THE MAN ON THE LAND.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4462, 4 September 1922, Page 1

THE MAN ON THE LAND.

CARE OF CREAM. This Question ranks next, if not equal, in importance to that of systematic herd-testing as a mean or increasing your income. The Government Agricultural Journal, the “Dairyman,” and nearly every newspaper,., publish articles on this subject, and the time has come when farmers must not only read them, but carry out their simple teaching. The Fresh Food Company justly claims that, by sending cream to either of their factories at New Plymouth or Wanganui, the farmers can receive all the benefits without having to carry any of; its financial risks or other business burdens, and in asking you to take every possible care of your cream the company is only working ip your own interests. AH the extra care and attention you give to sending your cream in flr,st-class condition is reflected in the better pay-out yon receive from the company, owing to their being able to still further improve the high standard of their products. THEN AND NOW. This assertion is borne out by the experience of many of the factories in the North. When they first started to handle home separated cream the managers found it almost impossible to manufacture a first-grade article. Acting, however, on the advice of the Government Dairying Department, the cooling of cream, instituting a system of paying on quality, and the general nll-r'ound attention to its care, has brought about a wonderful change. The butter from these factories is now grading among the highest in New Zealand', HINTS FOR CARE OF CREAM. Cream of an even, smooth texture, showing a test of 40 or 50 per cent., is the best for all purposes. Thin cream, showing a test of 25 per cent., is unsatisfactory to both supplier .and the butter-maker. Ist. —Because it is very difficult to take a correct sample if 75 per cent, is sour milk. 2nd.—Most of tihe bad flavours are developed in this 'large percentage of sour milk or curd. 3rd.—lt costs more for freight. 4th.—The loss of butter-fat in the butter-milk is much greater. The importance of cooling cream as it leaves the separator ranks next to cleanliness in producing a highgrade cream. COOLING. Where a good supply of water is available it is a very simple matter to put in an inexpensive coaler, but even with a limited supply of water good results will be obtained by allowing the cream to trickle over the cooler, provided the surrounding atmosphere is pure. Cooling the cream ndt only retards the process of souring, but also the growth of all ftoul germs (which: find their way into the cream in even the cleanest dairy), and a great part of the animal odour's will be removed. CLEANLINESS. But practically all .the benefits of cool’ng will be lost unless the most scrupulous cleanliness is observed in reference to your separator and milk-

ing machines. The dirty condition of either will breed a type of germ and vile flavours that even pasteurising will be unable .to cure, the result being second-grade butter and a poorer pay-out. It is a common practice to only wash the separator once a day. This is a costly and dirty mistake. Running some hot water through the separator is not washing it. You would not care to drink out of a. cup having the same dirt on it as you find in a separator bowl,, so you cannot expect cream to retain its purity after passing over such a filthy collection. The separator is designed to exert a certain amount of centrifugal force on tihe milk, and the diameter and speed of the bowl are carefully worked out to ensure the best results in skimming. The accumulation of dirt after even once using the separator materially inteiferes with this, and entails a loss of butter-fat in your skim milk. This, of course, means a correspondingly lower test from the factory. DO NOT MIX CREAM. On no account mix your newlyseparated cream with that separated at other milkings, as the new, warmer cream raises the temperature of the already cooled cream and brings it back to a condition in which the worst flavours are quickly .developed. Let each lot of cream stand separate for at least 12 hours. Do not use benzine or kerosene tins as receptacles for cream unless you first run a little solder over the seams, otherwise it is impossible to get the dirt and sour milk out of them. STORAGE. Endeavour to have the atmosphere as pure as possible where you store your cream. It is easy to erect a small platform with a roof 20 or 30 yards away. It will cool quicken here than if left in the proximity of the heated and tainted atmosphere of the shed or engine room. Do not put your can lids on until actually sending away, but keep covered with a piece of clean buttercloth. When it is necessary to put your cream on the roadside ready for the cream waggon provide some protection from the sun, otherwise the cream will develop an bily metallic flavour, making trouble for the but-ter-makers. I CARE MEANS CASH. I Remember that, while the extra car,e given to your cream will take up some extra time, every moment thus spent means a corresponding increase in your income. You cannot find any other work on the farm that will give you as much return per hour. Farmers must realise that the old days of happy-go-lucky and easy-go-ing methods are past, and that, to meet the growing competition of other countries and pay the increased taxation, practical and up-to date methods must become tihe order of the day, many of which are both easy and simple.

It is no exaggeration to say that their adoption or neglect mean all the difference between struggling along under the inevitable mortgage, and, what is worse, stock liabilities at ruinous rates of compounded interest or a speedy return to more prosperous times.