HOME SEPARATION.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 23 August 1911, Page 3

HOME SEPARATION.

DAIRY COMMISSIONERS'

VIEWS.

In his speech at the Conference of the South Island Dairy Association, the Dairy Commissioners (Mr D. Cuddie) referred to the question of Home Separation. It was, ho said, a subject engaging the attention of the people up in the north to a very great extent. He had to admit that there were certain districts in New Zealand wh.6re no other form of dairying could be carried on The system itself was not faulty, but the methods employed in carrying it out were very mue.hv so. Sometimes the crbam was allowed to remain on the farms for three or four days, and naturally when it arrived at the factory it was very sour. Still a large number of home separator factories were doing good work, and it was quite evident that if a daily delivery of the cream could be obtained they could make good marketable butter. But if this system became general throughout New Zealand he was quite satisfied their butter would go down in quality. —("Hear, Hear.") It was impossible to get everyone to to take as much care with their milk and cream as they should, and he hoped the system would not extend to where their were good roads and creameries established on a paying basis. The home separator system was very likely to affect the co-oper-ati^e system, as it allowed Home buyers to come in. At the Palmerson North conference a proposal had been made to have home- separ - ated butter specially marked such before it was shipped. It might have been easy to introduce that at the very commencement of the home-separator system, but to his mind it would not be a fair thing to put a black mark against that_ butter altogether. They should judge tho grade and classify it according to quality rather than according to the method in which it was manufactured. If people could make good butter by the home separator system then why not allow them to do so ? They could get over tho difficulty by having a special grade for superfine butter. That would be an incentive to all the dairy factories to get their butter into that class so long as the minimum was not made too high. Butter coming into tbo present first grade class with 88 or BS£ points was not nearly so good as butter scoring 91-A- or 92. Buyers he thought would be prepared to pay a special price for'"superiine" and he would like tho opinion of the meeting on that point. It seemed to him dairy people had nothing to losp in that way. They would be protected from the pooier quality however it might be made. At Palmerston North they were practically unanimous in favour of the proposal.