N.Z. DAIRY PRODUCE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 10

N.Z. DAIRY PRODUCE.

COMPLAINTS OF UNCLEANLINESS. A-DAIRY ASSOCIATION VIEW, Commenting 011 tho coblegram. received from London, last week regarding complaints as to tho poor condition of recent shipments,!)!!.' butter aiul 'cheese from certain factories in New Zealand, Mr. J. IS. Scott,'secretary ot' tho South,lsland Dairy Association, .remarked to ,a Dtmedin reporter that the news wiis liof unexpected by him, as fie had noticed .that ,the flavours of: recent makes of cheese had not l>een good. "At the risk of . offending a great many/people, I have to admit, said Air. Scott, "that our get some very unclean milk to manufacture their connnoclities from, due primarily to the,inability ot.lllany-.Qt, those dairy farmers'who'lise.milking machines to get them clean and kwp theni so, it being a very diiKcult matter .to cleanse... tho • rubber tubes without'/an; .• adequate supply or btenin and.good water. I do not say that, ' milking machines cannot :be kept cleanfor I belie .'0 they can-but unfortunately some "suppliers ot milk are not sufliciently careful,' and the milk tiomes to. the cheesemaker in a> bad -state—that-.'iv.tu say, , it' is not what is - technically. teriu'ecl' .clean flavoured.' A chain is just as strong as its weakest link, and, .taking-this.,argument as a parallel, tho .'quality,, lot"* the . worst, milk .ill a cheese vat -is• practically thequality of the wholo'of the vat, ill thai the unclean flavourecl' takes .charge, :aiid brings down the quality of theiiest of tliei milk." • , V ■' '* - . Asked -|to suggest'a remedy, ; Jlr. Scott said :-f:"I ain strongly of' opinion that we should start a campaign in'the direction of .removing. 'the weak point ill- our industry—the quality of the milk supply— and the Government Department, if ;it is to do any i;nod, will have to' take.'more stringent -'measures than have ' prevailed' hitherto, and tho factories and tlie dairyjiisn' will" hiivo' to Aid by, their .'corpora-' tion.,- At one or. more factories in the North IsLiad.at.the present time there is a .Government ofliciabfbut, mark , you !. paid ;by the. factory—whose duty Jt is. to. go round and inspect the machines, tho,: ■premises, and the utensils used ."bythe; suppliers, and this; I suggest,- is=the .pro-■ pen., course tor. all factories to follow. Large.factories .... could ea'ch fully employ-one sncii expert if in his: spare, time.ho were to work out the tests from the different cans supplying in'iik to the factory, etc. Smaller factories might group*, .-together and employ an«K pay an expert. '.Much of tha' s trouble which is said to have'arisen as to the'.'quality-of. '?>uttsr and milk is doubtless not so much due to unclean methods pursued by the dairyman as want of knowledge on tho subject." , ■'In.my opinion,-"., said Ifr. Scott, -refer--ring. to,butter, '''siieh .inferior quality- has beeji'brought uliout mainly home 'reparation has come. into, vogue to. such an extent that some factories make nearly all tbeir butter from home-sepbrated cream. The cream, however, is; apt .to xome in from individual farmers' in. such a fermented condition that ..immense quantities of bi-carbouat? of soda are annually required, being 11 self to kill, the fermentation', 'biit it is.not'to be'supposed that the evils that cause the. fermentation are done away with by this proccdure."