HOME SEPARATION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1711, 31 March 1913, Page 8

HOME SEPARATION.

CAKE 0.1?' CREAJL ON'.THE EAlJll.' ' } '■ ~ -. v !.' , / . I ...Expert opinion, as represented, in the ! . .Department of Agriculture was for li long | J* 1110 strongly opposetl -to homo separai tion, on the ground that the quality of i tlio produco; must -suffer, but the enor- , mous strides made in homo separation of i late .years- have proved that this system ; lias come ,lo ilay. • Eecognising this,-the Department gives some useful,-.if uotiiow, ' advice in its 'Journal, in which Air. CI. j Valentino writes as undpr:— ' ' , ; ft. is a well-established fact that .{ho . quality of the manufactured artieli'depends principally on the (juiracter •of j the raw product, and . this applies; with :. special I force to cream 'separated, on, the. farm and delivered to a distant nianufac- , I turing centre, often at iufrepucnt intcrr I yals, l'urther, it has been .co'iiclusiyely- ' proved that good butter can bo. made I Ironi gathered cream, if 'this has been carefully handled and. delivered in a. good condition to .the factory.-. Given a daily delivery of wcll-cared-for cream, it is posi Bible to make just as good -butler'- under home separation, as under,the- whole'milk- ; principle; :but as this is not:always possible—in fact,. tho system■ is generally in operation where transit difficulties inake a daily delivery iuipractic&Me-rtho neces- ; sity for caro on the part' of itho farmer , i in the handling of the cream is seen to ; a vital consideration in ! the success : of the undertaking.

Cleanliness Essential, ' If there is one principlo . more than another,which should be emphasised in' tho successful handling of creani it .is that of cleanliness., . With jnilk and, till 'its products'this is- the greatsecret ofsuccess, and the farmer scparating.,his, own cream should paste this :'fact in Ills hat if he would succeed 'in producing, tiia, bcst-.article and thereby alt'ord the fac-tory-manager a chance to turn out a ■first-grade butter. Let 'it,always ba remembered that it is the first-grade article that brings the ''first-grade price,, .a fact i particularly emphasised this s:ason. Conditions on all oversea riiarkets' have enabled buyers to discriminate niore .•Strongly than ill tho, past between, first and second qualities. It 'therefore'"behoves -the farmer who is unable to make a daily delivery of his cream to take such .caro. of it that he will be able to land it at the factory in the' Vest order possible under the-circumstances.-. ■■••••

The general principle's' laid''Maivli,' iii' icgurl to handling' milk ■ on l the farmunder the wliole-milk system apply with' equal force where .home- separation' is'/in vogue. Having produced u clean milk, this should be at once removed to' the l separating-room, never under tiny circumstances being separated in the milkingslied. A special rooril '.'should 1 .be'provided for the separation,-. afrlensfc;3p;yards- - the milking-shed,. and;,.it .should be located on the windward side of the shed. This should never bo used for any other purpose. It .should huve.a concrete floor, be provided' witli good' tlr'a'i n-* age facilities; be w.ell j.qntila,tcd,_ijiid 1 ),e, furnished with a t goocl;;. snj^)ljs-of-water - both for cooling 'aud'w'asKing^piWposes.

