BUTTER BRANDS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1463, 11 June 1912, Page 8

BUTTER BRANDS.

DISCUSSED BY' DAIRYMEN An interesting discussion on but tor branding took place at the annual meeting of Uie South island Dairv Association. -Mr. W. J. Bolt, representing (he Taieri and I'eniiisuln Co., moved"That butter', made from hoine-.-eparaied cream ami whey be exported under a blond other than New Zealand creaniery batter, as used by butter factories wiio.-e milk is separated at creameries.'' The question »1 branding New Zealand export butler, he said, was a matter requiring the careful consideration of factories and (he Dairy Department. At its present highwater mark, the quality of New Zealand butter was equal to anythiug produced in. (lie world. This was the result of the.' creamery system, 'and was branded cream-:-"ry butter. But now the factories -were face to face with the new home-separator system, and the manufacture of home-: separated cream into butter. Produce 1 thus made was at present branded cream-": cry butter, and marked first grade, so; long as it could be graded 8S points. Was. it honest or fair to brand it creamery butter when it never was near a creamery?/ It was placed upon the world's markets under a false naiiie. Was it fair to factories which had raised the reputation of New Zealand butter to its high standard . to be branded ill the same maimer with- i out any distinguishing mark ? Id tlie early days of the dairy industry Austra-. linn produce was superior to New Zealand, but the home-separator in Australia ! had lowered the quality until it now stood at about 4s. per cwt. below NewZealand prices. New Zealand exported some IG,OOO tons of butter a year, and that at 4s. per cwt. meant ,£OI,OOO more to New Zealand than to Australia. He was of opinion that the factories should insist on an honest branding of their produce. Was it any use preaching pas-teurising-to the creaiuerics and cheese factories when under the home-separating principle the old system would be continued? What was the use of one set of men spending their money while others did just as they liked and made tuberculosis as bad as ever?. Under the homeseparation method' there was no protection from dirty milk. Some $arts of the dirt, perhaps very observable in the milk, were rot. detected in the cream. AVlmt they asked was that the. produce should bo branded what if really was—creamery, home-separated, or whey butter, and the industry had a right to demand that. lhp Dairy Commissioner (Jlr. Cuddic) said Jlr. Bolt's proposal would be a very good thing, provided it could be given etl'ect to. Before homo separation was introduced, it would have been a very simple matter, but if was not so now. He was not in favour of home separation, and never had been, for he knew how difficult it was to produce a first-class article in this way. Tf this motion was carried the position would be that tlicy would be branding a portion of their output as inferior. If they put a special brand on home separator cream they would, as it were, be putting a black mark against the ■ factory butter in the future, for the factories might bo prepared to accept homo separator cream. Ths chairman, Jlr. G. Gray, said his position was that the various qualities of butter should be called exactly what they were. White should be called white, and black, black. Jh\ Scott (Otautau) opposed the motion, and viewed it as placing difficulties in the way of small fanners ■ who might have special difficulties of transport, and therefore used a home separator. Ho thought the conference would do well at least to delay the motion. Several speakers drew attention to the difficulty arising from the fact that some butter Was made partly from factory and partly from home separator cream. Mr. Cuddic elicited loud applause by the remark that a fair way to classify butter would he according to quality. Only 1 per wnt. of 88-point butter went out of the Dominion last year. Jlr. Lumsdeu said this was really a burning question ill the North Island. He did not think tliev ought to press this to its full issue. Mr. Bolt said Jlr. Caddie's explanation had put the matter in a different light. He had said that Canadian and Australian butter was all marked creamery butter, though it was really home separator. He advocated the introduction of a supsr-fino grade iu butter. He thought the discussion would do good, but lie'was willing to leave the matter over till tlio North 'Island had discussed it. 'l'ho motion was withdrawn.