THE EDENDALE DAIRY.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 636, 18 August 1882, Page 2

THE EDENDALE DAIRY.

I Fr.-m the New Zealand Ix&istrhU GmMj.

iJuring the paat year i.'.yjh o.vh been written and _iid throughoi::: the colony on the subject of public or common butter and cheese faoteriej. It has been argued with great force that -low Z-a «'.,; d i. thiow-jiig away her o_K-ortuu.'tiab by allowing the dairy produce niavVei. or the world to bo supplied by countries capable liian herself ; and that v proiirable export trade in this branch cruuol bo promoted until the American system of preparing therre exports shall have boon iiitr_dueed and employed. Oti the other hand, opinions pre hot uniYequent.'y expressed to tho effect that the time has; not yet arrived for the secces.-fui organisation of the system, inasmuch as \ that th-3 district, are too scattered. The | correeuies. or otherwise oi: these opiniomi i will Boon meet with practical decision, for factories aroboia.-r o.ii,.J>ii:ified and ucrtai.Py not in the mead populous disdd.t'-i Being interested in ihh. subject evee boycud my duty as your travelling correspondent, I had looked forward to my visit to the Edendaie factory with more than ordinary pleasure. I _e ; ec.':ed a hue day, no that I might inspect the outdoor work aa well a-' that more p.-uuouiariy connected with '.he ' real bushies. of the faotciy. L-ravuie, ; J -.■ vefcargill by the iu./.o Inn, ,-, I short time elapsed in reaching the i_dendu.k- I station. I The factory is close to tho station on the I opposite sido, and with the vaaia, , about an acre, it ijuet in j tna matter ot external aniiileciUi"..-,. but ,' consider tbie thought has evidently been j bestowed upon the inner arrangement of ) lite building. Tho foundation ij o-' con-- j crete, as alao the ground ii>or. Tho r.uper- J structure is of wood, the wa!.). being idled '

