DRIED MILK AND MILK SUGAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1918, Page 8

DRIED MILK AND MILK SUGAR.

DISCUSfc£D JJY AVJUiEA EALKI" COMPANY. In lti6 iannuuD .address to nappliias »i '.the AVarea Dairy factory,, Mr- 1 Bvaguss, ol directors -od' the coa|3>any, .spoke at some langth on flriadi j'.iailk .and sugar od milk, which jut jii-j .trading inueh attention in ilit JPaiaiaion I at present. Vie .directors liad attended I o. -meeting .called at Haw-era to .discuss ithe question, and Oie detailed what had [been done axt that meeftiing, -stating ihfli ■dairy companies would ibe 'expected is contribute towards the -cost of obtaining information, jm> rata, according do their output, and :as the j)oasibilit'ie= in we iwo processes were so great, fewaf any, chould ideclLne to contribute, <esp°:ar.lly ■as the cost to individual factories woaldi be so ismall. One penny on the crstc of. ■cheese, w its equivalent in iliuttci maim- : •factured .in Taranaki ■would jiroducej £2OOO. ¥ery little reliable information ,irns ava'ilaible, Ibut -what was known Bhowed that -aft the present time Tery ilarge jeturns were 'being made out of' ;£he inianirjacturc'-of either product. Asi t, ".'.cry large supply of coal was re-| ■quired :and the collecting of the whole'! milk in ihe .case of dried milk, or of' wliey in rfche case .of sugar oi milk, would necEßsitate the use of a large mumuer -of lorries, it was unlikely that Bifher process could ibe adopted in .scattered districts away from a. railway. Still, if dried milk were largely produced all ever the world, where circumstances were favorable, the make of cheese would largely diminish and that pf tatter increase, the effect being to raise the price of cheese. When dried milk was manufactured; tie whole milk was collected and carted to a central factory, .and the -existing factories went put of use. With sugar of milk extracted from the whey after the cheese was made, the factories wonld continue in use, and as the -whey could be reduced to 40 per cent, by evaporation before ieing sent to the central factory, this would he a nig consideration as regards cartage. At the lowest estimate 2y 2 lb of milk sugar, worth at the present time 7s per pound, could be extracted from 1001b of whey. This, on the present supply of 7,000,0001b of milk, realising 5,930,000 of whey, would give 148,7501b of milg sugar, worth, at 7s per pound, £52,0fi0. This would give a gloss value equal to 3s 4Jd on butterfat, in addition to the Is BJd for cheese. Before the war, milk sugar was 7s. Assuming that it dropped to 2s, tbe gross retlurn would be equal to rather more than lljd per pound but-ter-fat. Little information was so far available as to the cost of production, but he estimated that as it took one ton of coal to evaporate four tons of whey producing 2231b of sugar, at .€3 per' ton, that would cost 3 1 / 4 : d. Depreciation in local plant, carting whey, and extra labor would bring the total cost at the local factory in round figures to Sd per pound. The cost at the central factory was uncertain, but at the same figure the total cost ot production would be not quite lOd. If this estimate was anything like correct, an assured price of 2s per pound for milk sugar would be needed to add lid in payment for butter-fat, but no reliable conclusion could yet be arrived at. ' After a very brief discussion, in I which some members considered that rm- ! less there was a direct benefit to be deI rived, the company should not incur any j expense, the chairman moved that the r'Warea Company was prepared to pay its • ■quota, towards the cost of obtaining in- | formation regarding sugar of milk and I dried milk. I Mr. Lawn seconded, and the resolution j war carried by a slight majority.