THE CHEESE INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1700, 17 March 1913, Page 8

THE CHEESE INDUSTRY.

'A SERIOUS' DANGER. DAIRY COMMISSIONER SPEAKS PLAINLY. • X few days ago a cablegram received fi'oiii London voiced a complaint from Homo ns to tlie quality of recent shipments of. butter and cheese from certain New..Zealand factories. Experts, according 'tb the cablegram in question declared .the.'poor, condition of the produce to be ,duo. to uncleanliness. ; Following on the above a circular just issued, by,^7Mr7'-D.;Ciiddie, Director of the Dairy. Produce Division of, the Depart--niont 'of -Agriculture, to all the dairy companies' riiaitufacturing. cheese in New Zealand, is of particular interest. The circular, which is dated' March 1, several days'previous to the receipt of the cablegram in question, is headed "A Serious Diingei'to. Now Zealand's Cheese Industry" and runs as. under -There are-several most important matters 'cohiiected with the present position of the cheese. industry in this country which.-'it is. desired to bring under the notice of the dairy companies and others concerned. ,

"Since the warmer weather set in this season, much too large a percentage of inferior cheese' has been exported from the. Dominion. Unfortunately this faulty produce has been more in evidence in cheese froiii the provinces of Tnranaki and Auckland, although that from other .districts 7 has been .affected to some extent. :.

"Tho early.,shipinenta of this class of cheese .are now being, marketed in London,- and cable advice has reached 113 within the last few days from Mr/Wright, inspector of New Zealand dairy produce in Loiidon, which confirms the judgment of our officers on the quality of, the produce before it was loaded into .the Homegoing steamers. It appears that the trado is making serious complaint about the ciiiality ot' our cheese at the present time. On examinaiton at this end much of the produce' was found to be of poor flavour, such as would undoubtedly increase with age. Then, again, the body' of many of 'tlie cheeses was. too. weak. for an. export article.. "The-faults that have been complained of can .safely be put.down to one or more of three-causes, viz.,. (1) inferior milk; (2); over-anxiety' to increase the yield of cheese;- and (3) lack of cool storage and tho, unsatisfactory carriage of cheese to the; final port in New Zealand. .Need For. Care in Handling. _ "As to the need for more care in handling the'milk on many farms and the thorough cleansing of all dairy utensils, much has alreajly'bee'n' written and said oil subject.' The experiences of the dairy instructors'.this year prove conclTtsiyely that thete is yet o great", deal of-'room for improvement in this connection. Many- of the milkdng-machincs in use liavo been found on inspection to be in a-deplorably insanitary state, and in H>me cases;;pqrts:of them hav.e had to be -taken' to the factories for cleaning. There is not the slightest, do.ubt that .the dirty condition of a large'number of these ■machines is a serious menaco to our dairy industry. Some are found to "be" 6o' very unclean that it would bo impossible for milk to pass through them without becoming .badly contaminated and so spoiled as to be totally unfit for the making of good. cheesQ._ Tho rejection of such milk at.au costs is the only effective, cure for this evil, and managers of factories should b&Riyen a, f rC e hand in this matter in;,the interest not only of those who 'deliver isbund 'milk to the factories, but also'of the' [reputation, of the! particular 'brand » n « •JJie. Rood name of New Zealand cheese. .. . J.he, attempts that are .being-made to abnormally increase the yield of cheese. ,-? r .® proving disastrous, and if continued ;will;end in heavy financial loss. No 'fur.ther comment on this point is necessary, as,the.remedy is obvious/ ■ ■~>: " : ..;"At ! the present I. believe that cause Ao. 3 is even more serious than tho other two; at least it is certainly so lor .about three months of the year, when the atmospheric temperature is high. In .the inrst place, there are many districts where the transport of cheese from fac-■■tory-door to-grading-port cannot be-eon- ; sidered altogether satisfactory. The long cartage which is necessary in some places -^'undoubtedly,harmful to,the cheese. ,„As '&■ matter-oi fact, in one. of tho most im.po.rtan.t;.cheese".districts iri New' Zealand tlioso engaged in : the business are without the conveniences of a railway, with-the •result ihat . the. produce has .to be carted distances iix road wagons. . Then, in places .which aro conveniently served by a Railway, there is at times a' of proper* closed-in vans for con- ' veying clieoso to..the shipping port, with the -result.that'open-trucks covered with have' to' be' used for- the nurpose.: _•' v . l -

