The Dairy Industry.

Manawatu Herald, 12 January 1899, Page 2

The Dairy Industry.

I ♦ A GREAT IMPROVEMENT. i The reports on the New Zealand dairying service have just been printed in pamphlet form by the Depart- • ment of Agriculture. ' These are the production of the dairy instructors, and are a Manly commentary on the state of the butter and cheese making industry of the Oolony. We have read the reports through carefully, and have been forced to the conclusion, the further we read, that oui milk suppliers, dairy factory mana- . gars, and produce exporters haw , much to learn if New Zealand butte: ta to retain its high position in th Home markets. Victoria —formerly our chief Australian competitor— has experienced a shortage during th> last three years which has proved favourable to the New Zealand goods This may be altered when tb> Victorian dfirying industry recuper afces itself ; therefore, it is imperativi that everything should be done to render our dairy commodities " sans reproche." The chief faults at present lie with the milk suppliers, who

do nofc fully realise the necessity for eliminating unprofitable covfs t for co-operation, pasteurisation, a»e|! strict cleanliness. Some factories* pay for milk by measare, bnfc it Ik much more desirable to receive it by weight, and furthermore, milk sboula be paid for according to its prodm* tive quality. Mr Sorensen Bays^^ " Cows are two often allowed to^sffll* away so much in their condition '" during Winter that when they calve they nre quite incapable of giving j noimil milk. Low tests are mainly the rot-alt of a starvation diet prior to the calving." There are various flavours which lessen the value ~sl { butter ; some are due to pastures Dolt being carefully cleaned of weeds,, while others result from tainted milk which has come in contact with tbye soured wood of the vessels in which it, baa baen placed, and the " tallowy '? flavoar is, in some oases, due taster washing. A really good keeping but'er, of most exquisite aroma, may bo pr Ana d without any washing. privii d the cream be churned at f" low fn-iiigh temperature. Many of the eh )ic-fit brands of Danish b^tec j are n.ver washed at all; buLtoen they are churned at 48deg. to 50u!eg. Tho cube-shaped packing case is racomm^nded. These boxes, as a rale, are made to hold 56lbs of batter, nM are sometimes marked as containing that quantity, though the actua!, weight of the contents is really less I Very often the discrepancy is froai three to four pounds. Oheese caaee, too, are in some instances found to ba dibs short weight. The railway authorities in the Wellington district forward insulated tracks, provided wi h ice, more than 100 miles up the live and back twice weekly ; but tho factories interested take so little no 1 ice that the trucks are returned nearly empty, and the batter is for* waided in ordinary truoka on the off duyr]. Cool stores at several central places and ports are valuable aids to the industry. The following extract from the report of Mr Marshall, of ; VVaitara, may fitting conclude this article. "In contrasting the present condition of our dairy produce wifcfy a few years ago there is ample e\idence of great improvement."