The Dairy Industry

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 August 1913, Page 4

The Dairy Industry

HAM) v. MACHINE MILK IKG.

(Jjy Mr Thomas Walker)

Eor some considerable time there has been a great deal of unrest in butter factories all over the Dominion, owing to the managers iiot being able to produce butter up to its usual standard. They iind it impossible now to produce as good an article as they could a few years ago, although they exercise the same amount of care and attention. The question is far more serious than it appears at first sight, and is worthy of some consideration by those interested in the dairy industry. We have only to look at the cable news for the price of butter. The price is receding, which proves that the product is not up to our usual standard. Once we lose hold on the English markets and lose favour with the consumers it then leaves an opening for foreign nations to slip in and command the position we now hold on the English market. This would prove most disastrous to the Dominion, especially the dairy farmers, as it means ruin to him, for he could, not survive under the high price of land and cattle'. We have our dairy inspectors and butter graders, and they are not ablo to remedy the evil. The milking machine is responsible for a great part of the trouble. Eor years past farmers have had great difficulty in getting milkers for their herds of cows owing to the scarcity of farm labour. In many instances they have only themselves to blame, as they have brought the trouble on by making milking a drurgery and slavery by not working on reasonable systematic lines. The early rising and the longday's work have often turned their own children against the dairy industry. And as soon as the milking machines were put on the market a great many farmers were only too eager to instal them in their sheds, considering it was the only solution to the labour trouble, as they would not be at the mercy of the employee. So far so good, lhit what about the result? Erom a financial point of view does machine-milking compare favourably with hand-milking? There is no question about the machines doing the milking much quicker than by hand: at the same time the returns per cow for the season are much less than by hand-milking. The next point is, is the ma-chine-milking equal to the hand milking for quality and soundness and for human consumption. Now, we will take both sides of the quoslion separately, hand versus machinc, and then let the public be the judges. One of the greatest objections to hand-milking is the drip, which at the very worst is not serious, although it is objectionable. The trouble is easily overcome by rubbing the udder with a damp cloth and then lubricating the teats with a little grease or vaseline, which softens them and prevents the drip largely, making the milking much easier. With handmilking it is customary to test al the quarters by milking each teat into the palm of the hand. The palm being sensitive it is to detect whether the milk is sound or otherwise. If a quarter is then found to be unsound, it is milked out before milking into the pail is commenced.

It is impossible to soy that a cow's quarter will be .sound from one milking to the next. Cows that are exposed to all weathers are subjected to chills in the udcler, which often produce a hard inflamed quarter, and under these conditions the milk becomes unsound, producing' curdlcd and stringy milk. If the udder,- by accideut, has received a blow, the injured quarter then produces a bloody milk, and under the hand-milk-ing' all the impurities are prevented from going into the pail. Another point in favour of hand-milking is one thai is lost sight of by most people, and that is, the. milk is area ted before it reaches the milk pail, wliich leads to prove (he quality of the milk. Now we will take the machine milking. As soon as the machine is attached to the udder and set in motion everything then lias to go into the can, whether good, bad, or indifferent. With machine t he air is excluded until it is released into the cans. Then again, the machines are largely composed of rubber tubing, and most people are aware of the difficulty there is in keeping rubber tubes which come in contact with milk free from offensive smells. There is nothing more offeusive than (he odour from any rubber tubing which has been neglected, and under such conditions milk will soon become tainted, and unfit for human consumption. Xu thing is more subject to be tainted by bad smells than milk. How is it that soniv who have the machines installed only use the milk for their own consumption from rows that are hand-milk-ed ? That being so, the question iirises is the milk procured by the machines sound and pure enough for a m;lk supply when vou consid«r tin- tiiom'.;vjdx of litth- children solely dependent on the cows' milk ? At th- same time under the new conditions is it any wonder that factory managers cannot make butter.up to the usual standard in quality. The wonder is, rathej', that they are able to produce so good an artielp*

when one considers what they are subjected to. Tliey are powerless to improve the conditions, as tliey are simply at the mercy of the unscrupulous, dirty suppliers, and when a crisis does come, the innoeent will suffer with tlie guilty. The fairest and most equitable way to solve the problem would be for the dairymen to form themselves into two unions, viz., Hand-milking Unions and Machine-Milking Unions, and then have all their milk treated separately. It would be the only way for eachj party to get the full returns of his labour. It would also solve the question whether machine milking' would produce as good an article as hand-milk-ing. Another point is the inspection, which requires something more definite and satisfactory. Under the present system it is far from satisfactory. As the butter and cheese factories are as much interested in th production of a good 'article as the Government, and as they reap a direct benefit from the industry, it is only fair that they should contribute towards onehalf of the inspection for their county or electorate. By so doing it would place them on an equal footing with the Government, and by having equal control would ensure a more perfect and 'satisfactory system of inspection. It is scarcely fair that the Government should pay the-whole eost of inspection when dairymen reap the whole of the benefits. The tax would be very little per cow when distributed over the whole of the electorate. Wanganui Herald.