OUR DAIRY PRODUCE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5380, 28 January 1929, Page 2

OUR DAIRY PRODUCE.

QUALITY CRITICISED BY DEALER.

SIR THOMAS CLEMENT AT TURUA.

Sir Thomas Clement, who is making a visit to New Zealand on behalf of the British produce-dealing firm of Andrew Cle;ment and Son, visited Turua on Friday afternoon and conferred for some hours with the directors of the Hauraki Plains Co-operative Dairy Co., Ltdi With Sir Thomas were Mr R. W. D. Robertson, New Zealand manager of the firm, and Messrs A. C. Norden and WH. Kent, managers of the Auckland and Wellington branches respectively, and J. Alexander, of the Auckland

The party, which had motored through from Te Puke, was met on arrival by the factory directors, secretary, and manager, and conducted to the Turua boardinghouse for lunch. In proposing a toast to Sir Thomas Mr A. H.‘ROgqrs. chairman Of directors, extended a welcome to him on his second visit and expressed the pleasure of the; directors at being honoured by a special visit. Sir Thomas was a busy man, and his stay in New Zealand was such a short one tlfat hitherto he had not been able to visit isolated factories but had conferred with directors assembled) at suitable centres. He jv'as sure Sir Thomas had a soft spot in his heart for Hauraki Plains, for the Turua company had beep one off the first in New Zealand to link up with AndrewClement and Son. He hoped tha£ when- Sir Thomas arrived back Home he would still remejnber the Hauraki Plains. Company and- Secure another shilling or two for their cheese and butter.

In replying, sir Thomas Clement expressed ithanks for the manner i» which the toast had been proposed and honoured. It w>as six years since his last visit to Turua and he had not been in New Zealand since theji, though he had for a long time .desired to return to renew' friendship with many whose; friendship be esteemed. and to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHANGES IN INDUSTRY. Nothing stood still, continued Sir Thomas, and eve;n in the dairy industry considerable chan'gejs had taken place in the last aix years. The outstanding change lie had noted was the more general use off fertilisers. Th'is was producing a greater growth of. pasture, but .a ranker growth, and in turn a rank flavour in dairy produce. He wonderefl if the manufacturing side of the; business had advanced sufficiently to remedy this defect in flavour. The general adofptibn of pasteurising had brought about changes, but he wondered if the reduction of time taken to manufacture cheese thus effected was worth while. He was afraid that many Nqiv Zealand, cheesemakers were manufacturing too quickly. The resulting defects did not become apparent locally, but had developed by the time the cheese reached the; British consumer. STANDARDISATION. With reference to the standardisation of the fat content of cheese, S' l ' Thomas said that in his long experience he had never yet found that the extracting of cream from dairy produce improved th e quality. He pointed put that no experiments had been made in New Zealand to prove this. Certain experiments had been made in New Zealand, but these should be continued before definite conclusions wejre arrived at. He: knew that there was always competition between factories to make thebest payout, but regretted that t« achieve this an excess amount of moisture .was being incorporated in the cheese; at some factories. It should be the aim of dairy produce manufacturers to study the requirements of the ultimate consumers. They nfatteied more, than the graders in Auckland, for if a British householder bought some cheese of inferior quality his trade was lost as iVell as the custojn of his neighbours. Thus the sale of th«j good quality cheese was affected. There was room for improvement, and he would urge factory directors to forget the little pm points whqre savings could be effected and strive for the major point, which was the improvement of quality. ROADS ON PLAINS. In conclusion, Sir Thomas said he’ wished to congratulate the Hauraki Plains qn its progress since; his last visit six years ago. At that time the roads were in such a state that he had hoped he would never have to travel over them again ; but now they were; very fine, and a marked relief after the roads they had gome over (from Te Puke) that morning. PRICES. Farmers had Sjecurqd good prices in the last six years, continued Sir Thomas, and he anticipated just as< good prices during the next six years. There would be, ups and there would be downs, but as far as he cofuld forecast, knowing the conditions in other countries, he was inclined to think that there would not be any great increase in dairy produce production, but rather a decrease. The unceasing labour in connection with milking tended to drive farmers to other branches, and though there was a.steady s.tream of new men taking up dairying it was significant that in. many countries the numbers of dairy farmers and cows were decreasing. ■ While this was going ion improvedmethods tended to increase the amount of. production. However; there was a limit to the amount of increase due to improved methods. Sir Thomas expressed his thanks for the hospitality shown, and stated his willingness to answer questions, when in the company’s board rbfom.