SERIOUS DANGER TO NEW ZEALAND CHEESE INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 3, 15 March 1913, Page 316

SERIOUS DANGER TO NEW ZEALAND CHEESE INDUSTRY.

The following circular letter by Mr. D. Cuddie, the Director of the Dairyproduce Division of the Department, has been sent to all dairy companies manufacturing cheese : - ■ Gentlemen, —■ There are several most important matters connected with the present position of the cheese industry in this country which it is desired to bring under the notice of dairy companies and others concerned. Since the warmer weather set in this season, much too large a percentage of inferior cheese has been exported from the Dominion. Unfortunately, this faulty produce has been more in evidence in cheese from the Provinces of Taranaki and Auckland, although that from other districts has been affected to some extent. The early shipments of this class of cheese are mow being marketed in London, and cable advice has reached us within the last few days from Mr. Wright, Inspector of New Zealand Dairy-produce in London, which confirms the judgment of our officers on the quality of the produce before it was loaded into the Home-going steamers. It appears that the trade is making serious complaint about the quality of our cheese at the present time. On examination at this end much of the produce was found to be of poor flavour,, such as would undoubtedly increase with age. Then, again, the body of many of the cheese was too weak for an export article. The faults that have been complained of can safely be put down to one or more of three causes— (1) inferior milk, (2) over-anxiety to increase the yield of cheese, and (3) lack of cool storage and the unsatisfactory carriage of cheese to the final port in New Zealand.

As to the need for more care in handling the milk on many farms and the thorough cleansing of all dairy utensils, much has already been written and said on the subject. The experiences' of the Dairy Instructors this year prove conclusively that there is yet a great deal of room for improvement in this connection. Many of the milking-machines in use have been found on inspection to be in a deplorably insanitary state, and in some cases parts of them have had to be taken to the factories for cleaning. There is not the slightest doubt that the dirty condition of a large number of these machines is a serious menance to our dairy industry. Some are found to be so very unclean that it would be impossible for milk to pass through them without becoming badly contaminated and so spoiled as to be totally unfit for the making of good cheese. The rejection of such milk at all costs is the only effective cure for this evil, and managers of factories should be given a free hand in the matter, in the 'interest not only of those who deliver sound milk to the factories, but of the reputation of the particular brand and the good name of New Zealand cheese.

The attempts that are being made to abnormally increase the yield of cheese are proving disastrous, and if •continued will end in heavy financial loss. No further comment on this point is necessary, as the remedy is obvious.

At the present time I believe that cause No. 3 is even more serious than the other two ; at least it is certainly so for about three months of the year, when the atmospheric temperature is high. In the first place there are many districts where the transport of cheese from factory-door to grading-port cannot be considered altogether satisfactory. The long cartage which is necessary in some places is undoubtedly harmful to the cheese. As a matter of fact, in one of the most important cheese districts in New Zealand those engaged in the business are without the conveniences of a railway, with the result that the produce has to be carted long distances in road wagons. Then, even in places which are conveniently served by a railway, there is at times a scarcity of proper closed-in vans for conveying cheese to the shipping-port, with the result that open trucks covered with taupaulins have to be used for the purpose.?] f

The present position of affairs is greatly accentuated by the fact that the cheese industry has expanded so rapidly and to such dimensions as to have quite outgrown the facilities provided for the proper handling of the produce at some centres. The cool-storage accommodation available is altogether inadequate, and where it is provided in some cases it is not taken advantage of as fully as might be the case.

■ This season already—up to the 20th February —some 20,407 tons of cheese have been exported from New Zealand, which is an increase of 30 per cent, on last year’s figures for the same period. Surely, then, the value to this country of a trade of such dimensions would warrant the provision of proper cool stores wherever quantities of the produce have to be collected !

At Auckland and New Plymouth such stores are provided, although in some cases dairy companies have failed to make use of them, while at Patea the volume of cheese handled is so great that it is absolutely impossible for the freezing-works to store it all in cool chambers. At the Bluff no attempt is made to store the cheese at all, notwithstanding the fact that the industry has grown enormously in Southland during the last few years. It is true that a new cheese-store is being erected in Wellington ; but, unfortunately, arrangements are not at present being, made for controlling the temperature of it. Large quantities of cheese from both North and South are centralized in Wellington, much of which is carried to this port in steamers provided with absolutely no means of cooling the holds ; and with such a valuable product as cheese this should be tolerated no longer. At present during the busy season thousands of tons of cheese are collected in the Wellington Harbour Board’s sheds and held at ordinary temperatures while awaiting shipment, and in many instances it has been found that cheese bearing a first-grade stamp had deteriorated to second grade in quality before being placed on board the ocean-going vessels.

Although during the last few years many of our dairy companies have spent large sums of money in building up-to-date curing-rooms for their cheese, in which the produce is protected from excessive heat and- the temperature maintained at a degree which gives the best results in the curing of cheese fresh from the hoops, it is a most regrettable statement to

have to make, although a true one, that in many instances the benefits derived from these places are being nullified by the treatment received by the cheese before finally leaving the Dominion. The defects in the present arrangements, as outlined above, are most harmful to the industry, and steps should be taken immediately to alter the existing condition of affairs. Cheese is frequently loaded on to the oversea. steamers in an unsatisfactory state owing to the want of . proper cool-storage accommodation, and such produce must be some distance on the voyage before this unwanted heat becomes extracted. The time , has come when all cheese shipped from the Dominion should be handled in exactly the same way as butter intended for export — is to say, it should be in a proper cool store for at least four clear days prior to shipment, while all cheese from coastal ports should be carried in steamers having mechanically cooled chambers.

The question of proper cool storage and better transport arrangements for cheese is without doubt a most pressing one ; in fact, the existing lack in this connection is by far the weakest point in the industry to-day. The matter is one which calls for the attention of every cheese-making dairy company and cheese-factory proprietor in the Dominion, and it will require united action to bring about the improvements needed.

. Damage to. cheese of the nature mentioned above affects the Dominion as a whole ; and now that New Zealand is one of the leading cheese-exporting countries of the world, the matter cannot be ignored without heavy, and continued loss to the producers of this Dominion. . Yours faithfully, ' - D. Cuddie, Director of Dairy-produce Division.

Sandon Rye-grass.—lt is satisfactory to know that Sandon. ryegrass of this season is of first-grade quality, both as regards bushel weight and germination. Sandon rye-grass can once again take its.place among the best types of rye-grass produced in New Zealand. Farmers are.particularly warned in buying Sandon rye-grass to insist on having 1913 seed. There is almost. certain to be a considerable quantity of 1912 seed held over, much of which, owing to unfavourable harvest conditions, is of such an inferior nature that its use even at • a cheap rate is an expensive proposition.— A.. H. Cockayne. ■ : .

■ ■ While the imports of beef for the past- year into Great Britain show a large increase, those of mutton are less. The total quantity of. mutton ■ imported was 5,021,529 cwt., against 5,330,070 cwt. in 1911, and 5,405,923 cwt. in 1910. Moreover, the Argentine, which, has taken such an enormous lead in the supply of beef, has. sent less mutton, her contribution having been 1,580,200 cwt., against 1,782,066 cwt. in 1911 The largest quantity ha.. come from' New 'Zealand, which shipped 2,165,433 cwt., against 1,981,467 cwt.. Australia, on the other, hand, sent 977,068. cwt., against 1,291,696 cwt. ■ ' . . ' •