EUREKA BUTTER.

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13274, 1 September 1916, Page 2

EUREKA BUTTER.

(To the Editor). Sir.—] should he much obliged if you will allow rue space in your columns to r-'plv to a challenge hy Mr Falconer re the accuracy of my statements at the annual meeting of suppliers to the Eureka Dairy Co. Ido not propose to answer Mr Falconer's challenge in its present form, for reasons which T think will he quite ohvious when I state them. The first is, that I never made any remarks whatever, distinguishing his hotter manufactured for the local market as against that manufactured for the export trade. Whether there is any difference, and what the difference is, if any exist, I know absolutely nothing. In the second place, I believe that no one knows the moisure content of his butter on the local market except himself, and therefore it would be absurd for me to try to j prove such a thing. In fact I believe, I from enquiries made, that no one knows the moisture of his butter made j for the export trade except himself and the Government grader, and perhaps the knowledge might be limited to a narrower circle still. What I wish to do therefore, is to place before those interested, my authority for the statements I made, and the methods I followed leading to the conclusions stated, at the above meeting, and then leave it to them to judge whether I was justified in drawing the attention of my fellow suppliers and the directors of the company to what appeared to me to he a serious leakage. My authority is G. M. Valentine, dairy instructor, Auckland, and if one cares to look np the Agricultural Journal of July 20th, 1916, he will find the basis of my calculations. To quote from the article mentioned he states that: "If you have a butter containing 83 per cent fat. 14 per cent moisture, and 3 per cent salt and curds, your over-run will be. 19 per cent." Again: "we will assume that 100 boxes of butter have been made during a certain period, and that the averaere moisture content is 15 ner cent, allowing 3 per cent for curds and salt the butter would contain 82 oer cent of fat. If there was no loss in handling the over-run would he 21.95 per cent." Now sir, our total over-run is 14.66 per cent, and Mr Falconer asks me to prove that he has nut less than 14 per cent of moisture in his butter. Mr Valentine nays that with a 14 per cent moisture his overrun should he 19 per cent. Allowing as he does 1.5 per cent for wastage, our over-run should be 17.5 per cent instead of 14.66. I think Mr Falconer will find that on the above basis 11 per cent moisture would give 14.77 per cent over-run. Then lam told that +OO generous reading of the tests may have made the difference, a statement which can neither be proved nor disproved. But I would like to say that, in comparing our tests for the past season with Cambridge and the Dairy Association, I find that our average milk test for the season is two points lower than that of either of these companies, so it will be a difficult matter to persuade us that we have been very generously treated. Now, in putting these matters before the public, as I stated at the meeting, I am not actuated bv any Personal feeling, but as n member o <- rt co-operative concern I hold that T have a perfect right to noint out what appears to me to be a leakage, that it may be stopped, and so procure +he best results obtainable in our undertaking. If Mr Falconer can prove me wrong I am quite prepared to publiclv acknowledge mv error. —I am. etc.,' J. H. MARSTON. Eureka, August 30, 1916.