Notes on the Use of the Home Separator. 983 



NOTES ON THE USE OF THE HOME 

 SEPARATOR. 



By P .7. Carroll. 



Tlie private separator questiou has been uiucli discussed in the 

 past, both in the press and at factory managers' conferences, and 

 sometimes the criticism was favorable, but just as often otherwise. 

 A few people held a brief for the private separator, while those 

 against it were frequently misunderstood. The chief objection was 

 aimed at its introduction into districts where facilities already 

 existed for the treatment of the whole milk supply. In many places 

 not only is the home separator indispensable, but a ])erfect boon in 

 portions of Gippsland where the delivery of whole milk is impractic- 

 able, owing to bad roads and isolation. Under those conditions it 

 has been the means of development in localities that would otherwise 

 have remained unproductive. 



Those who were in a position to point out the disadvantages were 

 overwhelmed by the numbers of agents aud people who were 

 interested in the sale of machines, many of whom used specious means 

 to introduce them. No objection is taken to the home separator itself, 

 but to the consequences of its adoption and use. Having had it now 

 for a considerable time, we are in a position to judge of the results, 

 aud it cannot be denied but that the butter made from milk supply 

 factories is infinitely better. 



When the system expanded and dairying operations extended, 

 all the efforts put forward to keep up the standard quality of the 

 butter proved inadequate to cope with this rapid increase. Nobody 

 could gainsay the fact that we have been fortunate in the world's 

 market, in getting prices closely approaching top rates for this 

 class of butter, in fact, closer than could be obtained on the local 

 market. Increased competition, however, from Siberia, Argentina, 

 aud other new butter producing countries will tend to widen this 

 margin, until the making of butter below first grade will become 

 unprofitable. 



Influence on the Quality of Victorian Butter. 



The deterioration of the average quality of Victorian butter has 

 been talked of for a long time. As far back as 1900 the Exported 

 Products Board, appointed to inquire into this matter, made the 

 following comment on the influence of the growing use of the home 

 separator on the quality of Victorian butter: — 



" Foremost amongst the causes of deterioration is the use of the 

 home separator. The small separator used by the milk producer 

 himself on his farm is not in itself an evil. On the contrary, if 



