THE AQBICULT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



91 



There is anothf-r phase of the subjtict, 

 and one that presents as pi-actical a sohition 

 of the difficulty as is lilcely to he found. 

 In onr best managed factories the niill< is 

 generally all good. The reason is that 

 the manager exercises a wise influence 

 over tlie producers. 



If milk is brought that is not up to the 

 mark, the fault is pointed out, and advice 

 given how to remedy it. Should the 

 cause be of such a nature as to render it 

 easily overcome, no excuse is taken after 

 the first warning, and the delivery of 

 such milk is promptly refused. If the 

 remedy is difficult to apply, more latitude 

 is given, advice and help are tendered, 

 and the same firmness is displayed in 

 dealing with the supplier. It is in such 

 firm supervision of the milk supply where 

 most o^ our factories score and succeed. 

 It is in the want of such safeguard, and, 

 necessarily, sure foundation, that so many 

 fail to make g@od butter. A good builder 

 makes a secure foundation before he 

 erects a structure that he wishes to last 

 long and reflect credit on him. So a 

 good manager or butter-maker has to take 

 similar precautions. Managers should 

 have full control in all matters pertaining 

 to the quality of the butter. The exercise 

 of such authority always demands the 

 greatest tact. It would be an easy matter 

 to make one's methods of dealing objec- 

 tionable, and drive the suppliers away. 

 Great changes for the better should be 

 brought about gradually in a factory. 



Suppliers should recognise that their 

 factory manager has to daily act as an 

 arbitrator in matters relating to their 

 welfare. First of all there is the relation- 

 ship between the shareholders of the 

 company and the milk suppliers to l)e 

 borne in mind. Then there is fair play 

 to be meted out between one supplier 

 and another. And the manager has to 

 protect his reputation by turning out a 

 good article. It is a delicate position to 

 fill well. In a few instances where full 

 control is given the necessary backbone is 

 wanting, proper authority is not exercised, 

 and the energies of the manager are some- 

 times misdirected, undue attention being 

 paid to certain branches of his work. 



The manager, in some cases, is always 

 to be found behind the butter-worker, 

 concentrating his main efforts to the 

 make, the build, the texture, and finish 



of his butter. Such points are all 

 necessary, and should receive their due 

 share of attention. But what is the good 

 of a butter perfectly made and got up if 

 it is wanting in bouquet and flavour ? 



Flavour is the great essential in good 

 butter. All the other points ■ texture, 

 salting, packing, colour, &c. — embrace 

 the condition of the butter, and can be 

 easily controlled and regulated. The 

 great desideratum is flavour. It is the 

 fineness of flavour that makes butter sell 

 at a shilling a pound, and it is the want 

 of it that causes an equally good butter 

 in other respects to bring only eightpence 

 in the same market. Any manager, there- 

 fore, who does not make the flavour his 

 chief study and object is not working in 

 the best direction. 



The greatest success attends those who 

 make the condition in which the raw 

 material, the milk or cream, reaches their 

 hands their first care. It does not follow 

 that they must always be present when 

 the milk is being received. Instructions 

 to those who take the milk should be 

 definite and pointed, and in large places 

 an occas onal visit to see that it is done 

 properly is generally sufficient. Suppliers 

 should not think that any hardships are 

 proposed to be laid upon them. The pro- 

 portion of careless suppliers that really 

 require looking after is smill, and it is 

 not fair that for the faults of those few 

 the quality of the produce belonging to 

 the great majority should be lowered. 



We have attained uniformity in in- 

 dividual factories, but in many the 

 standard is too low, owing principally to 

 want of strictness in looking after the 

 milk supply. Without a standard of 

 excellence in his mind the butter-maker 

 cannot tell what he is aiming for. Each 

 has an idea of what a perfect butter 

 should be, the same as everyone has a 

 diflEerent standard for cleanliness. What 

 one considers perfect another often thinks 

 far from perfect. 



A butter-maker who aims at rr-aking 

 the kind of butter that the customers like 

 the best, and are prepared to pay most 

 money for, cannot go far wrong. Never 

 mind catering for individual fancy, not 

 even your own. If your butter is to be 

 consumed in Melbourne, make it to suit 

 Melbourne customers. If for West 

 Australia or Cape Colony, make and pre- 



