FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 247, 24 February 1911, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

CASEIN MANUFACTURE. OF INTEREST TO DAIRY FARMERS. Considerable interest lias been excited amongst dairy farmers in Victoria over u^.proposal .emanating from a German firm for the establishment of a skim milk (Irving works for the ■manufacture |of casein. The oiler made to the dairy companies is to purchase all the skim milk available in Victoria for the purpose of producing casein for a period of ! three years. Casein is really the solid ot skim milk, being extracted and. reduced to a powder form by drying. It is used for a variety of purposes.' It makes a capital imitation of ivory; it can be .worked, u,m so as t0..100k, like Japanese fancy goods; it can take the place l of celluloid; and it can be utilised in the manufacture of paints and colors. The value of the substance has been on the increase for years, the supply being unequal to the demand. The chief manufacturers of casein are in Germany, but there arc also linns engaged' in the industry in England.- It is only during the last few years that the full utility of the substance has been realised. The companies are offered %d per gallon of loib for the skim milk, and the whey will be returned to the suppliers. It is claimed that this would still be of some value for the feeding of pigs, and, if mixed with pollard, would probably be found to be as profitable as, before. The German firm (Messrs Lehmahn and Voss, of Hamburg) undertake to pay for the erection of all buildings and plant and any labor necessary to produce the curd. It is thought that it will be necessary to erect '2B buildings, which will practically 'be factories for the extraction of casein from the milk. There would be one central factory, either at Camperdown or Warrnambool, for the drying of the casein. In addition to this, Messrs Lehmann and Voss undertake at the end of the three years for which they will enter into a contract to buy the skim milk from the dairying to sell their own factory buildings for 25 per cent, of their cost. For instance, if the erection of factories involves them in an expenditure of £20,000, they will be wiling to sell them for £SOOO. Their idea in doing this is that once the necessary works are properly started, the dairying companies ought to have them in their own hands. The- scheme has already been, submitted ' to. many farmers, and is bfing favorably received it is stated in a circular issued to suppliers that the quantity of milk received by the t.'olae Dairying Company for the year ended dune, 1910, was slightlv below 5.0110.000 gallons. Had the whole of the skim milk for that year been sold under the present oll'er, the Colac Company would have received C14,01i2. The miik companies are now canvassing the farmers in the district, inquiring whether they are willing to sell the whole or any portion of their supplies of skim milk for the term of three years at the price and on the terms stated by Messrs. Lehnnum and Voss. It is estimated that the enterprise , will increase the earnings of the Victorian dairy companies concerned by an aggregate of ,C 100,000 per annum, and the question the uiilk suppliers have to decide is whether it would be more profitable to use the skim milk for feeding pigs and calves or to sell it as suggested for the manufacture of casein. The same matter ha.s been brought under the notice of Dominion dairy fanners in one or two places.