A NEW INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 297, 8 May 1913, Page 6

A NEW INDUSTRY.

*> - MILK, , ..._-.. ... •j In has ..pepn.paid to industrial by-products, but, ftp','chemical .knowledge lias increased, once thought useless has been jjitydj to yield'up ? its : liiddeh wealth and become pro^t-'p^bdueing : . ; '• , ' , ■ ' • t-.i'..". Cojsidermg tlie the kffy industry iiri Ifew'"Zealand,'it'' is su -prising "thaT more attention hainot been given to,mJ4fc by-products* it being left to European countries to reap the penefjt,.-phij4 rr thousandß,of pounds are being annually' lost'" here. : As* the ■ 'Bomjnion is the country of the largest cheese factories in the world, it becomes evident tliafc ]t>je; a/nojfnt teria}' that could be treated at'one spot is la|ger, thanobtains in Europe,..where the (jheese factories,are, relatively small affairs. " Handicapped;; as Continental 'factories ire; by the fraialj;a|moanit : of' raw biat'erial , 'tfrey'can\fonV'dnienW'g%, ( they]are still able-to' Tha'^ufac'ture"'profitably sugar'bf fa'cit wlticlt slows : ; that jthe time.iis' to'Mt its stiafe-'-m'this feratmj business land turn waste into money. It is -gratifying to knoW'that'ati'attempt 4011 1 made to get this- share by the •tJrectiioii of a plant at Edendale to man•lffa'eltiire sugar of milk from whey, an estimated cost of £BBOO. - Sugar of milk, chemically termed"; la,c- ■ tose,j is, preparation ot foumanijsed milk for infant' and it afao enters largely. wto the manufacture of infants' and invalids* patent foodf There is a .large' and growing demand for it, and at present <ttie" --British 'market is supplied from German r, Holtynd and Denmark, where the raw material is not only,deaf, but.cannot b'e obtained in' such^larg(^<}usntitfe«V as 1h Njevv Zealand. Owing to this, sugar df. milk would be made here, exported ■tctjEngland, and Sold'at a<price at which the.. iCorttineiital" riianufacturers cannot afford to sell it.-In the manufacture of ■ Cheese, when themilk has been curdled ■ the whey is run off. This whey eontainsi I: sugar of milk and a small percentage of fcream. The larger factories ihi Ne,w>Zea-. land:now separate this cream andrmike it into first-class butter. Little is left in the whey then except sugar of milk, and at some factories most of this whey is run into the "river. The increasing demand for sugar of ! milk decided two chemists—Mr. E. Finlaysbn, of Christchurch, and Mr.'J. G. Neil, of Dunedin—to consider the advisability of starting works for the manufacture of sugar of milk in New Zealand. After an Inspection of all the , cheese districts of the Dominion, the Edendale-Wyndham district was found to be far superior to any other for this purpose, having such a combination of nilways, good roads, cheap coal, and •larger quantities of separated whey than can be found elsewhere in the world. The processes employed in America and on the Continent have been modified to suit local conditions as regards greatly increased quantities, and designs have been secured of an up-to-date milk sugar works, which will have four or five times the capacity of any existing works. Options have been secured over the output of whey of the Edendale, Brydone, Mataura Tsland, and Wvndham cheese factories, and it is the intention of Messrs. Neil and Finlayson to immediately proceed to form a companv to manufacture sugar of milk and other milk by-pro-duets. In terms of their agreement with the dairy factories, the companv has to be onen to public subscription to allow the Edendale-Wyndham milk suppliers to take up shares. Considering the thousands of pounds in the shape of sugar of milk that are being run into the Mntaura Tlivcr each year, it is to be linriwl that the industry will be successful in getting a start, as it means the employment of move labor ar-d more mniifY coming to New Zealand instead o f <>nw<r to our cmimercial competitors. — Otago Daily Times.