in with sawdu-t to a thickness of about eight inches to counteract the effects of the rapid changes in the temperature of the t?tnKHphore without. The length of the factory is 68 feet by a breath of 42 feet, outside measurement. One end to a depth of 40 feet is taken up by the butter and cheese rooms, each 20 feet wide, the office being partitioned off from the latter, which is unwise, as the room it occupies c nnot bo spared without detriment. The other end contains the churning room (in the middle) with the butter working-and packing room on one side, and tho washing room and engine room on the other. Having the engine room under tho same I roof is a mistake which new companies should not perpetuate. When I arrived the operation of cheesemaking was in progress ; but Mr Inglis, the factory manager, courteously explained so much of it as had been done in my absence, thus furnishing me with details whereby I hope to be able to give your readers an account of the work now gmng on daily at the factory. Before doing so, however, I must digress to express my disappointment on discovering—lst, that no terms have been m *de by the company with the farmers and dairymen of the surrounding district; and 2nd, that the machinery, &_., for butter-making has not yet been brought into play. Consequent upon the first of these two misfortunes, the company can only manufacture from the milk of their own cows, and the factory is useless in the matter of being a convenience to the district. Ihe farmers muddle along in the old way, and the factoiy is less than half supplied with milk. The bono of contention between the company and the would-be milk vendors is tho coin so much despised in the colony —the halfpenny. The directors offer 4d per gallon, and the fanners want 4_Vd. Fanners in New Zealand are notorious in their demands for large profits, and I can quite understand that it would go very hard with many of them to sell their milk at a less price per gallon than the city dairyman gets per quart, even though it were shown in black on white that in the long run it would bo more profitable for them to sell at 4d per gallon than to make their own butter. On an average about ten quarts of milk will make a pound of butter; thus the company offer lOd for the raw material for a pound of butter. Any farmer would do well to get lOd per pound for his butter unmade, but the calves must be considered ; and the. farmer must solve for himself the question whether the loss attendant upon seding his calves at, say, three weeks old to the butcher for veal and buying weanod calves from districts wherein no hutter factory exists would be equal to the gain on his sale of milk to the company, making due allowance for the labor of feeding, and for the mortality of the calves. It is to be hoped that the farmers _of Edendale will have decided the question before the spring sets in. It is a matter worthj of very careful consideration ; and the probable profits of the company should not he a factor in the qiestion at all. If the farmers can increase their own profits ever so little by selling at 4d it is to their interest to do so. Should it bo ultimately discovered that the profits to the comp uy are excessive, to bieak down the monopoly will be but the wo:k of a season, and then the benefits of competition will accrue. Dairymen should reflect that the action of the factory .system will be to stimulate the local markets, becau-o tho main portion of the manufactured articles will bo exported to foreign ports, thus creating quite a new spheres, of usefulness forth?. New Zealand dairymen. Hitherto tho field has been very limited with the icsult that low price*--have ruled. For yeara butter has been a glut iv the market eve-y season, but until quite recently no attempt has been made to hhip the surplus to other eouiurie.; where it i- almost invariably in reque.it, Daring the last sea-en or two a few merchants more enterprising than their fellows have shipped _away respectable consignments as experiments, and have done very well by (hem ; but the difficulty of getting butter of uniform quality hn. been* found to be an obstacle of no mean order. About 200 cows were iv miiic at the time of my viuit, ail the property of the company. They arc divided into two herds, the milking sheds being o,> opposite sides of tho road. t.nd line. In tho afternoon milking commenced soon three. The cows are driven into the yards adjoining the sheds by mounted drovers. In. the shed that I visited were sixteen <: bails." The cows are" bailed up" by drivers on foot. There are ony hair v.d in my! milkers as bails, so that no time is lust. I The yards were at-kl. deep in mire, notwithstanding that gravel had been laid. Altogether the handling of the cow.— thongh not actually cruel—ig not mv'n as tsnds to the host results in the miknail. It is well known that a cow in the sulk" will not give her full quota., and it is further well known that cows must be milked " dry" twice- a day it; they arc io keep in hill milk. Hv.n/e-1 mb/ tho bail before tho huh. milkad one day on the off side and the next on the ;:jp.i\ it is not finite reasonable to r..v:)eot a c.vw to yield her milk ;is kiri.il/ ;.;'(::■ he. 1 calf. The mitk is st ruined into the cheese vat capable of holding i>oo gallon*. It is 14 feet long by 4feet wide by 1 foot Gu-ehes ■ deep, the frame being hoiiow allowing a j i;pace of H inches on tho bottom | i-ad rdl sides, fitted with pipes for j si.-s.rn or cold water. Tho temperaiur. oi the milk is speedily low&ted to about GO.lg, by which moans it is sept perfectly sweat. In tho morning th Q cream is taken off and '.-and in a pan t_iii it is thinned to tho consistency of milk wheuit is poured again into th. vat and thoroughly mixed with tho mi;:-;. The morning's milk is then wide,', and the whole slowly heated by means ol' the _toam pipe to about S'idg. Coloring of the kind known as Hanseu's Danish is added in the proportion of one draciiin lo ten g.<!! on-', followed by the additi.u of rive ! drachms oi: the same maker's _:au'.'-; of rennet to the same quantity of milk (10 gal), In an hour's time cos;i_>iii„;.io;i vdll or, oomploto if tho quantity of runnel: he -orrect, though if advisable th. ihi:_ may he lengthened or $horten_d by reducing oi inoreaidtig the quantity of rennet. Cat ting the curd i-.i the i.ov_i. operation, whiol. is effected l>y tho use of about a cloze:/ niiives s;.t ia :i (Va no Koiuovrhat in th? sfylcs of ;"-. grii-'ij.->!j. Oi";o set is ur-ed Hur!::oni;iiiy and ih'a c>f!:-i v_:u.;_i;y. The ieSP.it. 0 : . thti -/Utlhu; ij Ulu; tile IiiUCS vi curd in quickly transformed into cv!.._ abou-l tjo.isft of. ordinary dice. The whoy begins to exude immediately and conLh.aah until the cube.; (e.n./ideiauly reduce.d i.. ti/.e) sink. Il is then kept astir with liie hand for about half m hour, and afi.rwaidy with n wood instrument __i.2_lhu_g

