DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1919, Page 8

DAIRY INDUSTRY.

CONFERENCE AT MOTimQA. MANAGERS AND DAIRY STAFF. SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION " ( GATHERED. Conferences 1 that cannot fail to have a ; beneficial effect regarding the manufacture of butter and cheeso have taken place this week at the grading stores at Patea and Moturoa between dairy factory managers of Taranaki and officers of the Dairy Division. The conference at Moturoa took place yesterday, and was attended by about 40 dairy factory managers from all parts of North Taranaki, and also from South Taranaki, among those from the latter being Mr Farley, general manager of the Kaupokonui Dairy Factory. There were also present Messrs D. Cuddie, Director of the Dairy Division, H. M. Singleton, Assistant Dairy Commissioner, and C. C. Robertson, W. Grant, C. Stevenson, J. Pederson, F. Thomson, N. Fulton, members of the Dairy Staff. i At the commencement, Mr. Cuddie expressed his pleasure that the Factory I Managers' Association had arranged the conference, which was the first that had been held at Moturoa under the auspices of the Association. It was unquestionably a move in the right direction, as it gave managers an opportunity of comparing their produce with that of other factories. The Association appeared to be a power for good. He approved of the idea of forming Provincial Associations, which were able to deal with local matters, leaving the settlement of the larger questions to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Association. One of the main activities of the Dairy Division was the grading of dairy produce for export, which called for great attention on their part, because the decision of the grader not only fixed the price the owner received for his produce, but also made the manager responsible for any defect that existed in the produce. He was, however, satisfied that the graders realised their responsibility and endeavored as far as possible to be fair bothto the producer and the buyer.

VALUE OF COMPARISONS. In many cases he thought that managers were sometimes at a loss to follow the decisions of the grader. They could not understand why their grade was so low, and when they had taken pains to avoid faults that had been pointed out in the grade note, were sometimes further afield than ever. In this connection these conferences would be of benefit to the manager's, and he was of opinion that if managers could come to the grading stores more frequently, they would be in a better position to correct any irregularities. The graders, he said, would only be too pleased to see the managers at the grading stores at any time. A manager was placed at a great disadvantage if lie only had the produce on his own shelves to examine, because after nil most judging was done by comparison. He took it that was the object of the conference.

They had good samples of butter and cheese to show them, and they would then be able themselves to follow the decisions of the graders by comparing the various samples, and he invited tliem to freely criticise the decisions of the graders and, if necessary, to disagree with those decisions in order to clear up any pftint about which they were in doubt. The graders, lie assured them, would not mind criticism, as it would give them a chance of explaining why their decisions were given. He pointed out that they were indebted to the manager (Mr. Morrison) and staff for providing the facilities for holding the conference, as they had gone to considerable trouble. This company, he said, had done good work in connection with the storage of butter eince its inception. Until recently they bad been unable to cope with the cheest', and during the war time a large quantity had been stored in an unsuitable 'corrugated iron building, and had been I more or less damaged. The manager of (he works had had an anxious time, and 6o 100 had the Department, because they were supposed to represent the purchesers—the Imperial Government. During last season, the whole of the produce hail been placed in cool gtore, and held in good condition, with the result that in most cases the cheese had left Now Zealand in good order. He felt that though possibly the whole of the space provided would not be required each season, it would be (i great asset to the district in case of a cessation of shipping from any cause at any time. HANDLING OF CHEESE. Another question that he would like them to place before their directors was that of holding the cheese at the cool store for a longer period than was the case before the war. Then it was the aim of all to pack the cheese and ship it away as soon as possible, and even witli the time taken on the voyage homeitdid not arrive in the market in a sufficiently matured state. Dairy companies, he considered, would be well advised to hold their cheese for a couple of months prior to shipment, in order that it might develop a degree of maturity both new and on board ship. He had reason to know that the people at Home preferred the cheese to arrive in that condition, rather than in a condition when it was not sufficiently matured to place before the customer. This might cost the factories something, but dairy factories could no doubt easily arrange the finance if they decided to fall in with his suggestion. , Mr. A. F. Neilsen, secretary of the Provisional Association, extended a welcome to Mr Cuddle on behalf of the Association. Tlie conference, he said, would be of great benefit to the managers, and lie. was sure, to the dairy companio.-i also. * The members of the conference then Ulivided into various groups, and various samples of cheese and butter were com- [ pared and tested. The managers were keenly interested in the work, and numerous questions were asked and "explained by the members of the grading staff present, viz., Messrs C. C. Robertson, W. Grant, C. Stevenson, J. Peterson, and F. Thomson. DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY. The conference then adjourned to luncheon at the Breakwater Hotel, after which a short toast list was discussed. Mr. E. Reeves (Mangatoki), President of the Provincial Association, presided. After "the King" had been honored, Mr A. F. Neilson proposed the toast of the Dairy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, and staff. In doing so he stressed the need of dairy factory directors taking more interest in the benefits to be. derived from the managers having such conferences with the Government ex«

.ports. The experience gained during the, ; morning waß an eye-opener to many of, ithe managers. The- same thing occurred' *at Patea. Indeed, he felt sure that if Mr Cuddie and his staff iiao. heard the appreciative remarks afterwards he ; would have felt compensated for the-jour-ney up from Wellington. Referring to "the probable development of the by-pro-ducts, Mr. Neflson said that the managers would have to lodk to the Depart- ■ ment for expert instruction. He hoped'' the Department would keep, this matter -in view. It was indeed really a Dominion matter, as increased production was .'necessary for the country, and to obtain this they must get all that was possible out of the milk. He hoped the present conference would be the forerunner of others. Mr. Cuddie, iu acknowledging the appreciative references, said that the stafi deserved them. The Department had ' been fortunate in it* staff, which had been recruited from the factory managers, so that the factory manager* of today were the dairy division of the future. He hoped that the Government would never depart from the policy of recruiting from the managers, who had been right through the industry. Regarding the growth of the industry and the development of its by-products, which he took to mean milk powder, ' sugar of milk, etc., the Government had sent Mr. Dempster away for the purpose of obtaining the fullest information, and though his full report was not yet to hand, he had sent some interesting in- ■ formation that spoke hopefully of the development of the milk powder industry, especially skim milk powder. Regarding sugar of milk, the position was not so good. During the war time there had been a great demand for sugar of milk, which had been used for manufacturing smoke screen, and contracts for 10,000,000 pounds had been let in America by the Imperial Government. Numerous factories for its manufacture had sprung up. Now that the war was over the demand had fallen off, and large stocks had accumulated in America, and could not be dispoesd of, even at a reduced price. Indeed, it was said that the market was so bad that if sugar of milk was manufactured in New 'Zealand the market could not be made any worse. For the immediate future, therefore, there was little prospect oE building sugar of milk factories on the scale talked of, though it might possibly pay for several companies to amalgamate and build a factory WORK OF THE MANAGERS. He had discussed the question of quality with the staff, and they were of the opinion that the factory managers wero doing good work. There were certainly minor faults, but taken on the whole he would congratulate the factory managers on the work done, and he hoped to see them do better work in the future. He believed they would if given the assistance they required. One of the weak points was the raw material. In order to maintain the quality they must go back to the farms from which inferior milk or cream is supplied. They must extend their instruction to the field. He believed they would do so in the near future, and if they succeeded, he was certain the managers would he able to turn out a high-class article with less difficulty than to-day. He was in sympathy with the managers in all their work, and considered that the dairy factories were fortunate in having as*managers so many men who took a keen interest in their work. After the toasts of the manager of the j works (Mr. Morrison), and the Press had been honored, those present were shown through the works by Mr Morrison.