PASTEURISATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1438, 13 May 1912, Page 8

PASTEURISATION.

" " VALUE OF THE PROCESS. ' OPIXIOXS OF TWO EXPEETS. . The question of pasteurisation received the attention of Air. .1). C'uddie, .Dairy Comniisiioner, and Mr. V. .I. : .Hkokoi, H.K.U.V.S., head of llio Live Stock Division of the Agricultural Department, at a meeting at lil«u Oroua last week, when the Glen Oroua Co. considered ,I lie matter of tho installation of pastciirisins plaiits at its creameries. , ~ Air. Cuddio said pasteurisation had been discussed more frequently in connection with dairy factory work during tho past few year:," than any oilier ruiestuiu. A certain amount of progress had heen made, but.som.e doubt,slill seemed to e.v.i?-t in the minds of some dairy farmers as to tho practicability of the process. As time went on, however, ho expected to see further progress made. Some ten years ago ho remembered attending n. largo meeting of dairy farmers, and having the temerity to advocate pasteurisation of cream for butter-making. The audience did not receive the proposal very'favourably, and it met with a good deal of criticism. . However, he was not. at all discouraged, because tha Department had carried out experiments which had proved that tho system had a great deal to recommend it. ; It was not for some years after'this that the first dairy factory undertook the pasteurisation of cream for butter-making. While it was continued right through the season, there were ouo or. two! points which were not considered quite satisfactory. Eventually these were overcome, and ever since that time an increasing number of dairy companies, had adopted the principle. To-day one could count on the lingers of one hand the facr tories that were not pasteurising their cream for hntter-making, and the result, had heen a decided improvement in the quality of the prodnct. The Glen Oroua Co. could bear testimony to this in their own case. Reports. were being received from the British market this season .which spoke very highly of the quality of New Zealand butter. Fasteurisinn. Ey-products. . 'The next 'inove was to endeavour to persuade dairy formers to take up the pasteurisation of by-products, viz.,. skimmilk nnd whey, and the Department considered that to encourage this the best plan was to give demonstrations of tho ,-w.ork in. several of. tho.dairying districts. ■„T!hey were..,'a,bl6 to "arrange - with a. dairy 'company' in;-:Tarannki to fit Am at tlwir 'cVhtralJ.cheese ■ factory the appliances required for heating the whey. It was found that the work could be carried out economically and at a reasonable cost. ■The farmci;s;_ supplying - the.; factory expressed themselves as being satisfied that the value of the whey was improved by tho process. There was -one exception,. in a, farmer who. contended that his calves were dying through being fed on the pasteurised whey. The Department's officers ifelt satisfied that the farmer in question was mistaken, and an officer of the Stock Division was sent to investigate tho case. . On his return he reported that one calf owned by tho farmer had died from'' blackleg,' .and was affected w;ith this disease. "Our critical friend was then very anxious," said Air. Cuddie. ."that, wo should say" no more about tho bad; effect 'heated whey' was having on his ynung stock.''! Following up this work, the Department undertook to give demonstrations in pasteurising skim milk at one of (he .creameries in the Forty Jlile Bush district, the main object heins to arrive at 'the cost: of carrying: nut the,work. A trial was very successful. Accurate ac■count' of the extra fiiel required to heat the jnilk .'was kept, and were, worked put it was shown-tlint tho cost in this ca'se.orilv amounted to Id. per 10001b. of milk treated. Necessity.for;, Cleanliness. .', ~ :' The'.:Departnienf., had generally found that where objection had been mado to pasteurisation the farmers were not keeping .'the vessels in which the product was held after being returned from, the factory.. ..in .« », clean .-. condition. Old .tubs,', barrels, etc..,.were frequently used without proper cleansing, and this had tho effect of 'souring the milk. When stock were fed on.sweet milk one day and sour milk tho next day it interfered with 'tho digestive system, and consequently the animals did not thrive on it. As a 'general r.ule,' however, farmers who had been supplied with heated milk or whey spoke.in the very highest terms of praise, as .the stock got on-much better than when'fedon the raw product. It was now three years since, the. Department put in the pasteurising plant at Glen Oroua, hut owing to lack of boiler power-'for the work the.tr|al could iiot.be proceeded with the first season. The following season greater pdwer was. installed,. and the .work was ;then conducted under -very favourable conditions. From tho beginning of the .season to the end tho Department hiul "a man in charge of the pasteuriser. Tho company then agreed to continue the pasteurisation of skim milk tho. following season on their own account, the Department agreeing to leave the plant, in.the factory for that purpose for the" tihie. being. ;,Latcr tho Department suggested to the •company that a trial be made to,.find out tho exact cost of .''treating -the hiilk, and sent au officer there to check the consumption of. coal used in ordinary factory work and the ..amount used' in tho treatment of tho skim .'milk. ■ The figures • produced showed the cost of pasteurising tho skim milk to be 3d. per 10001b. of milk. This was higher than at the other factories, but it was mortality not high, as, taking it that the average cow in the Glen Oroua district, gave, say, GOOOIb. of inilk per year (a fair'estimate/, the actual cost of heating the milk was only Is. Cd. per cow. This must-' be. considered very cheap indeed, when it was remembered 'that tho process .prevented -.the 'spread; of' disease among tho stock. A New Plant. A new plant was now coming into rise, and one of the kind had been installed at the Whonuakura factory, near Patea, which. company directors to. inspect. It was worked on what was known ■ as the regenerator principle, the cold milk passing through a machine over the surface of which the heated milk was flowing, so that the hot milk was coofcd down nn'd the cold millc was heated up automatically, which meant a great saving in fuel.. In fact, tho company in question, was heating tho whole of its skim milk by means of exhaust steam from tho 'engine, Jio live steam being needed from ,tlio' ;boiler direct. '■■ Mr. Cuddie said he hoped the Glen Oroua Company would decido in favour '.of. pasteurising the skim milk during the coming- season. There was no question ..'about the benefits to lie derived. It was ; an ■ established' fact that the mixed milk handled at tho creameries was largely responsible for'the spread of tuberculosis amongst farm slock, but pasteurisation got'over'the difficulty.'-' Chief Veterinarian's Views. Jlr. Reakes said pasteurisation was a preventive of tuberculosis, a most serious disease - amongst cattle ..and pigs, and c difli'ctilt ono to deal with, the animals being affected •before formers knew anything about it. Arany farmers sent away healthy looking-pigs, but they were afterwards condemned.. It must 6e remembered that if [tigs.suffered from tuberculosis disease, calves Would also, and.this meant rearing a herd of diseased cows. It was noticeable that in factories where pasteurisation was adopted cows nnd. pigs wore.almost entirely free from tuberculosis. Jlo quoted some striking figures in support of this statement.' They should remember that every pig condemned meant a loss of, say, £3, nnd pasteurisatidn would eradicate the disease and lessen tho loss. Both calves and pigs 'did very much better on pasteurised than on non-pasteurised milk, and the scouring «> often met with in calves was almost entirely absent when the animals were fed on pasteurised milk. 'Looked at'.from a broad point of view, pasteurisation, and thereby eradication of tuberculosis, meant a benefit to the wliolo country, and farmers should ro-opcrat.o with the Government in promoting pasteurisation. . Plant to be Installed. The manager of the Glen Oroua Company had prepared an estimato-of tho cost of fitting up. thcr.Tarious with

tho necessary plant", and after a consultation between ttio manager and Mr. Cuddie the meeting was informed that tho total cost would be about ,£1350. After ;i good deal of discussion it was decided to aiithnrise directors if the company to fetal the plant for tho coming season.