like a shovel called an agitator, during which time the temperature is being increased to 98dg, about two hours being so occupied. This heat is maintained until the proper time arrives for " lifting the curd," as the operation is called. The most difficult as well as the most important part of the manufacture in cheese is the deciding upon this right moment. On the day under notice tho cheese-maker arrived at his decision by tasting and smelling. Much experience is needed to tell in this way when the right amount of acid has developed. If any doubt arises the hot-iron teet is brought into play, a hot iron being inserted into the curd, when the test is considered final if the iron comes out cloan. The whey is then drawn off by means of a syphon or otherwise and the curd placed in a large shallow box cabed a "cooler," when it is salted and vatted. The cooler should be large enough to hold all the curd, tbe depth not being more than about two inches.' This admits of a thorough mixture of the salt and of greater uniformity than could be secured by the use of more than oue cooler. The quantity of salt to a given quantity of milk varies with the time of year. In the spring timo the average yield of curd from lOOOlbs of milk is lOOHh. For this quantity 2flbs of salt should bo used. At the end of the season tho curd-producing qualities of tho milk are much greater, when the salt should be increased in pro portion. Before vatting the curds aro weighed, about 43lbs being put into each vat. Tin's is reduced by pressing and drying to a 321b cheese. Each vat is composed of four pieces. The bottom is of stout galvanised iron perforated with about thirty holes to let out the ,vhey. The top is similar, but only one inch deep, the bottom being two. A loose bandage of galvanised iron fits inside the bottom ; then comes a hoop 4Vm wide, having two handles and fixed above the bandage with two small pins. Tho cloth is then put round the inside, and the curds placed therein, wnen the top is fitted on and the pins that held up the hoop removed. Thus although the curds are securely contained the hoop covers the bandage in a telescopic manner, which admits of being squeezed in by tho press until tho hoop meets the vat. The vats as they aro filled are placed— on their sides, of course—in a press called the American Gang Press, which somewhat resembles a horse trough with one end solid and the other moveable by -means of racks and ratchet. Thus the whole number which the press will hold can bo squeezed in the one operation. This over, the manager and his assistants speedily restore order, and preparations are made for locking up, the place being re-opened after tea for tho reception of the evening's milk. Nest morning, or as soon after as may bo convenient, the vats are taken from the press and the cheeses liberated and placed on tho shelves in the drying room. This room is 68ft by 20ft and contains about twenty-five stacks of shelves, each stack having six or seven tierces of rows, and each row capable of holding about a dozen cheeses. Formerly only fifteen stacks were employe i, the rest of the space being occupied by six: large iron tanks used for storing cold water. It was found necessary to move these as the winter advanced, on account cf the cooling influence upon tbe atmosphere of the room, which shoo! i be kept as near 70dg a- : po.-r-ib'o. Oiu.r companies will do svell to avoid tin's and a few minor mi-takes which in the pioneer may | well bo excused. The dryimr room is j c qv.ble of holding upwards of thirty tons of cheese. Mr Inglis, the factory manager, takes great iniero.M, in his w-irk, and is very ably assisted by his wife. It is to find so much care taken and retention given by porsots not direct'} 7 interested in the profits. Cleaniiuc-s is obsei vable in every department of the factory. My notes on the machinery in position nnd about the building for the purposes of butter-making 1 mast leave for another number. Suffice it to say that I was very pleased with ail I saw. Nest spring the factory should ha in full woikiug older. If the farmer- stiii refuse to supply, no doubt the company will largely increase the preii.iit number of cows, leaving the farmoiJ out iv the cold. Though this will bo greatly to be regretted, it is the only cour.e open, ior the company have disliuelly rotate' thai they have made the highest remunerative oiler.