594 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Aug. 2, 1920. 



butter exposed to the air in the factory may be infected in this way, as may 

 also the papers and boxes. To guard against this trouble, only thoroughly 

 seasoned boxes, absolutely free from any sign of mould, should be used. 



The papers should always be stored in a light, airy, dry room, and, where 

 wot papering of the boxes is carried on, they should be soaked in a strong 

 solution of boracic acid or formalin before being used. 



Any rotten timber about the factory should be removed and replaced by 

 sound timber. When any mould groAvth shows on the walls, under water 

 tank stages or on ceilings, it should be thoroughly scrubbed, and sprayed with 

 a strong formalin solution. If this does not stop the growth, boiling hot 

 lime should be applied frequently. 



Stacking large amounts of wood too near the factory is not to be recom- 

 mended, on account of the probable prevalence of mould growth amongst it, 

 and the danger of the spores of same being blown into the interior of the 

 factory, where they may set up an infection. 



Perhaps the safest method of all to overcome this trouble is to paraflBn 

 the inside of all boxes used, and, considering the increasing shortage of suit- 

 able timber required for box-makiyg, this method seems to be one that will 

 have to be universally adopted in the near future. 



" Woody " and " Oxidized." 



Both these flavours are noted principally oh the surface of butter, and 

 they need not be discussed at any great length although considerable 

 deterioration in quality has sometimes been caused by their presence, especi- 

 ally as regai'ds the former fault. 



Oxidized flavour is mostly associated with stored butter and is very 

 similar to tallowiness. It is probably due to the butter combining with 

 more oxygen from the air. 



The use of unseasoned and unsuitable timber in box-making contributes 

 to cause woody flavour in butter. 



Boxes made from wood which is green or which has a foreign smell, as 

 some of our timbers have, should not be used by factories for packing butter 

 unless specially treated, for the contents will soon absorb these smells and 

 also cause the part adjacent to the timber to have a very disagreeable 

 flavour, which, as time goes on, will gradually work further into the butter. 

 The use of paraffin in treatinc the inside of these boxes would help this 

 trouble to be overcome. 



This paper deals only with flavours in butter, but it should not be con- 

 cluded without mentioning texture, which is a most important factor, 

 influencing both the flavour and the keeping quality of butter. 



Every care may be taken with the cream on the farm and at the factory 

 in the endeavour to produce a good butter, but all will be rendered of no 

 avail if the importance of texture is lost sight of ; the necessity, among 

 other things, of using low temperatures in churning cannot, therefore, be too 

 strongly impressed on the buttermaker, for therein lies one of the chief 

 means of controlling the texture of butter. 



