MANUFACTURES IN CASEIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1986, 5 June 1919, Page 1

MANUFACTURES IN CASEIN.

Birmingham lias developed an expensive trade in articles made from casein, which is a by-product of dairying. Casein is obtained in the form of powder from the Irish dairies, chemically treated and solidified, and is soid for working up into ail. sorts of articles, from buttons to artificial limbs. It issues from this factory in sheets and rods of varying thickness. The development of our dye industry lias made it possible to impart a rich diversity of colours to the material, and as British manufacturers have after patient experiment mastered the secret polishing it to a tine gleaming surface, its adaptability for conversion into nicknacks is almost unlimited. The output runs into hundreds of tons a week, .and manufacturers who began by tentatively buying half a hundredweight now order in four oi'ffivo ton lots. It is non-inflammable, and weight for weight is stronger than wood. Though less tractable than vulcanite, it carries a much liner polish. The utilisation of easein is a new industry in Britain. Before Hie war it was almost entirely in German hands. With supplies of raw material, British manufacturers went to work with such good will to overcome the technical difficulties that thoy are now sending forth in large quantities a groat variety of fancy goods. Casein is also being used for carriage and motor car lit tings, and is proving very useful as an insulator in aeroplane construction. The goods Birmingham is making are claimed to lie superior to anything Germany Ims produced. It took two years to make a business proposition of casein, the most difficult part of the problem being the development of the polishing plant.