DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1924, Page 1

DAIRY INDUSTRY.

rSK OF AIACIIIXKKY. TIIK KXA.MPLK OF XEW /FA I.AX I). One nf the industries of Xew Zcal:iiid llint depends Inrgely on :ij>j)ropriiilu machinery is that of dairying, states “ Engineering.” The practice, lor example, of milking cows mechanically, instead of by hand, is widely spread. Already over 1,1,000 machines are in use, dealing with a majority oT the milch cows in the Dominion, and the number is increasing rapidly, A variety of designs are used and it is claimed that with a two-cow machine a. man and two lads can milk 100 cows in 100 minutes. 'While the machines dilfer in detail, their general style and lay-out is jsj’milar. In substance they provide a cup for each leaf of the cow and by a suitable mechanism the extent of the pulsation and vacuum is regulated so that each cow is treated similarly. The milk runs through a pipe line to a releasor, which may be ill another part of the building and is. in fact, in the nature of a llap valve, whence it is delivered either to I lie separator or to another receptacle to lie treated whole. The remarkable expansion of the dairy industry is attributed in large measure to the great use that is made of mechanical milking. In a wellfound dairy, the use of mechanism and mechanically-produced utensils goes, of course, considerably further. Many are driven bv electricity: the use of pasteurising plant and centrifugal separators is very common, if not invariable there are already over 10.000 separators in use. amt the number is increasing rapidly—and in other respects all the usual range of dairy machinery is employed. a mvpmvnrcT. The large scale, moreover, on which butter is made and the consequently great volumes of skimmed milk that are available, has created an industry of casein, in the manufacture of which the curd is baked hard in ovens and lias then to be ground, whether it is Used ultimately in a solid or a liquid form. A similar use of whole milk is made in I lie preparation ol dried milk, where the powder is a desiccated spray, in 1 lie preparation of which lans and sifters arc indispensable". There an* no great factories of tins In New Zealand than can supply the needs of the large dairies and some of these accordingly have modern tinmaking machinery from which they supply their own entire needs out ol tinplates imported from this country taking charge of repairs in their own engineering shops. Similarly. tlu*\ have box-making shops equipped with the most modern nmehinory: unfortunately. for the most part, made in the Fuiled States.

A separate exhibit is made of casein and its derived products, fillies are shown winch have a peculiar strength, and are used successfully in cahinel making and joinery, and as a paste. The solid casein products, appealing as imitation ivory and in similar forms, are well-known, and a good collection oi; them is shown. Here attain, the industry, though already large, seems capable of considerable extension.