554 



THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



or four hundred gallons of milk per day 

 have to be treated, with the possibility of 

 this amount being doubled, a large allow- 

 ance has to be ma le when calculating 

 out what amount of steam and refrigera- 

 tmg power would be required for the 

 purpose. As no such allowance was made 

 in the machinery ordered for the Natal 

 Creamery, it was, of course, to be ex- 

 pected that the Directors would find that, 

 in order to cope with an increasing busi- 

 ness, they must enlarge their premises 

 and largely increase their steam and 

 refrigerating power. It is satifactory to 

 know that these necessary alterations are 

 about to be made ; and it ij to be hoped, 

 with the experience of the past and also 

 with the knowledge now acquired as to 

 what the possibilities in the future in the 

 shape of supplies are likely to be, that 

 the new machinery will be sufficiently 

 powerful to deal with any contingency 

 that is likely to arise. In regard to the 

 Dairy plant, it is a difficult matter to de- 

 cide which articles are the most suitable 

 kinds to procure, as nearly every other man 

 competent to give an opinion will tell you 

 something different, one liking this kind 

 of churn and another that kind of worker, 

 until you are led to order what you think 

 best from your own practical experience. 

 But the fact remains that the Dairy plant 

 at the Nel's Rust Creamery, which is 

 almost identical with that in use at the 

 Natal Creamery, has given every satisfac- 

 tion, so much so that in all probability it 

 will be duplicated to cope with an in- 

 creasing business. 



I hope, that in the future, both 

 Creameries will receive more support 

 from the farmers than they have done in 

 the past, as I think sufficient proof is 

 forthcoming to show that it is better for 

 farmers to co-operate rather than to w^ork 

 on an individual basis. It is also as well 

 for farmers to remember that the work 

 ing expenses at any Creamery are 

 governed by the amount of supplies re- 

 ceived, and in order to reduce the work- 

 ing expenses at Ijoth Creameries to a 

 satisfactoi'y basis, it would be necessary to 

 double the supplies at present received. 

 There is also another point in which 

 farmers could very materially help in 

 placing this Creamery question beyond 

 the possibility of failure, and that is in 

 being very careful to deliver their raw 

 matefia), viz., cream and milk, in as sound 



a condition as possible. There seems to 

 be a prevailing idea amongst suppliers 

 that so long as the cream or milk reaches 

 the Creamery, no matter in what condi- 

 tion it arrrives, the Creamery will do the 

 rest, having refrigeration and modern ap- 

 pliances to work with. This, of course, is 

 quite an erroneous idea, as no amount of 

 skill, even when backed up by scientific 

 knowledge and modern appliances, can 

 possibly produce a first-class article out of 

 raw material that arrives in a tainted and 

 decomposed state. This being the case, it 

 is to be hoped that suppliers will do all 

 that lies in their power to deliver to both 

 Cre:mieries either cream or milk in as 

 perfect a condition as possible. Such a 

 condition, in the case of milk, can only 

 be brought about by paying strict atten- 

 tion to the cleanliness of the milking, 

 keeping all milk cans and pails sweet and 

 clean, and removing all sediment^and dirt 

 through proper straining, and by the 

 thorough cooling and aeration of the 

 milk. The majority of farmers in Natal 

 are familiar with the use of milk aerators, 

 or refrigerators, as they are sometimes 

 called, and understand the principles of 

 cooling and aerating milk ; but a great 

 many of the suppliers little realize the 

 bearing such treatment has on the keeping 

 qualities of the milk. I have often 

 noticed, on opening up cans of milk at 

 one of the Creameries, that the milk 

 has a warm tainted smell ; and it is at 

 once apparent that such milk has not 

 been aerated or cooled, and has been, in 

 many instances, badly strained and care- 

 lessly handled. When warm milk is 

 brought in from the kraal, and is imme- 

 diately placed in milk cans with close- 

 fitting lids, such milk usually arrives at 

 its destination in a more or less tainted 

 condition, or, if not actually tainted, its 

 keeping qualities are greatly impaired. 

 There is also rather a tendency amongst 

 suppliers of milk to think that, as long 

 as milk is placed in a cold room and kept 

 at a low temperature, all taints are by this 

 treatment removed and the keeping 

 qualities considerably improved. But 

 this is not the case, for unless the gaseous 

 or " cowy " odours in the milk are first 

 removed by aeration, th^y simply become 

 consolidated by reducing them to a low 

 temperature, and this refrigerated milk, 

 when it is delivered to the consumer, 

 comes in contact with a warm atmosphere 