The present, position of affairs is greatly accentuated by the fact that the cheeso industry has expanded so rapidly and. to such dimensions as to have quite outgrown- the facilities provided for the jproper'handling of the -produce'-at-some • fientres. ' The cool storage accommodation available''is- nltogether. inadequate, and' .where it is" provided in some cases it is not taken'-advantage of as fuly as'iiii»ht -be the case. J'® 'season already—up to February - nj ®r~ s 9 me 20,407 tons of cheese have been exported from New Zealand, which ',is an;'increase of,' 30 per cent, on last year's figures for the 'game period. Sure.,iy, then;.the.value to this country' of a trado of .such dimensions would warrant the provision' of proper cool stores wherever; quantities of the produce halve to bo collected! WeMington Storage Suggestions. "At Auckland and New-Plymouth such stores .-are;-.provided, although in some cases dairy companies have failed to make tise of them, while at Patea the vplume of cheeso handled is so great that it is absolutely, impossible for the freezing-works •>t?i s ™ ore a coo ' chambers. At the Bluff no attempt is made to store tho cheese at all, notwithstanding the, fact that the industry has grown enormously m Southland" during the last few years. It is truq that a. new cheese-store is being erected in Wellington; but, unfortunately, arrangements are. not at present being made for controlling the temperature of it. Large quantities of cheese from both North <ind. South are centralised in Wellington, much of which is carried to this port in steamers provided with absolutely 110 means of cooling the holds; and with such -a<-valuable' product as cheese this should/bo tolerated ho longer. At present during the busy season thousands of tons of cheese are collected in the Wellington Harbour Board's sheds and held at ordinary temperatures while, awaiting shipment, and in many instances it has been found that, cheese bearing a firstgrado stamp had deteriorated to secondgrade iri quality before being placed on board tho ocean-going Vessels. "Although during the last few years many of our dairy companies have spent largo sums of money in building up-to-date for their cheese, in which tho produce is protected from excessive heat and tho temperature maintained at a degree which gives 'the best Results in the-cufing of cheeso fresh from l' the'hoops, it is .a most, regrettable statement to have to make, although a true onc ; that in many-instances the benefits derived frq'm these places aTo being nullified by the treatment received by the cheeso, before finally, leaving', the Domin'ion.

"The defects, in the present arrange'ments, as outlined, above, are most harmful- to the industry, and steps should be* taken immediately to alter the existing condition of affairs. Cheese is frequently loaded on to the oversea steamers in an unsatisfactory state, owing to the want'of proper cool-storage accommodation, and ;'sijch: produce .must ! bfi" some • distance on the voyage, before this unwanted heat be-comes-extracted.. .. The time has come when all cheese shipped'from the Dominion., should be ■ handled in exactly the same manner as butter intended for ex-port-ftliat is to say, it should be in a proper, cool store for at least lour days prior to shipment, while all cheese from coastal ports should he. carried in steamers haying mechanically-cooled chambers. "Tho;. question of proper ,cool /storage and ihotter transport, arrangements;.' .for cheese is without donht a most pressing oue; in fact, the existing lack in this

connection is by far the weakest point in 'he industry to-day. The matter is one which calls for the attention of every cheese-making dairy company and cheesefactory proprietor in the Dominion, and it will require united action to bring about the improvements needed. "Damage to cheese of the nature mentioned above affects tho industry as a whole; and now that New Zealand is one of tho leading cheese-exporting countries of the world, the matter cannot be ignored without heavy and continued loss to the producers of this Dominion."