GROWING IN VALUE

Hokitika Guardian, 13 January 1920, Page 1

GROWING IN VALUE

THE CASEIN INDUSTRY.

VALUABLE SIDE-LINES WHEN LAND is dear.

An industry which is growing in its importance to New Zealand is casein making. As one of the off-shoots of the great daii-ying industry it came under notice here about ten years ago and for the last eight years has been well established. With land ruling at high prices the dairy farmers of tho future will need to not only get a good money for their butter and their cheese but

also will require to commercialise all valuable by-pro'ducts. Hence tho increasing importance of sueh industries as casein making. VIEWS OF AN AUTHORITY.

An authority on tho casein industry is Mr J. Pedersen ,a specialist, at present in the service of the New Zealand Government. Mr Pedersen says that the demand for casein of good quality is steadily increasing, and during the war very high, prices were obtained. He thinks that while the mar-

ket will readjust itself when normal conditions return, the price is unlikely to go back to what it was a few years ago. However, the price is governed mainly by tho quality of the article. One has only to notice the differences between one casein solution and another to realise the great importance of quality. On this point an English buyer is reported to havo s aid recently that it was a sin to see hundreds of tons of casein from the colonies quite ruined in quality. The buyer added that the colonial vendors could have obtained from £IOO to £l2O per ton for their casein, instead of from £65 to £75, and havo sold three times as much had tho quality (been right. “So much for quality,” says Mr Pedersen. “French casein is recognised as tbe best on the British market. It is of uniform quality, much paler than ours, and it has realised up to £l3O per ton. SHOULD EQUAL FRENCH STANDARD.

Mr Pedersen says there is no reason why we should not he able to manufacture here casein equal in quality to the French. Our failure to do so up to the present, ho says, can be put down to the following factors: (1) Insufficient care in all the details of manufacture of the casein curd at tho creameries.

(2) Delay in shipping the curd to a drying factory. The curd is generally railed long distances, and during the hot weather fermentation takes place which means inferior quality of the finished article. The drying station, ho says, should bo situated where the curcl is made. It has .been taken for granted that such a plan was not practicable, os large quantities of. curd were required to run a drying station economically. Even if such were the case, it would be more than counter-balanced by a better quality of the curd. It is quite practicable, and it would pay every factory making up to ICO tons of casein in a season to instal a drying plant. Only by such a system can we expect any improve-

mcnt in the quality of New Zealand casein and secure the highest market value.

COST OF MANUFACTURE. The cost of making the casein curd at the creameries depends a good deal on the quantity of skim milk available, he says. The following figures are taken from a five-vat creamery—(one vat was butter-milk)—requiring two men to d 0 the work:—Wages per ton of casein, £4 10s; fuel, interest, depreciation, etc. £2 10s.

The cost, at the drying factory would be somewhat as follows per ton of casein ;—Wages, £4 10s; fuel £1 12s; bags for shipping, £1; insurance, interest, depreciation etc., £6. Grinding and packing the casein might mean an extra cost of £5 per ton. No definite figures ,he says, can be

given. Many factors influence the cost, such as quantities of casein to be dried, cost and coal, the distance to rail the curd and the condition of tho curd. If the curd arrives in bad condition, the cost of drying it is increased, and, besides, there is a big loss in the yield of dried casein. The commercial value of casein depends on its solubilitiy, adhesiveness, and swelling capacity.