similar properties. The economy is considerable. While a cow requires nearly an; acre of the beet jdsturage and only converts about 5 per cent, of this food into milk, tiho snnie twnount of artificial millt ia produced on one-sixth of an acre, and at much less cost. To thfse advantages must be added the fact that absolute cleanliness can ibe maintained in its manufacture, and that its purity is not suuject to the health of any animals.

A note oil one of the patented processes of manufacture will :be of interest,. First, th<? Ibeona are finely ground and cooked up with sodium pliospihato and water, and then filtered under pressure. Milk, sugar and Isoda are added, and the mass emulsified with sesame. oil and water added. The chemical analyses will titan show it to be •very similar to the milk of the cow:—Synthetic milk. Cow's rniii'k. Water .. 87.84 .. 87.00 Protein .. 3.70 .. 3.30 Fat .. 3.97 .. 3.'00 Sugar .. 3.7S .. 4.80 •Ash .. 0.79 .. 0.73

I The fat is in a line state of division, [ tile parsieles being ciusiderably smaller i than chose in a cow's milk, and, Uiorforo, easily assimilated. The mdllc is | etiffilwl or pasteu-ribul, and sold in bottles lev consumption. For making cheese it is coagulated rennet, lactic ferments, or by a ferment which' h.u been i>|.ecially prepared and patented for the (inrpos.;. Ail uhis stage, says the report, it might be too much to claiimi that synthetic milk can preceosely displace tlho natural milk. For instance, the exact nature of the proteins 'of the natural milk's a.rj yet unknown, and hence it ifl impossible to exactly imitate them. However, since milk is not an essential article of diet for adults (many of whom, indeed, never use it, a substitute so clo-, •!;•/■ relatitl in composition, if ,agreeable, would find ready acceptance). From this point of view tile possibilities of the now preparation would appear to lie very great. ,

Mr T. MtPhillips, chairman of the Woimate West County Coundil, when giving evidence in tfhe sharomilking ta9e in the Magistrate's Court on Tueaday, said the growth of gorse on the farms was a great menace to the district, and he had arbitrated on many of those cases. If the noxious weeds inspectors' were to do their duty, he did not think there would be anything like tho trouble thai, was experienced with fO'YiP, etc.

The cheese factories ir. South Taranaki are now beginning to pour their products into the West Coast lMr'gerat.ing Company's stores a:, Patea at (-!)<* rate about WOO crates per day. ThU represents a value of albout £HI, 000 pw wcrik. The staff were busy last Thursday loading up the a.s. llawera for Wellington with, <3iec»e for the Rhsi. ii i;n'. This liner is expected to lake away almost fifteen thousand crates of chense, valued at least at £70,Q00l The (Jorinthiic is taking seven thousand cases of cheese and three tiliouiiand boxes of bvlUur.