398 Journal of Agriculture. [8 July, 1907. 



Butter Faking. 



A Bill regulating the sale of butter in the United Kingdom has passed 

 its second reading and gone into Committee in the House of Commons. 

 Although good and calculated to regulate the trade it contains a most 

 objectionable and dangerous clau.se. It provides that the water per- 

 centage in margarine and butter is not to exceed 16 per cent, of moisture 

 but butter imitations may have as much as 24 per cent. The adoption 

 of the latter provision will practically mean the legalization of milk-blended 

 butter and other like products. The Minister for Agriculture (Hon. 

 Geo. Swinburne, M.L.A.) has taken a deep and active interest in this sub- 

 ject and has secured the co-operation of all the States in the Common- 

 wealth and Xew Zealand with the view of having the objectionable clause 

 eliminated. 



Pure Foods Act. 



The Pure Foods Act came into operation on ist day of this year and 

 provides for a lower moisture content and smaller percentage of boric acid 

 than is employed for export. It must be conceded that this is a step in 

 the right direction ; although I do not consider myself competent to express 

 an opinion as to the effect of boric acid on the human system [ am quite 

 content to accept the assurance of Dr. Xorris, Chairman of the Board of 

 Health, that the less used the better. It is employed to prevent decom- 

 position ; digestion is a form of decomposition so if boric acid prevents 

 the one it must impair the other. 



I am well aware that butter containing up to .5 per cent, will keep 

 better than that which does not contain any or a fractional part of .5 per 

 cent, but a remedy lies in the adoption of a higher standard of clean- 

 liness right through at every stage during production and manufacture and 

 lower temperatures during transit of the produce to the consumer. Factory 

 managers would do well to aim in this direction in order to meet the re- 

 quirements of the period. 



The more frequent collection of cream is a matter which should have 

 the closest attention. Only yesterdav I was informed that a certain fac- 

 tory was .sending out collectors with testers, scales, and monev to buy the 

 cream, test it in quantities, large or small, at the farmers' doors and 

 pay them cash on the spot. The frequent collection of cream is a matter 

 of vital importance. In a climate such as ours it should be placed in 

 the hands of specialists such as factory managers who are provided with 

 refrigerating appliances to control the temperature and direct the subse- 

 quent fermentation so as to make the very most of it from a quality point 

 of view. Wherever a comprehensive scheme of cream collection has been 

 juit into operation, the improvement of quality has been marked. 



Essential Economies. 



In some parts of Victoria it is not uncommon to find cream-collecting 

 waggons employed bv different companies travelling along the same route. 

 It is the producer who has to pay for this duplication of service, and co- 

 operative companies are almost as great sinners in this respect as private 

 and proprietary firms. Surely a plan can be formulated wherebv pur- 

 chasers of cream may agree not to overlap each other's territory. 



Dairy Inspection and Experiments. 



Unfortunately little personal instruction in dairying could be provided 

 during the height of the season, but as soon as the rush was over graders 