Cooling ihe Croaip.... . ;, Ul , f. ~ If possible, sopiiraiing the cream'should lie carried" mi' simultaricously' with the .milking prucess, as the.' cleanest skini- ■ niinf is obtained when the animal-heat is in the milk;, An efficient cooler shoiild. be provi(!ed;:in"6rdei''.to '.rt : .Ullccj\th'6';ci^in': to'the lowest possible temperature! ' As the amount of water required to cool : t:ue cream is .'cpmpiiratjyely ismal.l," this siiur.ld presanl .110 serious .difficulty.' It ;s u!ss» advisable to provide, K.trough of . t.»!u water, preleriibly '.running, .'inlwhich ,ui «taiiu the creum-eans, in order to niaini.v.ii ifccir cunteuts 'at' * .reduced tem- ■ Suould a satisfactory supply water for a cooler'not be- available, i... «:;: r :h system will have..to be de--i. .r.:at 'ail, ami the cream frequently ' ..i.jd i;i reduce the temperature. .The : ...-.'ing is nccessiry in any case, to break ;:-i iiu i'roth which-.collects. ronrthe-sur-:.iul- oi tnu.cream. Per, this.purpose noth-. la.,' to l...lte'r\ than the perforated : plunger .( -:-'..i.Hy used in- factories.. Being made. <•(' iiiete.l ;t is easily kept clean, i. It .is iul io be thought that, where cream -is. delivered daily to a.factory, the,tooling is iiiniE-eessar.w, I luwe sometimes seen creain delivered, every day, but.,which., hud'been .carelessly handled, arriving-- at' a factory 'in'-l-a'' worse condition than a. two days' supply which;had been handled with every-care and had been effectivelycooled. V ... , . 'Uiider rib circumstances should creanv from one skimming.-be mixed with that from another'skimming, unless it has Ijeen previously well cooled, as this is oneof the causes of that worst of all defects in home-separated cream known' as , tli'tf "fermented ' flavour. I'ho most ' unsatisfactory of all suppliers to the' liome-sep-', oration- factory is 'lie' who places ; a can ■ under the separator 1 arid does',not ; touch' it ngain till it lias received the cream from several milkings, neither stirring nor cooling, the. cream liemg thus held' at the very best condition for the development of acidity and of undesirable "fla'v vours. While held on the farm tho cream-can should be covered with a light-cheese-cloth, to keep out dust, and this cloth should bo thoroughly washed and then dipped in boiling water (each timo it is used. •' -; •

The Separator. 011 tho care of.lho separator largely, depends the succcss'of -home separation, i Unless this is kept sweet and clean it is ! impossible to secure the cream in a sound ! state. Thorough cleaning after every : time of use is impenitivo—not merely tho running tlnrough the niiifchiiio of flnme hot water, but tho dismantling of the machine-and the effective cleansing of all the parts. The idea that it, is not ; necessary to wasli tlie machiuo more than onco a day. is entirely wrong, and if practised will invariably cause rapid deterioration of the cream. ! Having finished .separating, first wash 1 the various parts of. the machine with' warm (not hot) water to which has been' ' added a little washing-soda or, a; reputable cleansing-powder. A brush should always be used in preference,to a cloth,' which' rapidly becomes unsanitary. Thoroughly- ' scald with boiling water, and' place to air, preferably in the sun, but in a sweet atmosphere, until again required. With' this process, 110 drying is 'accessary. '. ~.- Cream-cans and Carriage. . It is very necessary that"'tlie creamcans should, be thoroughly .cleansed, and; scaldcd. Although in the majority of ~ cases tho cans are washed at" thi> factory," . it is most desirable that they should be • cleansed again before being 'vised,'? ,'aiid ■ the method advised for this separator apf plies'also in this case'. . '•

j Having taken every "euro to Jirodueo'-a vcll-amditloncd crotim,. it is necessary-'-to ' see that it in handled iii transit in 'inch' ' n manner tliut it will arrive at'the factory in tile same gaud .order, if left on the roadside to bo'picked up, it must be protected from the sun bv any simplemelius, provided if is elective. 'The'fArliier's iniorest in- liis-creain- should' not end at this point. He'should see,to'it ■ that the same - care ho»has'taken l with it on the farm will lie exhibited by the men responsible for its conveyance l« the factory. Bad flavours are frequently I developed ,by. reason, of thc.sun striking * on the unprotected can. ; Payment According to. Quality.';;}' The care of the cr'Witn' throngliiut' hll' stages of production and hand! in;; is a vital matter to-the. farmer, in "tin; ma-' foi'ity of home-separation factories in this country to-day tlie one price is paid for nil grades of cream, a "practice if) itch''on" nil-fours with the old unsatisfactory sys- , tem of paying for inilk" &y"'fh6" gallon. ' ■ lint: the day is' iteaf'- , A , t")i'ft , cream will be .paid for ncuordiiik-'Io- the condition in whi'elfit reaches 'tlio -factory as | well as for its • tmttor-fat content. "Tlio j men who handle their cream properly ; should assuredly be recompensed in money \ value for their trouble, just as- the moil who fail to realise their duty' in'this nnnectioa ,and iberpby reduce'the imir-. ;et value of the factory's Output- should .iift penalised. . There is one word of advice on this i subject which eatimit ;bo., repealed. ,too often; it is the first and the lust word j\oi! the successful handling of dairy products. and it is tho secret of success nt,

tho present advanced stage of the indus-try-just as it was when the dairy-farmer ami butter-maker wero working under the most crudo'conditions. This all-important word is Cleanliness.