424 



Water in Butter. 



[OCT., 



A proclamation was issued in the Natal Government Gazette 

 of August 1 6th, 1904, prohibiting the importation, directly or 

 indirectly, into the Colony of Natal of 



Pig-s^nTo°Natal swine from the United Kin S dom and from 

 the Continent of Europe, except under the 



following conditions, viz. : — Healthy swine may be allowed to land 



provided they are certified by a veterinary inspector or surgeon 



to have come from a district guaranteed to have been free from 



swine fever for a period of six months prior to the issue of such 



certificate, and from a farm guaranteed to have been free from 



swine fever for a period of two years from the same date, 



and to be free from disease at the time of embarkation, and 



that they are first passed by an officer of the Natal Veterinary 



Department. 



The amount of water in butter depends on a variety of 



circumstances, and when the subject was investigated by a 



„ Departmental Committee in 190 1-2 it was 



.Water in Butter. . ; ' , , . - 



shown that whilst creameries and lactones 



in the United Kingdom are generally able to prevent an exces- 

 sive quantity of moisture in their butter, difficulties arise, 

 especially in the case of small producers who do not possess 

 suitable buildings or modern appliances, and who are unable 

 to obtain a supply of sufficiently cold water in hot weather. 

 During the last two years the subject has attracted considerable 

 attention abroad, and standards have been fixed in several 

 countries besides our own. Various experiments have also been 

 conducted, and the results have been published with a view to 

 assist farmers to produce butter well within the statutory 

 requirements as regards moisture. An enquiry of this nature 

 was recently made by two experts at the Iowa Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, and the results obtained indicate that the 

 only conditions which materially influence the amount of 

 moisture in butter are the temperature, the thickness ,of the 

 cream, and the amount of churning. 



Three experiments were made to test the effect of tem- 

 perature. Three separate lots of cream were ripened in a vat, 



