TEE AGRICULT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



555 



and the consolidated gases expand and 

 give off an offensive odour, and such 

 milk usually sours very rapidly. But, as 

 I have already pointed out, all this can be 

 avoided by proper aeration and strict ad- 

 herence to absolute cleanliness. It will 

 also be as well to remember that all aera- 

 tion of milk must be done in as pure an 

 atmosphere as possible. This is olivious, 

 for when milk is exposed in a thin film 

 (as it would be in passing over an aerator), 

 the whole of the milk comes in contact 

 with the air, and if that air is vitiated, 

 that benefit derived from aeration is, to a 

 great extent, depreciated. 



In the treatment of cream, directly it 

 comes from the separator, aeration would 

 prove most beneficial, but up to the 

 present I have not been able to secure a 

 suitable cream aerator for farm use. 



As I hope before long to be visiting 

 America and other leading Dairy centres, 

 I hope to meet with something suitable 

 for the use of Natal farmers. 



At the same time I have no hesitation 

 in stating that a good percentage of the 

 cream delivered to the Creameries could 

 arrive there in better condition, even 

 during the hot weather, if proper atten- 

 tion were paid to details, more supervision 

 given to the black labour employed, and, 

 above all things, strict cleanliness, which, 

 in my opinion, is the secret of success in 

 all Dairy woi'k. 



Another point in connection with the 

 Creameries is the opening up of a Model 

 Dairy Agency in Durban, through which 

 both Creameries should be able to find a 

 ready market for their products. That 

 this is a step in the right direction there 

 can be no doubt, and given efficient 

 management with abundant suppliers, 

 this new venture should be a decided 

 success. As this Dairy Agency has only 

 recently started, it would be premature 

 at this stage to pass any definite opinion 

 as to what its success in the future will 

 be, but I hope that such an enterprising 

 scheme will meet with the success it so 

 fully deserves. 



The Importation op Dairy Produce. 



The following figures give the different 

 amounts of Dairy Products imported into 

 the Colony during the years 1899 and 

 1900 :— 



1899. 1900. 



Quantity. Value. (Quantity. Value, 



lbs. £ lbs. £ 



Butter ...l,r,()l),177 67,684 2.253,829 lOr),!.^ 



Margarine 1,%,87() 2,941 2Gr),868 5,562 



Cheese ... 899,923 22,245 1,120,931 30,525 



On examining the above returns, the 

 importations of 190() show a somewhat 

 alarming increase over those for 1899. 

 This, I think, is due almost entirely to 

 the war, and also to the fact that in the 

 up-country districts, through the presence 

 of the Boers, farms were left deserted, a 

 large number of stock looted, and practi- 

 cally for about a year and a half hardly 

 any butter or cheese was made. There is 

 also another point which has to be taken 

 into consideration, and that is the demand 

 that has been created during the past two 

 years for the sale of Pasteurized milk. 



Approximately during the years 1899 

 and 1900, 310,563 galls, of milk have been 

 sent to the towns and military hospitals, 

 and if the above quantity of milk had 

 been converted into butter, it would have 

 produced 124,225-2 lbs., assuming, as a 

 fair average for Natal, that it takes 2\ 

 gallons of milk to produce 1 lb. of butter. 

 Had, therefore, this amount of milk been 

 converted into butter, as it would have 

 been before the war broke out, consider- 

 able reductions would have to be made 

 from the amounts of imported butter con- 

 sumed in this Colony. 



There is also another fact which must 

 not be lost of, and that is, that in the re- 

 turns of imported butter, cheese, etc., 

 previously referred to, these figures do 

 not represent the amount of Dairy Pro- 

 ducts actually consumed in this Colony, as 

 the following table will show : — 



Imported Dairy Products Actually 

 Consumed in Natal. 



1899. 1900. 



Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value, 



lbs. £ lbs. £ 



Butler ...1,232,958 45,949 334,502 18,271 



Margarine 34,500 617 18,7M 450 



Cheese ... 311,943 7,918 108,769 3,926 



In perusing the above figures it will be 

 noticed that, although the quantities of 

 Dairy Products imported to bouth Africa 

 via Natal in 1900 (as shown by the first 

 table of figures) are considerably in excess 

 of those imported in 1899, yet the amounts 

 actually consumed in Natal in 1900 are 

 much less than those consumed in 1899. 

 Again reverting to the first table of 



