HAWERA LABORATORY

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 33 (Supplement)

HAWERA LABORATORY

PRACTICAL WORK ACHIEVED A WELL-EQUIPPED INSTITUTION. SCIENTIFIC AIDS TO DAIRYING.

There can be little doubt that the average Taranaki farmer does not realise the extent to which modern science assists him in the conduct of his affairs. Dairying on its present scale, with its daily production of a huge flood of milk, would be impossible without efficient manufacturing methods, and it is in connection with factory operations that the Hawera laboratory assists in maintaining efficiency for those who are alive to its value. Good scientific work requires proper equipment, and a recent visit to the laboratory by a Daily News reporter showed that the farmers of the Taranaki Federation possess an institution that is obviously well-equipped. “In the balance room are to be found a number of balances embodying the most modem improvements in accurate and speedy weighing. Housed each in its own glass case, these balances employ chainomatic and telescopic devices to such a degree of exactness that one’s initials written in pencil on a slip of paper can be proved to add to the weight of the paper. “In the main chemical department are to be seen electric ovens for general heating and sterilising work, electricallydriven Babcock and Gerber testers of large capacity, electric muffle furnace capable of generating a temperature of |

almost 2000 deg. F., and an electric water distillation apparatus. Other important pieces of equipment consist of a battery of 12 digestion and distillation units for casein estimation, cryoscope for determination of water in milk, extraction apparatus, colorimeter and distillation and purification sets. Incidental to all the major equipment are innumerable burettes and other volumetric devices, automatic pipettes for' quick measurement and delivery of solutions, beakers, condensers, flashes, funnels, carboys and glassware of all descriptions. The laboratory has been specially equipped for the handling of large numbers of samples for varied determinations during the working season. In the bacteriology rooms are to be seen the autoclave and steam steriliser

I in which bacteria are destroyed, and all materials and glassware sterilised. A I small separator, pasteurising apparatus and electric incubator are in regular use dispensing starter cultures to federated factories. At present about 12 separate cultures are regularly propagated—more could be done if necessary—each suited to various localities, and factory managers are able to ask for their “pet” culture bv number. An electric ice-chest provides cool storage for cultures so that, after propagation in the incubator, the cultures do not become over-ripe, but are promptly chilled and kept at their best working efficiency. A second electric incubator working at a higher temperature develops the “plate cultures” which will reveal the foreign bacteria lurking in water, butter, cream, milk and even starter cultures. Prevention is better than cure, and the modern principle seems to be to anticipate trouble and check it, rather than get into difficulties and then “call in the doctor.” Large stocks of culture media for these supervising tests are housed in a special cupboard. In the microscope room are two microscopes under glass bell jars, readv at a moment’s notice for their regular job of grading milk. Various optical and illuminating devices are also in use for the proper counting of colonies of bacteria in plate cultures. Microscope slides and stains, staining jars, sterilising boxes and small glasware are the principal accessories in this department. A remarkable piece of apparatus is the microscopic “camera”—really an assembly of illuminant, focussing condenser, iris diaphragms, microscope, light-filters and camera—all mounted upon sliding platforms and capable of adjustment and focus while keeping in strict alignment. On the walls some remarkable photographs of bacteria, yeasts, moulds, pus I cells and other harmful agents in milk

give testimony to the educational value of this instrument. Altogether, an inspection of the Hawera laboratory leaves one with a sense of wonder that so much modern scientific equipment is in daily use in the business of dairying. Some sections of the industry may live in the past, and feel that a cow and a pair of hands are the sole essentials to milk production. No industry, however, can progress today without the assistance of science, especially when it assumes the scale of dairying as practised in New Zealand today. The Taranaki Federation realises this, and makes its laboratory available not only to the companies which support it, but also, without further charge, to suppliers of those companies. Thus science can be brought right to the individual farmer, giving him such service as bacteriological examination of water supplies, chemical tests and analysis of manures, casein tests of milk, mammitis tests for his whole herd, farm visits and assistance towards milk improvement—in fact any service within reason which is calculated to raise quality. The Taranaki Federation is to be congratulated on its wisdom in founding and maintaining such a well-equipped and up-to-date’ institution.