Dairy Industry.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 93, 24 May 1895, Page 3

Dairy Industry.

NOTES BY A MILK SUPPLIER.

Before the advent o£ separators, our •armers' wives were in the habit of making abound of butter from 17 to 201bs of milk in the winter, and from 23 to 28lbs in the summer. The separator was guaranteed to make at least onefifth more butler, or to lake one-filth le.-s milk to make one pound of butter. Now that factories are so, thickly scattered around us, wo are assured that a totally result is found. In summer, it is said, to take from 28 to 331bs to make the pound, while in the •winter 23lbs are required to produce the result. Either the separator does not do the work anticipated, or some mismanagement in the runuing of the factories causes this great difference. All farmei'3 uow are simply milk suppliers, and, as whether supplying a cooperative institution or a proprietory factory, Mhe result is the same —viz., " the farmer pays for all." It may be wise, now that the time is approaching to make arrangements for next year, to discuss the results which have been obtained during this last season. The last has been the first year in which the butter fat has been tHe guage of payment, as ascertained by the Babccck tester, and the results have been equally unsatisfactory to supplier arid proprietor: to the farmer, as the test has sfiown a far less percentage of fat than he had ever experienced ; to the proprietor, as the factories have been unable to show even that small amount of fat, and this in spite of the addition of salt and the presence of thjs inevitable quantity of water. The case of the farmer is, at first sight, likely to be of more interest, and a few facts as to the actions of the " Babcock " will be of interest. The test is taken from a " sample " which runs from a small spile hole in the bottom of the pipe, which connects the receiving can with the vat. As the milk runs through the pipe, the cream naturally rises to the top, leaving the heavier milk at the bottom, sq that the sample is naturally weaker than the bulk of the milk. This sample is placed in a bottle, and daily the same process is gone through, all the daily samples being mixed together. On testing days a small portion of these accumulated samples is taken and placed in the " Babcock," the butter shown being the percentage taken for the whole. This process is unfair to the farmer, as the sample so tested bears no reasonable proportion to the bulk. Suppose a farmer delivers daily 100 gallons of milk, which would in a week weigh 77001b5, thesample tested will weigh probably half an ounce, or one two-hundred and fifty-six-thousand four-hundredth part of the whole. No business man would purchase goods from such an infiniti'smal sample ; and agaho, the "Babcook" is a scientific instrument, aud requires most careful manipulation. The acid requires to be of a certain specific quantity, and the sample of a certain heat. Either of these not being strictly correct, the result would be untrue. Undoubtedly, everything being coirect, the " Babcock," as an instrument in farmers' use, would be invaluable to te3t the milk of individual cows, but a 3 a test of "bulk" milk-supplied to a factory, the thing is a delusio.i and a snare. If the milk be taken warm from the cow (as the morning milk is usually delivered) the test will probably be fairly correct; but when the milk is cold (as the night's milk is, with the cream more or'less set) a fair sample is an impossibility. It appears that if the milk stands, aud a film of creamskims over it, this will not dissolve with agitation, and on the milk entering the separator the pipes will get clogged, so tbafr that cream is lost to the factory, while the farmer loses it in his percentage, as the skim floats, and only poer milk goes through the hole. This state of the milk is quite sufficient to account for the poor tests and poor results of last season. The smallness of the sample and want of care in manipulating has caused many curious auomolies to be noticed. At one factory it was foupd that at least from five to seven per cent, of water could be added without affecting the result, and even when the water was omitted the result was lower than otherwise. In one authenticated case, six per cent. <*f water was unintentionally added for a fortnight, the test then running at 3.4. As soon as the water was omitted, the test went back to 3-2. Tests rise and fall without any apparent reason—the same cows, the same weather, the same grass, the same milkers, producing different results on different occasions. The night's sample, if separately tested, will show this variance ; while the morning's sample will remain the same. T-he remedy for this appears to be that farmers shall insist on the factory receiving and testing the milk twice a day. Separation will be performed for the factory's own sake, with probably much greater profit. It is found that in private factories, where separating is performed twice daily, none of these curious results are obtained, while the produce shows at least as well as under the old pan system. A great deal is just now being made of the aeration of the milk and want of cleanliness in milkers. These points are both of great importance, and can be well attended to without absurd persistence. The farmers must remember that they have as great an interest in supplying good milk as they had in keeping their old dairies and churns clean. The factory cannot make good butter without good milk ; bad milk means a poor price for butter, and ultimately a reduction in the price. Good milk can ojly be produced by placing much pure air through the milk as quickly as possible after it is drawn from the cow, and if allowed to stand before it is taken to the factory, it must be in pure air, uncontaminated with odours of pigstys or milking yards. If the farmers attend to these matters, they have a right to demand that on the part of the factory all use-

less expenses shall be curtailed, and that some better method of pnvment be adopted than has obtained this year. Farmeis must remember that where factories invest hundreds in the dairying trade, they have thousands at stake, and they have the right to dictate to the factory on matters of mutual benefit. If the factory is to give the terms on which it will receive milk, the farmers, by combination, can dictate the terms on which they will supply. As soon as the farmer recognises his position in the dairying trade, the price of milk will lise ; at the samo time the profits of the factory, whether co-operative or proprietory, will be enhanced, and Taranaki butter will take the position which nature has intended it to do in the English market.