FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1926, Page 10

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEW FACTORY PROCESS. RECOVERY OF MILK SOLIDS. GREAT DAIRYING ADVANCE. Further details concerning the process invented by Mr, H. N. McLeod, of Frankton, for substantially increasing the value of dairy produce by extracting from 19 to 13 per cent, more solids from the milk than can be done by ordinary methods, reveal how important the invention is. The process saves valuable solids in whey and buttermilk which have previously been regarded as waste matter, and converts these solids into additional food by cheaply and effectively incorporating them with full-cream milk cheese, which, by the addition, is also increased in nutritive value and is exceedingly pleasant on the market. The new cheese has become highly popular.

It is stated to be a scientific fact that the quantity of solids left in skim milk and butter-milk is three times greater than the quantity of butter-fat taken out. To convert these waste solids into additional cheese has been Mr. McLeod’s object, and he has had considerable success. It is estimated that if the system is fully developed in New Zealand a gain of £6,000,000 Manually will be given to the dairy industry. OUTLINE OF THE PROCESS. The plant consists of a pump anrl a precipitor, so called because it brings about the precipitation of the fine curd. The butter-milk or whey is pumped from the churn or vat into the precipitor, and steam, registering up to 320 degrees, is applied at high pressure. The liquid is then regeneratively cooled and passed through an extractor. Sill ids in the form of very fine curds are retained, and are incorporated in the next day’s make of cheese. The solids from butter-milk have a fright white appearance, and are like white of egg, while the solids from whey are pink in colour. Some idea of th© value of the process may be gleaned from the fact that of 12.70 per cent, of solids in whole milk, 9.40 per cent, is retained in the butter-milk. Butter is represented by about 3.30 per cent. The proportion of butter to the buttermilk is about as 40 is to 60. By applying the McLeod process half-a-pound of solids can be obtained from a gallon of butter-milk.

Mr. McLeod’s invention was the result of investigations made in Southland with a view to finding some means of doing away with pollution caused in streams by whey. AN AUTHORITATIVE REPORT. Reporting on the process, Mr. H. M. Lawrence, F.1.C., F.C.C., who was 18 years with the Royal Agricultural Society, England, gives the following interesting information:—‘'The whey obtained as a by-product of cheese-making and subsequent separation to remove the remaining butter-fat, contains a considerable quantity of solids, amounting to approximately half the quantity originally in the milk. Whole milk contains an average of 12.5 per cent, total solids, which consists of milk fat, casein, lactalbumin, milk sugar and mineral matter. In the process of making cheese most of the fat and casein are removed, while the small quantity of fat remaining in the whey is almost entirely removed by the separation in a milk separator. The whey thus obtained still contains some 6.6 per cent, total solids comprising milk sugar, casein, lactalbumin, some of the mineral matter and a very small quantity of fat. In other words the protein remaining in a typical whey amounts to roughly, between one-sixth and one-seventh of the total solids removed from cheese, or, if an average milk contains 3.4 per hundred of total protein, 2.6 parts, or roughly three-quarters of the total, are removed in the curd from cheese while 0.8 parts, or roughly one-quarter of the total remains in the whey. The object of the McLeod patent whey apparatus is to extract further solids from the Whey by precipitation. At a factory it is simple and economical.”

Dealing with the technical aspects, Air. Lawrence further states: ’’The results prove that the process extracted o..n> per cent, of the protein, which togetner with the sugar, ash and fat precipitated with it, would amount to ■7 per cent., which is equal to more than II) per cent of the cheese solids extracted from a typical milk.” AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

Good cultivation helps to put soil fertility in an accessible form. When the soil is rich and deep, the fertility may be conserved for some time byploughing just a little deeper for each fallow crop, but, generally' speaking, where the natuer of the sub-soil permits ploughing to a good depth is the system adopted by successful farmers. The annual losses in Canada's field crops alone reached a staggering total. For example, grain smuts caase°an annual loss of upwards of 12,900,000 dollars. and grain rusts cause an annual loss of some 5,000,000 dollars to 50,000,000 dollars. Losses from potato diseases annually total from 2,000,000 dollars to 5,000,000 dollars.

Recently a farmer in New South Wales lost six valuable draught mares as a result—it was stated—of feeding on ensilage made from Sudan grass. It was mentioned that the Sudan was cut after it had w to flower, and about 100 tons was pitted. Several weeks ago the pit was opened, and sheep and cattie had been fed on the ensilage since without showing any ill effects, Maize for silage is often cut too green. As the grain ripens the feeding value of the plant increases rapidly. It is not well, however, to allow the maize to ripen fully, because, as the moisture content of the plants is decreased, it becomes more difficult to pack the silage thoroughly. Maize ensiled when too ripe is, therefore, likely to spoil in spots where air is not completely excluded. The best time for cutting for silage is when the kernels have glazed and the husks and a few of the lower leaves have turned yellow.

The soils of many fields contain practically as much plant food as they did in their virgin states. The only real difference between their virgin and present states are that they now lack the humus and the micro-organic life that they possessed before. This “workedout” condition could have been prevented if the farmer had realised the importance of the humus factor. It is to obviate the ultimate exhaustion of our

«ofls that green manuring is necessary periodically, because all our soils undo! cultivation are subject to this depletion of humns sooner or later. When maize is planted especially for silage it Is a common practice to plant at a heavy rate to Increase the total yield of forage. The production of both grain and forage increases with increased rate of planting to a certain point beyond which further planting continues to increase the yield of forage, but does not increase the yield of grain. Humus is not a plant "food ae such. It is not taken up by plants, but its presence is essential for the plant to make the most economical use of the foods present in the soil naturally, or those added in fertilisers, because it is the prime factor regulating the supply and uptake of salts by the plant. Humus is only lost from the eoil because it is subject to the same processes of decomposition that gave rise to its, formation.

THE FERTILITY OF PASTURES. The drain on the fertility of pastures, especially when the pasture is used for milch cows, is excessive both of the phosphate and potash, and, unless this loss is made go/1, impoverishment of the field, accompanied by herbage of poor feed in quality, is bound to supervene. There is also a loss of nitrogen, and only a part is returned to the land in the droppings of the. animals. The ideal remedy to replace the drain of phosphates and potash consists in dressings of suitable phosphatic fertilisers and potah salts, and the best time to apply the fertilisers is in the autumn. A dressing of lime is also advisable, if the character of the herbage indicates that the soil has a tendency to be sour. As is well known, a sour soil is an enemy of sweet herbage.