VALUE OF CASEIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1917, Page 2

VALUE OF CASEIN.

HAIR-COMBS FROM COWS MILK. DEMAXD CAXXOT UK FULFILLED. It is not generally realised tliat most of t!io hair-combs worn nowadays are the iiroduc't of the mw. They, with dozens of oilier ihings in everyday use, sncli ik handles of table-knives, buttons on our dollies, patent tonic mixtures for Hie building-up of (iie human nerves, brain and body, billiard 'balls, and almost every article which used to be made from ivory or bone, are made from casein, which in turn is extracted from cows' milk (writes the Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Sun). The extraction is done in Victoria, but at present the only use being made of casein here is in the form of glue in the manufacture of three-ply wood, The people handling casein have more orders than they can possibly hope to fill, and the price being paid to them for it is one of the surprises of the war. Ten or eleven years ago the name "casein" was one which a few scientists used among themselves, but since that time the use that has been made of the proteid of milk, which is the chemists' way of referring 'to the mattei, is only equalled by the progress of aviation. About five years ago casein first attracted attention in Australia. Then a Victorian and also a Xew South Wales firm awakened to the fact that there was money to be made from it, and they both opened up in the western district of this State. At that time the market price for casein was £2B a ton. The V.xtcrian firm kept going, but the New South Wales people closed down their factory at Warrnambool, and left the field to their rival. Today Victoria can sell all the casein it can produce, and the price is nearly three times higher than it was five years ago— £<SS to £.70 a ton. There are only two casein factories in this State, one being at Cauiperdown. and the other in Melbourne, but in a few months it is probable that there will be a dozen factories at work if arrangements that are being made now are completed. Casein is merely the nitrogenous matter of milk. Tt is extracted from skimmed milk by the use of acids, either sulphurio or acetic, which causes it to coagulate and sink to the bottom. After the casein lias been precipitated the whey, which is the liquid residue, is syphoned off whilst the curdy portion is preserved. That is pressed, and is finally divided by grinding and drying. After the casiin has dried it is granulated and the bulk of it sent away overseas, where there is an ever-increasing market for it. At the present time most of the .casein being produced is being lised in the manufacture of paper. It is casein that gives that fine white surface which is seen in the best qualities of writing paper. It takes the place of glue, and is said to <be far superior in every respect. It is also used as a varnish for certain kinds of paper, as an extremely line £loss may be obtained with it. Xext in importance is its use for buttons, knile-'han-dles and hair-combs.

Casein makes the best oi waterproof and hard-setting glues, niul in this form large, quantities are being made use oi at one of Melbourne's largest timber works in the manufacture of three-ply wood. At- that factory huge logs are fed into a machine, which peels them into strips, and the glue is used to stick the different qualities on to the back of some finely-polished timber having a veneer surface. For year; the obtaining of the right quality of glue for tills work held up the manufacture of ply woods, .but now that industry is firmly established. Even in biscuit-making casein is largely used as an ingredient having nutritious value. Most of the biain and nerve tonics are largely composed of casein. In the making of buttons the casein is treated with acids, and then moulded into the desired shape. Each factory whore the milk is separated collects the milk in vats, and the compressed curd is taken away on the spot. Then by a fast system of train or motor waggon delivery the deposit is taken to the"factory. The transit needs to be fast in hot weather, as the deposit will not always keip good. By the manufacture of casein the food value of the milk for calves is, of course, affected, but these factorie which deal in casein can ailord to pay the producer a:; much as 2'/;d per 11) of butter-fat more titan those that do not Therefore the dairy farmer stands to make a> big profit by dealing with those factories which go in foi the recovery of casein. At the same time it is stated that the food value taken out of the milk by the. casein manufacture can be replaced by the use of pollard, so that the young stock should not suffer. It is a mistake to think that the milk is robbed of all its food value, because the whey left behind after the casein process still contains a fair quantity of milk sugar, which is of high value to young stock.