lOTH June, 19 12.] Review of Dairying Season. 379 



Extreme care in manufacturing and low temperatures immediately after- 

 wards were expected to complete the precautions. The butter so made was 

 exported as well as being i)laced on the local market, but it never at any 

 time gave the same satisfaction to retailers, and lower prices had to be 

 accepted. The result of these experiments was so scattered and difficult 

 t(j collect to put in convincing form, that it was arranged to carry out a 

 iiew series on the widest lines. A circular was issued to all butter factories 

 asking them to make up from one churning two boxes of butter containing 

 lioric acid within the limit allowed under the Commerce Regulations and 

 by the authorities in Great Britain, and two boxes without any. One of 

 each set was shipped per R.M.S. Orama on the loth January last, and 

 examined in London on the 26th February. A cable was received reporting 

 the market value up to 8s. per cwt. in favour of butter with preservative. 

 Table A shows the difference in results between the butter containing boric 

 acid and butter without any, together with the composition of each. The 

 jiverage points scored by all the butters containing boric acid was 90, and 

 the average of the control samples 87.4, giving a difference of 2.6 points in 

 favour of the use of boric acid. The average boric acid contents was 

 0.183 per cent., and 0.003 per cent., in the control samples, due to a number 

 having been found to contain a small percentage. The average fat content 

 of the boric acid samples was 84.92 per cent., and of the control samples 

 85.65 per cent. ; moisture contents, 12.88 per cent, in the boric acid samples, 

 and 12.19 psr cent, in the control samples; salt, 1,16 per cent, in the boric 

 ocid samples, and 1.27 per cent, in the control samples; curd, 0.92 per cent, 

 in the boric acid samples, and 0.85 per cent, in the control samples. A 

 study of the.se results, which relate to 100 boxes of butter, besides proving 

 interesting, will provide food for reflection to those so inclined for months, 

 if not years, to come. All my spare time for the last month has been devoted 

 to it, and tables were taken out bearing on different aspects of the subject, 

 to see if any definite result or principle could be deduced other than the 

 jirimary one for which the test was made. For instance, the fourteen 

 brands showing the least average difference between the grading of B and 

 C, and the fourteen showing the greatest average difference. This table 

 involved the taking out and re-arranging of the full details of 56 of the 

 100 returns, and it was found that the butter to which the greatest per- 

 centage of boric acid was added showed least deterioration ; in other words, 

 the greatest difference between the scoring of the boric acid samples and 

 control samples. The butters showing the least difference contained rela- 

 tively a small percentage of boric acid, that is to say, butters which had 

 comparatively a small percentage of boric acid added to them deteriorated 

 to nearly the same extent as the control samples. Ten butters containing 

 the highest fat content were compared wdth ten showing the least fat content. 

 This involved taking out all details of 40 of the samples. Likewise, ten 

 with the highest moisture content and ten with the lowest moisture content 

 were compared. The same was done from a salt point of view, without, 

 however, eliciting data of much value. The curd, on the other hand, gave 

 positive results. The butters containing the highest percentage of curd 

 showed the largest variation in the score ; in other words, the control sample 

 deteriorated more in the case of butters found to contain a high percentage 

 of curd than they did with those having lower percentages. Finally, the ten 

 brands showing the highest boric acid content and ten showing the least 

 boric acid content were tabulated, and gave results confirming the first extract 

 relating to scores, viz., that there was less difference in the score between 

 the boric acid and control samples with those containing a low percentage 

 of boric acid than w\as the case with those containing the higher percentage. 

 {Concluded on fage 384.) 



