MILK GRADING SYSTEM

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1929, Page 13

MILK GRADING SYSTEM

ADVANTAGES EXPLAINED MANUTAHI ADOPTS THE SCHEME. ADDRESS BY DAIRY CHEMIST. The adoption of the milk grading system successfully carried out at Whenuakura was decided upon at the annual meeting of the Manutahi Dairy Company at Manutahi on Wednesday. For the purpose of placing the proposition before the suppliers, Mr. P. 0. Veale, of the dairy laboratory, Hawera, attended the meeting. The grading of milk, he said, was undoubtedly coming to the fore and he was of opinion that it would ultimately become more or less universal. The system adopted meant paying on first grade milk as the standard, adding a premium of one-eighth of a penny per lb of butter-fat for finest grade and deducting a farthing per lb of fat for second grade milk. He attended their meeting to ascertain whether Manutahi would be prepared to adopt the scheme. If they did so he was sure they would not regret it. The improvement they would gain would settle the matter.

His reasons for approaching them were largely due to the fact that Manutahi, a small community of large suppliers, •was ideally .situated to take up the scheme. They were on the main road to the laboratory, had a manager who was most interested in the scheme, and had a good factory under one roof. He was sure that after a season’s trial they would not go back on their decision. Whenuakura had learned a lesson and were obtaining indefinitely .betor results. Manutahi could easily In-e hundreds of pounds through the milk not' being of the beet quality. Mnk not fit for rejection might contain bacteriological contamination that could not be detected without the assistance of a microscope. In these cases the manager’s time was simply being wasted in an endeavour to obtain clean milk and the consequent good results. It was only by grading the milk that the services of the inspector could be had where they were wanted. Without this system he could call only where it was known that the grade was down. It would be a great pleasure to Mr. Veale to take the samples and ascertain the cause of Manutahi’s troubb s. Such a method would be far superior to ordinary inspection. In a certain case where a farmer had built and equipped a cowshed at a cost of £3OO Mr. Veale had second-graded his milk. The result was an interview with the farmer and a visit to the shed. He could find nothing wrong with the shed or its appointments. lyhile inspecting the machines he noticed a

deposit of slime where a disconnection had to be made in order to convey milk to each bail for herd-testing purposes. The farmer stated he had not removed the deposit as he understood from the agent that no milk came in contact with it. An analysis showed that the bacteria present were the same as caused inilk to be second-graded. Thus he was able to remedy the trouble and the milk had been first grade ever since. Other instances that lard recently come to his notice were where, broken or damaged inflations and unsatisfactory cleansing by sharemilkers had caused trouble. With the defects remedied the milk was again first-grade. Milk grading was a good proposition because it reduced labour costs, necessitated the use of less starter and effected a saving in time. Since Whenuakura commenced they had had rises in grade and yield and had been free from nonacid milk. There was an incentive to suppliers to do their best to help one another. They were receiving more for their butter-fat and the manager could carry out necessary work. There was practically no cost attached to the proposition but the return could be increased a hundredfold. Mr. Veale was convinced that before long milk' grading would be recognised as a beneficial investment, and he would make so bold as to predict that it would ultimately supersede pasteurisation which was not giving satisfactory results. The chairman, Mr. S. C. Tonks, said it was a proposition he would support. Mr. R. S. Scown asked what effect food flavours had on cheese. Mr. Veale replied that the flavour disappeared as the cheese matured. It was the bacteriological flavour that in- , creased and ultimately spoiled the j cheese. It might not be evident at the time of making or grading.

The grading would be done by himself, said Mr. Veale. He would be prepared to carry out the work daily at first, but later it could be carried out three times in every ten days and the best of two out of three taken as the basis of payment. To Mr. S. E. Macdonald’s question ns to what percentage of water could be added before the grade was affected, Mr. Veale replied that about three per eent. was allowed before it would be said water was present. The quantity depended on the number of cows being milked.

Several members spoke In support of the scheme, and on the motion of the chairman and Mr. Seown it was decided to- adopt the system.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Veale was tarried.