THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2083, 9 March 1889, Page 3

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Pei}Buaded as we are that dairy produce is destined to figure at no distant date as one of the chief exports of the colony, we make uo apology for making frequent reference to the importance of developing the best methods of manufacture and of the perfecting of arrangements for shipment and transport. The attention of the Agent-General has very properly been devoted to this matter, and Sir Dillon Bell has recently forwarded to the Minister of Lands some very interesting correspondence between himself, Professor Long, the celebrated dairy expert, and Messrs H. Trengouse and Co., importers, of London. The last-named firm, for whom recently Mr Meadows visited the colony to enquire as to the cheese and butter produced m New Zealand, and who entered into extensive contracts on behalf* of his .firm for the purchase of these articles, state tjitt the quality of the finest samples of Uew Zealand butter is second to none produced elsewhere. They, however, complain, and with justice, of the irregularity of shipments sent Home, the samples comprised m one shipment varying greatly m respect to texture, color, and flavor, tbe difference m value between different parcels m the same shipment ranging up to as much as 40 per cent. The obvious conclusion iS tbat if New Zealand butter is to command the best priced an evenness of quality, and that of the highest class, must be secured and maintained, and this can only be done under the factory system. Messrs Trengouse point to the satisfactory results of tbat system m! Penmsrk. Danish butter, which was formerly the lowest m the market, now ranking (thanks to the factory system of manufacture) at the head of the list. As to tbe quality of onr cheese if is pleasing to find on so excellent authority that there is now not much room for complaint, the writer stating that " all that is needed is an extension of the factory system. The consignments last made tp tbe firm left little, if anything, to be desired, and they were able to realise on them several shillings per cwt beyond the price of the finest' American then pp. the market." They lay great stream upon the importance of making early arrangements for the cool transit of cheese and butter by rail to tfte port of shipment, much deterioration being caused, especially m the case of butter, before reaching the seaboard. As regards the carriage of cheese Professor Long gives the following useful hints : — He says that it should be shipped m cool I chambers just as it approaches its more perfect state, and that if shipped soon jtfter being made, it would spoil it the temperaturfl wpre sufficiently high, because of the necessity for regularly turning it, and because some cnpe#t# ytould swell and need immediate ripening at a very low temperature. At $sdeg they would be full, if not over-ripe, on arrival. He would prefer 4?deg to 43degi With respect to butter, Danifibjrxperi ments prove that between S4deg and 44deg is successful, this butter remaining good some time after its arrival, and being classed tres bon. The information here supplied is of great value, and it is to be hoped that the New Zealand producers and shippers of dairy produce will carefully act upon it, and succeed m establishing for our butter and cheese a position m the market which will ensure the obtainment of the highest market rates.