THE OIL CREAM TEST.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 270, 6 June 1888, Page 3

THE OIL CREAM TEST.

Tin-: testing of the butter-making quality of milk i^ a matter which lias alwa\.s been a dithculty in cieamei^ management, w hero the milk i^ bought <it a price coiie^pondiug to the percentage of cream it contain-. It i- no*" alwa\^ the milk that «hows the mo 4 el cam that will j ield the most butter. It i- the amount of " churnable fat " the milk contain^ w hich is- the true criterion of it.s \alue for butter-making purpose- 'We have been informed that some milk supplier- to the New Zealand Ftee/ing Compan\ V creimciie^ object to ha\e theii milk tested in the oidinary gla-.s tube-, and receive payment for it on the result thus obtained, and the objection i-qiutc fair in ea«e-. Milk which has been shaken and knocked aboutos enough roads oi in andout ofiailwa\ tiueks i- inaeondition b\ the time it iciche- the cieamery which pie\ent^ the lining of all the cieam it contain^, and thcictoiv t he oidin.ny tc-t in u-u i> under -uch chcum-tanoe- not a fair one. The, cieam -epaiator will extinct all the cie an, bat, the gla— tube will not show it, becau-e. owing to the treatment the milk ha- undei<^one,t he cictui \\ i'l not 1 i-e piopoi ly. This buintr -) w u would commend to the notice ot f.nm i- and the manaixer- of eieami-nesi met bo f of te tin^ milk foi piopoi tion of buttLi winch i» claimed to be -iniple and (juiek, and a -afo guide ppon which to ba^e the |)iioe to be paid for milk at the cieamery. Wehelie\e inthepiinciple ot pji^intr foi milk according to its leal \aluc to the butter maker : othoiwNo theie i- no cncoMir.gcment to a better '•j-tcm ot d-iii> management, either ns legauK impio\ement of bi'eed or increa-ed care and moie r x* ik 1 ou-- ticitmont of cow s. Among the methrds ])iopo-ed foi thu^dclei mining the \alue of milk, the -o-called oil te^t ha-; l)een piomiiKnt, and has abtraeted geneial inteic^t. The oil tcsl pro po-e 5 - to deteuninc onlj the ' Inn uahh fni of the milk oi cm cam, or it- equivalent in bull o , and riot •he total fa\ The piinciple of the to-- 1 ; i- \erv simple. A known bulk of the milk orccntn to be tested, so taken a-* fail ly to upie^cnt the whole amount, i~ placed in a g!a>- tube, which it till- about half full. This tube is secured in snmcsoit of machine b\ which it can be shaken lengthwise at a lapid rate until tho buttci come-. The tube is then placed in hot water until the butter is melted ; the melted fat or oil collects at the top <'u>d is thcie mca-uicd, and fiom ils bulk compaied with that of the cieam or milk taken, the yield of the latter in butter ib dc duced. Xumeious form<- of "o^-test chums" ha\e been demised, dilTeiing only in the manner inwhielitlie })rineiplo above explained is carried out. In America this plan of tc-t ing cream is now extensixely u-ed, and i.s found to be cry satisfactory.