FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 247, 24 November 1909, Page 1

FARM AND DAIRY.

THE LINLEY PROCESS. The Linley process, which was adopted in the recent shipment of Queensland chilled meat by the Marathon to England, and which, has raised high hopes amongst meat exporters generally, is the outcome of a scries of experiments on hygienic principles by tlie patentee. The theory and the process may be described as follow: The animal, as he stands alive in the slaughter yard, is healthy, and its flcah is in a sterile condition. Immediately after it is killed, and as soon as the carcase is touched with the butchers' knife, infection takes place from the germ-laden atmosphere and everything with which it comes in contact, the temperature of the flesh and its composition forming an ideal base of attraction for bacilli of all sorts. The carcase having been prepared anu cleaned with all possible haste, the sides and quarters of beef are hung up in an insulated chamber, with plenty of airspace between them, the chamber having been perfectly sterilised previously, both by chemical and mechanical means. When the chamber lias been filled, the contents are subjected to a sterilising piocess by means of a powerful germicide. The temperature in the chamber is then gradually lowered to 32deg. Kali.; at which point it is maintained until the beef is placed on board ship. As the beef in cooling gives off a certain aii'.oi'nl of moisture, this is extracted, a,id the air is kept in a relatively dry atati. The ship's hold must be .similarly sterilised and prepared for the receptim of the beef, and on arrival in Lon- [ d.,n it is taken in charge by the Linley Company and placed in -similarly stcri'.i.ed cool chambers, ready to be put on tie London market. We understand that Mr. D. O. Slmte, Okoke road, Urenui, has sold his farm for £l4 per acre. Denmark is a country of small holding. In 1004 the statistics showed that of a total of 75,271 farms 73,200 were not more than 288 acres in size, and 70,0000 were under 200 acres. No fewer than 21,582 were from 24 to 48 acres in extent.

It is announced in the flazette that the maximum weight of any class of cereal or other agricultural produce contained in any one sack to be carried by the railway shall be 2001b. Any sack of any class of cereal or other agricultural produce containing a greater weight than 2001b shall be charged for at four times the ordinary rate of freight.

The Opumiko Dairy Company is now turning out 43 boxes of butter daily, as compared with 40 boxes at this time last year. The tests range from 3.3 to 4.2, the average being about 3.7. Mr. O'Dea (factory manager) and staff are turning out a good article, grading from 92'/ 2 to 93. The directors are installing a combined churn and butter-worker this season, ami are considering the advisability of installing a pasteuriser.

One supplier at a Taranaki factory was taking the phenomenal yield of 17701b of milk from a herd of 39 cows —a performance quite good enough for show purposes. Unfortunately, however, his test was only 2.3 (the standard (est j on which butter-fat is paid being 3.< i), so that the returns from this yield were considerably diminished. The creamery manager, as usual, came in for con s'iderablc bully-ragging Mi the hands of the supplier, who considered t-lis»t his sample was being doctored. One day the head factory manager ipaid a surprise visit to this creamery, accompanied by a Government official, and secured a sample of the milk, which again tested 2.3. As a result of this visit tli:- quantity of milk dropped to KlOOlli. whilst the test went up to 3.7. The question that is now puzzling the supplier is how such a quantity of water got iu Hie milk. It is quite possible that some water may have soaked in from the milk-cooler, as water is laid on to the milk-stand, but that would hardly account for such a quantity.

Tn his report to the Department ol Agriculture for the year Captain Young says:—''The successful results of tlie past, two years' work -have attracted much attention to the existing regulations, and a hope has been expressed that lhe lime lias now arrived for considerable modifications' or removal of these restrictions. This being so, I have carefully considered the whole situation, not only from a veterinary point of view, but also from a commercial aspect, and have lo report that, in my opinion (1) cases of blackleg will occur in Taranaki for years to come; (2) if vaccination were to cease at, the present time there would be an immediate recrudescence of the disease; (3) blackleg only exists in New Zealand at the present, time within a small area, but. if given facility would overrun the whole of the North' llsland in less than five years' time. This being the case, it is in the interests of tlie Taranaki farmer that vaccination should continue, and in the interests of the Dominion that a safe quarantine be maintained."