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any suggestions that because of loss of identity an easing up in the supervision and grading of her dairy-produce should take place, provided, of course, she is satisfied that her classification is on the right lines. Butter.—During the past year we have been called upon, on behalf of the Ministry of Food, to make reports and to classify into table category or manufacturing grade butters from various countries. The number of brands previously forwarded from the Argentine seems to have fallen away and now only about one dozen marks appear in the various shipments. These are more uniform in quality and show improvement. Several shipments of Kenya have been seen, and this has a character quite distinct from Australian and New Zealand. Owing to the shortage of stocks and labour problems, incoming shipments of Danish butter are now going into direct distribution and consumption, and classification to grade for the Ministry of Food has, so far as my knowledge goes, ceased entirely. I cannot pass from the subject of butter without touching upon the increasing number of instances of oil-taint upon cargoes of butter. The examination of these cargoes when this defect is discovered has given us considerable trouble. On several occasions the defect has not been located until some portion of the cargo has been distributed; this has generally meant tracking down the butter from each hold, to ascertain how much of the produce has become tainted. Generally speaking, the defect is more pronounced upon the corners of the block of butter or wherever there is a cavity on the surface of the block. Recent shipments have shown that the carton is less susceptible to tainting than the wooden box or the fibreboard Saranac. Mr. Were has been kept fairly busy at Liverpool helping to adjust complaints and surveys on the tainted butters in Liverpool. The assistance of Reading Research Institute and other scientists is appreciated in their attempt to evolve some system for detecting surface taint from oil-fumes. However, as yet this has proved somewhat difficult, but it is hoped that some method may yet be evolved which will assist us in establishing beyond any doubt the source of contamination. Cheese.—As previously mentioned, the quantity of cheese available for examination has been somewhat disappointing. This is due to the fact that factory brands are no longer separately stacked, and also to the wide distribution of produce on its arrival in this country. So long as the present system of handling produce continues, I do not see much prospect for an increased number of reports which may cover a reasonable percentage of each factory's consignment. Frequently it is possible to visit a store or warehouse and make an examination of a quantity of cheese which are stacked ceiling high, but without employing labour and breaking down the stacks it is not possible to report upon more than one crate of cheese from the various brands represented. If it is possible to be at the dockside when the cheese are discharged upon the quayside, then there is an opportunity of seeing a reasonable number of vat dates from the brands represented. However, at present, few consignments are left on the quayside for more than one day. The quality of cheese examined is good, uniformly the best which is arriving into this country. One hears little of the open texture and drying out of the cut surface as in former days. However, the marketing conditions are hardly comparable, and one must guard against easy compliments which are arrived at by comparison with cheese of a standard which would not have been tolerated in pre-war times. Much of this doubtful produce is being converted into processed cheese and distributed on the ordinary ration. Consumer preference is now a very difficult thing to arrive at, for one has to take what one can get, irrespective of type or country of origin. Continental cheese of 45 per cent, fat in dry matter are being distributed along with processed cheese, and the small portion of cheese which reaches the householder's larder may be Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Continental, American, or processed. Some fancy cheese is available on points ; this consists of Danish blue, or Gorgonzola, and quite a quantity of Camembert is now seen in the shops. Cheshire-type Cheese.—During the year a considerable number of shipments of Cheshire-type cheese made at Massey College and also at the Dalefield Dairy Factory have arrived from New Zealand. It was considered that there would be a market in England for this type of cheese during a period when the English product was in short supply. Expert opinion seems to suggest that, while the cheese made is palatable and acceptable to the British consumer, it is, in the main, not a true Cheshire type. Moreover, the trials appear to indicate that for various reasons, one of them being the practical difficulty of making in New Zealand a Cheshire cheese which will satisfactorily withstand the long carriage to England, it may be unwise to endeavour to make a cheese to be marketed under this name. There appears no reason, however, why we should not make a New-Zealand-type cheese, following the Cheshire lines, for marketing in this country under some appropriate name. Continental Visits.—During the past year my routine work has been somewhat broken by several visits to the Continent. In September, with the Director-General of Agriculture, I attended the Food and Agricultural Organization Conference at Copenhagen. Two visits were made to Sweden during the year, one in conjunction with the Director-General t® examine the new Alfa-Laval buttermaking process at Malmo, the second in connection with the supply of fibre butter-cartons. Switzerland.—With the Director-General I visited Switzerland to examine the Dr. Senn process for buttermaking by C0 2 method. This is an entirely different process from the Alfa-Laval method, and the initial cost of the machine for the production of butter is fairly substantial. The process eliminates the old-type wooden churn, as does also the Alfa-Laval. However, the Senn method relies

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