On the Milk-supply of Wellington.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 27, 1894, Page 654

2. “On the Milk-supply of Wellington,” by C. Hulke. Mr. Maskell said we owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. Hulke for his able and interesting paper. He thought it was a matter for congratulation that nothing worse than adulteration by pure water had been discovered in the analyses of the various milks. He had feared that our milk contained deleterious substances of various kinds. He would like to know how the ordinary consumer could discover when milk was adulterated. Mr. C. T. Richardson said that, as the majority of young New-Zealanders were brought up on cows' milk, it was certainly not beneficial to them if adulterated with water. Mr. R. J. Barnes would like to know if it would be possible to adulterate milk with mutton or other fat, as he had heard of this being done to obtain a supposed heavier cream. Sir James Hector said the elaborate chemical tests so ably described by Mr. Hulke might be necessary for enforcing legal proceedings, but the simple test of the proportion of cream by means of a graduated tube was enough for ordinary purposes. The danger arising from adding water to milk depended on possible impurity of the water used. He had seen aquatic larvae of blow-flies introduced into milk in this way. Low specific gravity does not always indicate bad or watered milk, as the amount of nourishment in the grass at different seasons greatly affects the quality, and especially the proportion of butter-fat it contains. Mr. Hulke, in replying, stated that he had not said that the milk was adulterated with pure water. The question about mutton or other fats being used need not be entertained at all. Mr. Hulke wished farmers, dairymen, and milkmen generally to be educated up to the fact that the cow was a machine, man the manufacturer, and it depended upon the goodness of the machine or the material put into it as to what the manufacturer would get out of it. He would like to see a clause in the Bill now before Parliament altered to read” normal-quality milk” instead of” pure milk,” as so-called pure milk may often be very poor milk, and not good for butter; and the standard quality should be fixed at from 11 to 12 per cent. A number of exhibits were shown at the meeting by Sir James Hector; and Mr. T. Kirk exhibited a collection of mosses, and also a beautiful yellow flower, a new arrival in New Zealand, from Mr. Duncan's nursery at Porirua—(Euryops abrotanifolius, DC.)—a native of the Cape of Good Hope. It produces its bright flowers in vast abundance during the winter months—June to September.

Sixth Meeting: 22nd August, 1894. Mr. E. Tregear in the chair. New Members.—-Dr. Teare and Mr. J. P. Campbell. Papers.—1. “On a Recent Discovery by Mr. Donne of Bones of Dinornis giganteus, on the Surface,” by Sir James Hector.