DAIRY INDUSTRY

Press, Volume L, Issue 14985, 4 June 1914, Page 13

DAIRY INDUSTRY

MILK SUPPLIES TO FACTORIES

PAYMENT ON QUALITY,

(PT.ESS ASSOCIATION* TF_.E_I.AM.) DXJNEDIX, Juno 3. Tho principal discussion nt tho meeting of tho South Island Dairy Association was introduced by Mr J. Lumsden (Drummond), who moved, "That Mr Cuddle's scheme for payment for mi-I-on quality bo recommended for' adoption by ail factories.*' Tho mover said he took ft for granted that all wero quito familiar with tho proposal. -which had been widely circulated. It was ono of the most important schemes that had como beforo the Association for a long time, and would have a far-reach-ing eflrct. If they wero to havo a product of the highest standard, they must begin with the highest quality of milk. It would stimulate suppliers, •factories, and tho industry as a whole to maintain tho highest standard of excellence. It was a fact that New Zealand cheese did not maintain tho ropu.'ition it had seven years ago. It was hotter at that time. Thero were now r.orc factories, and some of the younger :..-to-'i-s had . r<i como up to the maik, .Yiiough the L-rgoi factories were still h.o to mam...in a high standard. In . Yv.v of tho possible widening of mar-Li.-s throughout tho world, it was ne- • ecsary to i.ia.nf...in the highest possiiie standard. Tho proposal was not . evolutionary. hut was along the lines of improvement and in the direction of benefiting tlio industry as a whole. Mi- Hill (Aparima) seconded tho motion.

31r Cuddie, director of the dairy division, said he liad not much to add ! to what had been already published by j iiiin on the subject. The nroposal 1 ad j been very well received in both islands. Factory directors and others had *j.rit--1 ten to say that they wero heartily with him in this matter. Only on Monday there was a meeting of 30 delegates from the northern Poninsula in Auckland, and they accepted tho proposal outright. They roaao an agreement amongst ther.'.s'elvos not to accept any supplies of cream (no cheese being made at this factory) that had been rejected on the score * cf quality by any other -ompanv. That was a very important flatter." It would bo of tittle' use to -•dopt the proposal at all without some men understanding. It seemed to him that they wero faced with this position: —The milk supply to the cheese factories was not improving, any experienced factory manager would say that. Ho found it moro difficult to make good cheese than ho did_ somo years ago. The question was, is the supply going back in quality? He believed that in some case, it was going back. The inspection of dairy farms had not been attended by very much success. Tho number of men the Dairy Division had; available was altogether too small to cover anything like tho whole of tho ground. To increase the mimVei- of inspectors would be a mistake, for the cost was too heavy, and dairy farmers objected to over-inspec-tion. A great many of them did not take kindly to that sort of thing. Tho work the Dairy Division had done had been of a very amicable nature, tho men having gone about their business in a. tactful and instructive way, but they wero not in a position to cope with the difficulty at all. Their timo was mostly taken up with instruction work at factories. In this proposal, however, they had something that was going to meet tho case, and he could not see that it would inflict any hardship on anyone if all cheese were mado from <rood"milk. Tho oroduct and its price would be better. The cost of the tost was trifling, about £5 in th© vase of largo factories, and very much loss for email factories. Perhaps tho most Ratisfactorv plan would be for a number of factories to group themselves together and employ a man for the purpose of making tests. Possibly an officer could tost ton factories, if they were situated closo together. They would requiro to pay between fboin a salary of £250 a year. Ho felt suro that it would bo a good investment, and thaT ono test each \veek would be sufficient. He saw no necessity for a daily test. Tho Department was quite willing to help them in th© matter, and was anxious to sco tho proposal adopted. New Zealand cheeso. as a. whole, was not giving tho satisfaction it ought to give. Undoubtedly a lot of excellent cheese was cent Homo, but the New Zealand agent told them plainly that New Zealand cheese was not as good as Canadian. In some cases, indeed. New Zealand had been returned. These, of course, were isolated cases, but tnoy showed ■where New Zealand stood, and also th© necessity for recognising, as soon as possible, that an improved general standard would benefit everybody concerned. The industry had grown to an enormous oxtont. He understood that .the output last year was 39.000_t<Fis, and believed that it would be 00,000 tons per annum in the near future, ilo pointed out that Now Zealand hall to competo against tho best in the worto. Ho felt suro that if the proposal wero adopted and carried into effect, the_ result would be an improved standard of quality and higher prices. New Zealand could not afford to have a stigma cast on the industry at the Homo end. Ho hoped the dairy companies ot tho South Island would givo tho proposal their hearty support. The Commissioner assured questioners that it was not mtomled to adopt any scheme that would frighten sup-' paer. away -.TTogethor. fossibly aT reduction of ono penny in the price given for butter-fat for one month would be quite ample. Ho also" made it clear that it was not proposed that +hero should bo two grades of cheese. Ihe idea was that if th© farmer got less money for enferior milk, ho would soon enquire into tho cause of ffcs inferiority and would promptly effect an imp-ovo-lii the ensuing discussion, Mr Middleton said ho thoupi _.iat the suggestion was a very valuable ono, a- d that Mr Cuddio was entitled to their heartiest thanks. Thero would to something to go on if a curd test was instituted. It would not b© a mere case of guessing; they would find out the culprits and penalise them. It was manifestly impossible to make different grades ol" che-s_, because factory managers could not find out at tho timo to what grado the i-.H'_ Belong.*!. Tho milk must go into vats as at present. Surely tho tact that a man's milk was graded second-class, and that this supplier was paid Id per lb less, aud rested under the sligma of producing dirty milk, would bo enough to encourage that man to mend his ways. They should 'not; taK© mto consideration the bogey of injuring the business. Mr Barnett (Canterbury '_e_tr*d) asked how home-separated supplies would be dealt wittt. Mr Cuddie said the classification of cream could bo carried out, though not on the same principle. Th© cream could bd examined and graded without ctzlty, although, of course, the curd test could not be applied. But there were other tests that wero quit© »mppendable, and, as he had saiu, this grading of cream had Seen adopted by the producers in th© Northern Peninsula, Auckland. The secretary read a letter from Ashburton urging objections to ths pro-, posal. and hoping that the motion would »he rejected. The meeting agreed fha. Mr Cuddie had already satisfactorily met these objections, which were made from lack of knowledge. Ono of them wae as to

Mr Cuddio said ho had never advocated this.* In the case of cream, tiio test must bo made regularly on its arrival at the factory, as several dairy companies had been doing all last season in Auckland. The factory manager would make daily tests, and tho trover nment official would mako a weekly check. Iv the course of further discussion, opinions differed as to the probable effects of the scheme. A few delegates thought that the proposal would provo. too expensive th*- small factories, but other delegates believed that the echemo was in the right direction, and worthy of a trial. "-'•"c motion was carried without opposition.