FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 104, 31 May 1909, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

I CHEESE VERSUS BUTTER. > J n tlie course'of a. letter to the Ifa- , Ivor.! Star .incut the action of the K,ikaramea shareholders, in deciding to wind up their company and to float three new companies for the purpose of uiiiniifa.'jtui'iug cheese, Mr. Jacob. Marx says: "I will take the avcra >e of liivei-ilale. A'gaire, Uaidill' 'and Lo«garth for- 10111 5-G-7 and -8; the price, paid out aivc.ra,gcsabimt 11.07 pence. F«r the sarnie period Manga'toki pail out 10.07 pence, being one penny in favor of cheese. For l-lie three test year, estimating the present one (1900) as near as possible, Msngatoki pa.y» tor 1907-SI and -9 11.13 pence; the factories tioned average, as near as 1. can get it, 12.20 d, giving us a five-year period w ; lh one penny diU'eacnee for the present anil two past seasons of l%d. It is no,v for us to consider what Manga'toki farmers have to show for the difference. Every practical farmer will admit that it rcqiwos a.t least 17 per ?ent. of hci. fens per annum t'o make up deficiency in herds froiiu various' causes. To rear these on a cheese farm a certain extra percentage of new milk has to be kept back—one-eighth of a penny will probably be a reasonable computation. The factory balance-sheet is silent on tins. Agsiin, most one<roof cheese factories close down for some weeks hi winter; here the larger totter factory comes in, a? no matter how small t'ue quantity a market is' always there. Comparing Mangataki and Lowgartli, Mangttoki suppliers receive over a farthing extra by theiir winter facility. Again, dual plants generally deduct double for shares * from contributing staircliol'dere. Where faJr management obtains -the past year pigs ha.ve given twopence per lb on butter-fat supplied. This is not a guess, but actual fact; St is well recognised that whey is only < half feeding value as compared to s'kim milk. 'The returns I ha 1 ™ given show tiliat imp to the present llangaboki suppliers hawe received a price for butterfat which, supplemented l»y the additional advantages, places them ahead of ; the average of cheese suppliers. I have i written falilfe to slitow that there is an- : other side to the cheese question. ] Cheese may in the near future draw ' awwy from butter as; regards returns; in such case it will be for the com- 1 piinies affected to take the necessary 1 steals. But up, to date those supplying ' a faiHy managed butter factory have ! not lost a penny, let alone tlie vast ' sums we hear of." (

DAIRYING IN DENMARK. ADDRESS BY DAIRY COMMISSIONER. LESSONS FOR NEW ZEALAND DAIRYMEN.

At the daJry conference in connection with the Aticklamd Winter Show, the Dairy' Commissioner, Mi'. D. Cuddie. delivered an. instructive address before ai large gathering On tine atove suhject. Mi'. Cuddie, who was received with 'loud applause, commenced I>y painting out the lessons tlwtVcre to be learned through comparison with Danish methods. In Denmark the majority of the farmers owned their own land,'only a'lxmt one-fifteenth being on leasehold, and one of the most instructive chanters ih the history of agricultural progress was the rise of the dairying industry iit Denmark. One of the first tilings that struck a visitor was the close settlement; the whole country looked like one extended village. UP-TO-DATE MILK PRODUCTION. I

' Tire eondltous under whteh milking, was carried on were superior to those in New Zealand. Tlie utmost attention to details was observed, and at least 75 peT cent, of the dairy farmers cooled 'tlie milk during summer. When dairying commenced in Denmark tlie cattle 'were oi a. poor stamp, but to-day Denmark had one of the most useful breeds of dairy cows in the world, obtained by most careful selection and breeding. There were neatly 11,000 farmers, owning 190,000 cows, who had tlie milk reguiwly tested for butter-fat, and the ■testing associations had improved the 'yield of the com by 10001b of milk per cow per annum, or 401b of butter per iw. 1 TESTING ASSOCIATIONS RECOMMENDED.

He believed the time was not distant when testing associations would be 'formed in Now Zealand. If the Government could see it way to aillow him ' o undertake this work, he would be only too fflnd to do so. Ho had made a recommendation, and hoped to see something definite in future. NO HOME SEPARATION. There wiie no home separation ; n Denmark, and few creameries. Tire aretiv bulk of the produce, somctVihg 'like £11,000,000 worth .per annum, was made in, the dafrv factories. PASTEURISATION THE SECRET OE SUCCESS.

In point of 'equipment the factories im Denmark wore not ahead of Newi Zcnlivid except In 'pasteurising plant, ami the great reason why Danish butter, was' ahead was because, of pasteurisation. About 20 factories In Now Zealand ha'd established pasteurising plants, and Die hoped to see many more very shortly. He strongly recommended pasteurisation in every ease. The Danish people were just a little bit ahead of New Zealand in mating butter.

USE OF LIME RECOMMENDED. Lime waß used everywhere most extensively, and he strongly recommended l a. free* use of it in New Zealand.

No special secret "■starter" was used 1 for cream; the Danilsh people had no' trouble with tlie starter, simply ohfierviing scrupulous cleanliness. There was n- tendency in New Zealand to ripen cream at too low a. temperature. A* a general principle the temperature; should I>e between M and do degrees. THE UNIFORMITY QUESTION.

There were about 45 co-operative dairy companies belonging to one association, in: Denmark, and sending all the butter to one grading depot. The result was a. great uniformity in Wife butter. Th» sywt'cm would not be practicable in New Zealand, but the point to be learned was that, the keeping quality of butter was being continually tested. This was a matter that New Zealand 'dairy factories should take up.

SOME DISCUSSION. Tn answer to the chair-man. MVC'nddie said 'there was not a' dairy factory in DcTmuvik which was wol compelled by j law to pasteurise both cream and the i skimmed milk, exhaust atoaaiv Hpinj;' used for tlie skimmed milk, and direct steam for the cream. The pasteurisation of the skimmed milk was enforced, so as to lessen the risk of spreading tuberculosis, and the results' were certainly satisfctorv.

Tn reply to another question, Mr. Cwulip said that home separation was a. very debatable matter. It had to toe admitted that without home separation dairying could not be carried on in some' parts of New Zealand.