THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1932, Page 12

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

FACTORY MANAGERS CONFER COMPETITION IN GRADING. ' MEETING AT NEW PLYMOUTH. Various .matters of great importance to the dairy industry were discussed at the annual conference of Taranaki.dairy factory managers which was held at New Plymouth yesterday. Mr. T. Renton, president of the Taranaki branch of the Factory Managers’ Association, presided over a very representative attendance of managers and dairy factory directors, who took a very keen interest in the conference. Proceedings were opened in the morniu° r at the Moturoa grading stores, where Mr. C. C. Robertson, grader-in-chief, had charge. Among those present were Messrs. W. M. Singleton, Director of the Dairy Division, Professor W. Riddet, Massey College, W. Grant, grader in charge at Patea, F. Thompson and E. D. Blair, graders at Moturoa, A. McKenzie, supervising instructor at Hawera, A. Ross, late London inspector, W. Crawford and D. Hull, instructors, and W. Guild, of the testing department. ' In the unavoidable absence of Mr. J. Brown, chairman of directors of the Moturoa Producers’ Freezing Company, Mr. L. J. Rundle, one of the directors, extended a welcome to members, of the conference. It had often been said that too many conferences were, being, held under the auspices of the Dairy Division, but he considered such a conference as the present could be productive of nothing but good as it brought the directors into closer touch with the manufacturing side and the men who had to look after the financial side with those who had to deliver the goods. COMPARISONiS WITH CANADA. Mr. Robertson associated himself with the welcome. Several lines of butter had been prepared for inspection and two boxes of butter had been turned out, one being a perfect package and the other indifferent. Some crates of new and matured cheese were available for inspection and the grading competition would be decided with the mature cheese. He asked competitors to indicate on their cards which sample was considered the more mature, adding that they had the consent of the directors to cut open two of the cheeses to see if they opened up as well as the plugs indicated. Mr. Robertson also drew attention to two very interesting graphs. One showed the respective quantities of Canadian and New Zealand cheese on the London market during the season and the prices received for each, ing, he stated, that the quantity as well as the quality had ite determining influence on the relative prices received. The other graph illustrated the losses that, were liable to occur in a factory in which there was not careful management. In the one case, and there were numbers of similar factories grading at the works, the weight of butter in the boxes was very even over the whole season, there was very little variation in the moisture content’ and the salt was practically uniform. In the other case there was a wide margin in the moisture content and in the salt. In the first case the butterfat content was kept down to 81.9 percent., whereas in the other, where the management was not so careful, it was 82.44 per cent., or more than a half per cent greater, which would have an effect on the over-run. He pointed out, too, the marked improvement that had taken place in regard to salting. When the regulations first came in only 66 per cent, of the factories kept within the limits of 1.5 to 2 per cent, as laid down by the regulations, whereas this season, under stricter interpretation, of the regulation .since November, over 99 per cerit. of the butter graded came within the regulations. Mr. Renton, Cape Egmont, president of the association, in acknowledging the welcome; expressed appreciation of the action of the directors in permitting the conference to be held at the works, despite the disorganisation it created. He also thanked the Dairy Division and staff as well as the staff of. the freezing works for their co-operation. The grading competitions were then held, the three cheeses used pointing 93, 93 and 88 points, while the butter pointed 93, 95 and 91. The results were:

Cheese Grading. C. Ross (Arawhata Road), 98Jpts. .. 1 W. Gave (Kaimiro), 96Jpts 2 J. L. Taylor (Lowgarth), A. McDougall (Oaonui), E. Jenkins (Newall), H. H. Gilshnan (Opunake), C. Horrocks (Eltham), J. Lynch (Omata) and A. Tidswell (Hawera), 96pts, equal 3 Butter Grading. H. Foy (Ararata), 98pts 1 E. Scott (Kaponga), 97Jpte. 2 P. Briggs (Hillsborough), 97ipts. ... . 2 J. Taylor (Lowgarth), 97pts 4 F. Pederson (Ngaere), 97pts. 4 The managers lunched together and the afternoon was spent at the Y.W.C.A. Hall, where addresses followed by discussions, reported elsewhere, were given by Professor ■ Riddet and Messrs. F/J. Nathan and Singleton. Votes of thanks were accorded the donors of the prizes, Messrs. J. B. McEwan and Co., Taranaki Producers’ Freezing Co., New Zealand Rennet Co., F. J. Nathan and Co., National Dairy Association and Messrs. MoMillan and Fredric.