MANUFACTURES IN CASEIN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 30 May 1919, Page 7

MANUFACTURES IN CASEIN.

A BIRMINGHAM ENTERPRISE

Birmingham has developed an extensive trade in articles made from casein which is a by-product of dairying. Casein is obtained in tho form of a powder from tho Irish dairies, chemically treated arid .solidified, and is sold for working up into all sorts of articles from buttons to artificial limbs. It issues from the factory in sheets and rods of varying thicknesses. Tho development of our dye-industry has made it possible to impart a rich diversity of colours to the material, and its British manufacturers have after patient experiment mastered the secret of polishing it to a fine gleaming surface, its adaptability for conversion into nicknacks is almost unlimited. Tho output runs into hundreds of tons a week, and manufacturers whojbegan by tentatively buying half a hundredweight, now order, in four or five-ton lots. It is non-inflammable, and, weight for weight, is stronger than wood. Though less tractable than vulcanite, it carries a much finer polish. The utilisation of casein is a new industry in Britain. Before the war it was alrpost entirely in German hands. With supplies of raw material assured, British manufacturers wont to work with such good will to - overcome the technical difficulties that they are now sending forth in large quantities a great variety of fancy goods. Casein is also being used for carriage and motor-car fittings, and is proving very useful as an insulator in aeroplane construction. Tire goods Birmingham is making are claimed to be superior to anything Germany has produced It took two years to make a business proposition of casein, the most difficult part of the problem being the development of the polishing plant.