MILK VALUES.

Shannon News, 13 July 1928, Page 3

MILK VALUES.

(To the Editor). Sir,--r'have read with interest Mr Veale's V report and conclusions on the results obtained from the experiments carried out with the milk from Jersey, Ayrshire and Friesian cows for cheesemaking purposes. My excuse for writing is the great importance of this subject, not only to dairy farmers, but to everyone in this Dominion. In my opinion there i s nothing new in the results obtained. All who were at, all conversant with the subject were quite aware before that more cheese per lb. of butter-fat could be made from lowtesting milk, be it from Jersey, Ayrshire or any other breed of cattle, and the reason why. It is without doubt possible to retain rather more moisture in cheese containing less fat; in fact.it is necessary, without detriment to the body and texture of the cheese, but a correctly-made cheese manufactured from milk with a fat content, say of from 4.0 to 4.5, can also carry considerable moisture without injury. The experiment under discussion seems to have established the fact that the cheese made from Jersey milk was of better quality than that of the others, being of better flavour, and smoother and more meaty in body, until right at the end of the season, when the fat content had risen beyond that of milk likely to be used by mf factory for cheese-making. I would like to point out to dairy farmers and others that it behoves them to go a long way further into this''subject before condemning the breed of dairy cow that has made it possible for the dairying industry to reach its present proportions, in this Dominion. There is one point that seems to have been overlooked by Mr Veale and others who have written on the question, and that is, not the yield per pound of butter-fat, which is admittedly in favour of the low-testing milk, but 'the amount of cheese made from a given quantity. Taking 1000 lbs for the sake of convenience, and 1 per cent, difference in the fat content between the Jersey and Friesian, the Result will show very much in favour of the Jersey; lOOOlbs. milk, test 4.5, yield 2.5, gives us 451bs fat and 112.5 lbs of cheese; lOOlbs of milk,, test 3.5, yield 2.75, 351bs butter-fat, .96.25 cheese, a difference in favour of the higher testing milk, of 16.25. of cheese, at 9d per lb., worth 12s, To produce lOOOlbs. of milk per day, a farmer would-have to milk, say, 25 Friesians or 30 Jersey cows, which respective numbers would require the same acreage to feed them. To compensate for the extra five cows he'would receive 12s a day more. Further, a factory with an output of 300 tons of cheese per year, if dealing with high-testing milk, would require four vats, but if dealing with low-testing milk, would require Ave vats, which would mean greater cost for building, plant, fuel, wages, etc., to handle the extra seven or eight hundred gallons of milk daily. Another point which is frequently lost sight of, is the fact that no cheese factories handle Jersey milk exclusively, and I doubt if there is one cheese factory whose average test is higher than. 4.3 or 4.4 for cheesemaking, and from such milk a yield of from 2.6 to 2.7 can be obtained. Mi; Veale seems to make a strong point for high moisture content in export cheese. It is to be regretted that a portion of ,our cheese contains excessive moisture, in other words, is water-logged. This cheese is never a good quality, and do not like to think of the effect on our market' if all our cheese was of like make. Quality should be the first aim of everyone connected with the dairying, industry, starting at the farm, and ending at the consumer. It is unfortunately true that many boards of directors are short-sighted enough to insist on high yields before everything. This leads to water-logging and other practices, which are not in the best interests of the industry nor of those who indulge in them., I am sure if every cheese factory manager was instructed to work first and foremost for quality a big sigh of relief and thankfulnesswould go up. The good quality has carried, and always will carry, the poor stuff on its back, and is being held back in price and position as a consequence. Factory directors, think of your industry as a national one,-and not of the pay-out on paper, so den; to the hearts of suppliers. I do no; want to give the impression that I am at all antagonistic to Mr Veale. Quito the contrary. Mr Veale's work is of great value and assistance to dairy farmers and factory managers, and all who know him must respect his keenness and interest in his work, but with all due respect I think his conclusions are hasty, and that too much importance may be attaenod to his report, and in defeneo of the Jersey, a few points whieh seem to have been missed in favour of butter-fat could well bear publicity. Dairy farmers can continue for many years to use the Jersey strain without fear that the fat content of the whole supply of the factory will leach a point which will prove detrimental to cheese-making. I would like it understood that I have nothing against either Friesian or any other breed of cattle. Many high-class performers are found in most breeds, but for general quality as dairy cows the Jersey must be ranked first. —I am, etc.,

FACTORY MANAGER New Plymouth, July '7'