DAIRY RESEARCH

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 85, 27 April 1937, Page 10

DAIRY RESEARCH

Telepraph — Press Association.)

Factory Managers In Conference INSTITUTE'S RESULTS

(Bv

PALMERSTON N. Tlm Dny. Dairy factory managers and assistants from all parts of the North Island and some from the Soath Island are in Palmerston North at the present time attending the annual week set aside by the Dairy Eesearch Institute for these managers. The object of the "week" is to give managers and assistants the opportunity of getting acquainted with research activities of the year. The programme includes lectures on a wide variety of subjects connocted with the dairying industry. Professor W. Eiddet, director, reviewed the activities of the Dairy Eesearch Institute since its establishment approximately ten years ago. It waa not until January, 1929, however, that intensive reseanch work was com- | menced. In the first few years attention was given mainly to cheese-making problems because these wero getting more difficult. Since those days more attention had been given to butter - problems and more recently the work had been extended to a study of the influence of pastures on the quantity and quality of dairy products. j One of the first cheese problems tackled had been "openness" and ihe director traced the methods adopted by the research workers in trying to discover the cause of the defect and find a xemedy. A wide field of possible causes had been investigated, but while the results were disappointing from the point of view of openness, the experiments yiHfied valuable results in ot.her; directions. These early praeticai experiments led to more fundamentalj chemical and bacteriological experi-j ments in the laboratory. The difficul- 1 ties were very perpiexing as the samej results were not always obtained fromi the same set of circumstances. Ideasi had continually to be altered and modi-; fied lines of attack adopted. Now it' had been shown that, broadly speaking/ .the fundamental cause of slit openness was bacterial contamination. At one time it was thought the cause was possibly physical, but there were results opposed to this belief and it had now been definitely abandoned. Such a change in the direction of emphasis was a necessary part of research work. One could never be definite until one had all the facts. Much had yet to be done on the question. Professor Eiddet emphasised that many discoveries of value to the industry had been made during the investigations. Dealing with the investigationa with butter-making, the, speaker reported that the early work was devoted to influence of starters on flavour. He emphasised that it was esscntial to good butter to* deliver ' to the factory the finest grade cream. Best results had always been obtained from finest. grade cream, and especially finest fresh cream, pointing. to the necessity of having cream delivered daily to the factory Professor Eiddet also nrged that if

changes in flavour were desired, they should be made very slowly. The Dominion had created a market for its butter and if the flavour were changed Tapidly there was a likelihood of losing that trade. It was essential to retain a standardised product of nniform quality. New Zealand could not alford to make an acid butter as this condition led to fishy and tallowy flavours. The greatest care should be taken to see that acidity was not unduly high, for which delicate and accurate tests had been developed at the institute. Other butter problems investigated had been spreadability, control of surface taints and discolouration, seleetion of suitable wrapping materials, strength of boxes, neutralisation of cream, and the like. More recently a study had been made of the xelationship between the feeding of the cow and quality, including taints in cream and butter. In this latter work the institute was collaborating with the Plant Eesearch Bureau so that new strains of plants will not only assist the farmer to increase the yield of his pastures, but also the quality of the Dominion's dairy products. ' '■