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“ Butter was allowed to stand in contact with the two butter-boxes, and a third portion of same 
butter retained in a porcelain basin for six days. The butter in the two boxes did not appear to have any 
decidedly different flavour to that kept in the basin. 
“ There is a larger proportion of extract in the Richmond River Pine, and more tannin than in the 
New Zealand wood largely used for making butter-boxes. The extractive matter does not, however, 
appear to impart any taint, or to affect the butter in any way. The principal objection appears to be in 
the weight of the local wood. Perhaps the boxes may be made of thinner wood. The sample of local 
wood is much drier and has been more seasoned.” 
In August, 1905, the Minister for Agriculture, of Queensland, received a 
report from Mr. Thomson, Government Dairy Expert, on the allegations made in the 
Southern States that Queensland Pine (the same as our llichmond Diver or Hoop 
Pine) when used as boxes, tainted the butter. The report contains the following 
conclusions:—1. The charges against Queensland Pine for butter-boxes have been 
disproved by practical and scientific examination, and the results show that the Pine 
is admirably adapted for the export butter trade. 2. The practical tests carried out 
at the Queensland Meat Export Works, Pinkenba, were of great severity, and any 
weakness in the Pine would have been conveyed to the butter before the expiry of 
the investigation. 3. A searching examination of the export butter, conducted by 
the grading inspectors of the Department of Agriculture, has not revealed the 
slightest suspicion that the wood contains injurious properties. 4. The best results 
in the experiments were obtained from wood treated with paraffine wax and single 
parchment. 
In December of the same year the Sydney Morning Herald had the following 
statement — 
The controversy concerning the merits of Queensland Pine for butter-boxes still continues, and no 
practical progress has been made towards a settlement of the question. The authorities in Queensland 
declare that the Pine is eminently suitable, and that it does not impart any taint to the butter. On the 
other hand, factory managers and directors in New South Wales have stated that a taint in butter put up 
in this timber is common, while some butter men who buy in the Sydney market unhesitatingly reject 
butter which is so packed. It is, however, pretty well known that butter packed in Queensland Pine often 
opens without any taint, and some people in the ti'ade are beginning to believe that the real cause of the 
trouble is that the Pine on low-lying ground taints the article, while that on higher levels does not do 
any injury. A test was recently instituted by the chief Dairy Expert, and yesterday two boxes of butter 
were examined at the Government Cold Storage Depot in Pyrmont. These boxes were taken from the 
same churning at a Hunter River factory, one being of Queensland and the other of New Zealand timber. 
The butter was placed in cold storage for a time, and was taken out two days before the examination, so 
that it might be in about the same condition in which butter usually appears on the grocer’s counter. 
Yesterday the boxes were brought out with the outsides covered so that the wood could not be recognised. 
Mr. O’Callaghan and an expert in the trade then made a very careful examination, driving the trier down 
several times beside the wood and withdrawing samples. The butter was then turned out of the boxes, 
and again examined very carefully. Each of the experts detected a slight woody flavour in one box, but 
it could not be described as a taint, and was not sufficient to affect the sale of the butter. The box turned 
out to be that made of Queensland Pine, but the experts were satisfied that if both butters were offered for 
sale there would not be a hair’s difference in the price. So far as it goes the test proved that butter put 
up and kept under ordinary conditions in Queensland Pine was not depreciated in value; but whether this 
result can be safely taken as a guide to what would happen if large quantities were packed in this wood is 
problematical. 
The White Pine,” or “ Kaliikihea,” of New Zealand, largely used for butter 
packing, is known to "botanists as Podocarpus dacrydioides, A. Richard. 
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