Tlll^ AOntCULTVUAL JOURnAL 



VicTOHiAN System. 

 IViiiaps it may be advisable lo i,nvc 



0. \j)erieuce6 here of obtaining tliis ripener 

 or ferment^ beeause it is very ol'ten found 

 that a .suecessful dairy system in a cool 

 climate is often the opposite in a hot one. 

 For instance, e.xperince has tanght us 

 that very little of the imported "ferment" 



1. - sound on its arrival here, as it will not 

 stand age and long carriage. It has 

 therefore been found necessary to make 

 our OM'n ri])ener just in a similar way to 

 what has been already described, but 

 with this slight difl!erence, that whereas 

 some of the European dairymen start 

 with a s-cientifically cultivated "ferment," 

 we start with a sound new milk instead 

 of skim milk, which in our climate often 

 becomes deteriorated before arriving at 

 that stage. However, mucli attention 

 has of late been given to the preparation 

 and use of cultivated ferments, and 

 doubtless in the near future we will be 

 able to send out for use pure cultures 

 that can be relied upon to give satisfac- 

 tion. 



When a manager wants to change his 

 starter his easiest and best plan is to ob- 

 tain a little buttermilk from an adjoining 

 factory making a first-class butter.' Then 

 the churning and the usual process of 

 manufacturing butter for market may be 

 adopted. Before finishing this subject, 

 it may be added that Messrs. A. N. Pear- 

 son and the dairy experts have for the 

 last four years been experimenting in 

 several of our factories, advising and 

 demonstrating to the managers this sys- 

 tem of butter-making, proving the 

 merits of the method when the butter 

 goes off flavour, and have succeeded in 

 curing the faulty cream coming from a 

 large number of creameries ; but from 

 some reason yet to be found out, the fac- 

 tory and creamery managers do not al- 

 ways keep the quality of the cream, after 

 being pasteurized, up to the required 

 standard. 



We have also frequently exported a 

 portion of the butter made at four of our 

 best factories, but, with the .exception of 

 one, it cannot be said that the prices ob- 

 tained have been as yet much above the 

 average price obtained for butter made 



in the usual way. Probably our hot 

 seasons ajid di'ied-up pastures, also long 

 distance of carriage of juilk from farm to 

 factory, may militate against the com- 

 plete success of this system being adopted 

 in Victoria. Still it is recommended, 

 were consumers' complaints al)0ut the 

 quality of the butter are numerous — and 

 there are few factories where such are not 

 rare — to make butter by this plan, in 

 order to overcome the difficulty. There 

 is no doubt that, as the system of pas- 

 teurizing becomes better understood by 

 managers, superior results will be 

 achieved ; and now that the method has 

 been given an impetus it is expected 

 most of the factories in the Colony will 

 be pasteurizing their outputs within 

 another season or so. 



CHEESE. 



Canadian-Cheddar Cheese. 



The unsatisfactory prices that have 

 been obtained in England for cheese dur- 

 ing the past two seasons have resulted in 

 our dairy farmers losing sight, to a very 

 large extent, of the importance of always 

 being ready, in the event of a sudden fall 

 in autumn in the value of butter, to con- 

 vert the greater part of the milk into 

 cheese. 



So long as prices for butter in London 

 continue remunerative, cheese-making 

 for export will be a neglected industry in 

 A'ietoria. P)ut prices are not always 

 going to remain as profitable for butter 

 as they have been during the past two 

 years. We have had three dry seasons 

 in succession in Victoria, and owing to 

 the scarcity of butter, the usual fall in 

 value at the end of each of the past 

 shipping seasons did not take place. But 

 we are not always going to have dry 

 seasons. Already there are indications 

 that the season 1898-9 is goinc;- to be the 

 best experienced since 1894-5, and should 

 the present favourable prospects con- 

 tinue, there will be a large supply oi 

 ,nilk next autumn. 



Do the proprietors of butter factories 

 realise what a heavy supply of autumn 

 milk means ? We are inclined to think 

 that they seldom give much thought to 

 the matter. Having passed through 



