FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 267, 21 March 1911, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY

I RAPID DELIVERY OF PERISHABLE [ PRODUCTS. \ HOW IRISH FARM STUFFS ARE j TREATED. It may prove of interest to those in- | terestcd in the dairy industry to knowhow the produce of their Irish brother farmer is put on the market, and the following extract from an Irish periodical . will probably not come amiss:— ■ f In an age of rapid travel, where quick f and punctual delivery of goods is im- , port-ant, «s the present, when our coni tinental and colonial rivals are paying j the utmost attention to the rapid delivf ery of their produce, and the Govern- ; ments of some countries are even sub- ) sidling shipping companies to conquer ] distance in the shortest time to the exi elusion of other considerations, it is . pleasing and important to observe that . at home we have some very enterprising [ carrying companies who devote close att - tention to the collection and delivery of i perishable produce. The Great Western ; J Railway Co. of England, who, since the . opening of their new route (Fishguard to J Rosslare) have made wonderful strides to [.cater in an admirable manner for the ; collection, rapid despatch and early de- [ livery of goods, perishable and otherwise, [ to the various purchasers. To realise the enormity of their tratlic in dairy produce by this route, one must witness the ( loading and unloading of their steamers to see the tons of stuff that they handle. Their arrangements both at, Rosslare and Fishguard" for handling goods are indeed surprising, not alone from the point of view of rapid handling, but the absolute safety with which hundreds of parcels and packages of all sorts are handled. The piers at each side are covered with spacious, clean and wellventilated sheds, the steamers come alongside the sheds, and the goods are lifted by huge electric cranes from the steamers into the sheds or to doors of waggons, into which the various parcels are carefully placed in a well-organised manner for delivery "en route" without further as.-ortment. The large staff held in readiness at each pier to handle traffic , shows how much alive the G.W. Railway are to the importance of quick and safe transit. In keeping with this praiseworthy organisation of traffic, it is necessary to mention one of the oldest organisers of the G.W. Railway traffic (\.\: W. ISeddoes), who is the' English representative of the company and who gives his personal attention to the delivery of goods along the line from the PRODUCER IN IRELAND TO GROCER IN GREAT BRITAIN. His deep interest in developing traffic is as well-known to many of the cooperative societies throughout the South of Ireland as it is to those in Great Britain, to whom he introduces much of Ireland's produce in food dainties. A few words as to the service. There are two

huge express turbine steamers each way each week day, with Sunday sailings for the conveyance of perishable traffic. The journey from Rosslarc to Fishguard (02 miles) is covered in 'J% hours, and within a short time of arrival the goods and passengers are speeding on their way at some some seventy miles per hour to their various destinations. Goods, parcels, cream, butter, pork, eggs, etc., put on rail at Irish stations each, evening are delivered at different towns in England and Wales next morning before many of the inhabitants have arisen from their slumbers. That is, of course, for goods consigned by passenger trains. Traffic by goods trains would be delivered the same evening or next morning, according to distance. When one thinks of this marvellous organisation of continuous traffic from centres in Ireland, such as Dublin, Tuam, Ennis, Limerick, Tralee, Cork, Tipperary, Clowmel, Thurles, Kilkenny, Wieklow, etc., to centres in England and Wales, such as Swansea, Neath, Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Birmingham and London, and other numerous centres, and, of course, all intermediate stations, will be seen the thought devoted to so extensive a business as the carrying arrangements of the G.W. Railway. The same applies to all goods sent in the opposite directions. The week-day arrangements are very complete, but Sunday traffic is not neglected, as a special steamer conveys all the goods collected on the Saturday trains running to the Rosslare pier, and arriving after the night express leaves witn passengers. RAPE-FEEDING: AN IMPORTANT POINT. As there appears to be some misunderstanding, and a diversity of opinion amongst dairy farmers in the country a* to the advisableness or otherwise of fceding'milch cows on rape, Mr. Watson, secretary to the Ashburton Dairy Company, wrote to Mr. Cuddie, Dairy Commissioner, on the question, and asked if any experiments in the past had proved that pasteurisation of cream eliminated the bad flavor arising from rape feeding (says the Ashburton Guardian). The following reply has been received from Mr. Cuddie:—"ln reply to your letter of the 13th inst., I may say that rape is not considered a suitable food for dairy cows, and your company would be well advised to notify the suppliers that milk or cream from cows that are fed on rape cannot be received. The milk, as well as the cream, will become badly tainted with feed of this nature, and pasteurising the cream will not eliminate it. If this practice is persisted in, complaints are sure to be made regarding the quality of the butter. While it may be considered a suitable food for dry cattle or for sheep, something that will not taint the milk should be used for dairy cows. So far as we are aware no experiments have proved that pasteurisation will enable the manufacture of a good butter from milk or cream that has been tainted in this way."