y,;4 Cornell University Library SF 227.C2 Progress in dairying .. 3 1924 003 043 258 New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y. Library PROGRESS IN DAIRYING EVIDEIf OE OF JAMES W. ROBERTSON COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND DAIRYING BEroRE THE SELECT ST^ISTDTIsra COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND COLONIZATION 1903 PRINTMD BY ORDER OF PARLIAMEST OTTAWA PRINTED BY S. E. DAWSON, PRINTER TO THS KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 1904 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003043258 CONTEISTTS PAGE, Progress in Dairying 5-36 Tile Scope of the Branch of the Commissioner C Co-operative Dairying in Prince Edward Island 7 Ontario and Quebec 7 Organization of Cold Storage Service 9 Grovernment Creameries in North-west Territories 9 The Cool Curing of Cheese 11 Illustration Cool Curing Rooms 13 Improved Transportation Facilities 17 The Prevention of Mould 20 Value of Co-operative Testing Associations 21 A Cow Census in Wisconsin and its Lessons 22 Lessons for Canadian Dairymen 27 The Cool Curing of Cheese 29-36 Central Cool Curing Eooms 30 The Saving of Shrinkage 33 Improvement in Quality 34 The Effect of a High Temperature on the Quality of Cheese 34 Mould on Cheese 34 The Cement Concrete Floor 35 Conclusions .• 35 -n , , JAMES W. ROBERTSOy PROGRESS IN DAIRYING. House of Commons, Committee Eoom 62, Wednesday, April 1, 1903. The Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization met here this day at 10 o'clock, a.m., Mr. Douglas, Chairman, presiding. Mr. J. W. Robertson, Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying, appeared be- fore the Committee and made the following statement: — Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, — It was my misfortune last year to be called to Eng- land and thus prevented from meeting the Committee and offering the customary in- formation regarding the work of the branch of the Department of Agriculture which is under my charge. The export commerce of this country in farm products is grow- ing very fast. The export of food products only from the farms has grown from $24,680,572 in 1890, to $80,705,184 in 1902. I do not know of a similar record in the growth of the commerce of any country. That does not reveal the whole increase in the production of food products from Canadian farms. There has been in that period a reduction in the number of people producing foods in Canada and a very substantial increase in the number of people consuming food products. There is the develop- ment of mining and its allied industries; there is the extension of lumbering and the establishment on a large scale of the wood pulp and paper businesses; there is the marvellous growth of domestic and export commerce and also of manufacturing, with a consequent increase in the population of the towns and cities; and there is a re- markable development and increase of traffic in railway and steamship transportation. In a word, there are more people consuming and fewer producing, per thousand of the population, and good times generally with their more generous consumption. Not- withstanding that, the Canadian farmers have produced the bulk of the foods for the people of the whole Dominion, and whereas they spared only, in round figures, $24,000,000 for export in 1890, they were able to spare over $80,000,000 for export *n 1902. Now that wonderful increase seems to me to be due to the advancement of education and organization among the farmers; and I am confident that the extension of these same two factors and means will bring about an equal advance in every department of Canadian national life. The farmers are making not merely sure progress, but swift progress. In three directions there has been this progress: in ability to manage the conditions that surround their business and to carry on its operations with skill; in intelligent understanding of the laws and forces of nature, which constitute and control some of these conditions; and in co-operation among themselves and with other interests and persons in the country, such as those of transportation and commerce. I am not going to speak at any length this morning on the meaning of these three qualities or capacities, viz., progress in ability, in intelligence and in co-operation, but they constitute education and I think, there is no other education worthy the name. I know it is supposed to be in the Canadian constitution somewhere that questions and matters of education are reserved exclusively to the provinces and provincial lesjis- latures, but I happen to be a living example of the action of at least one of the Dom- inion departments in promoting education, and to see the record of the results of that action in a large measure in the growth of the value of our food exports. 6 TEE COMMISSIONER OF-AQRiouiiTUnE AND DAIRYING ' .Ih^Wfis ahesip of ;£j)olisbiie3s ^brosd, if Imajf use that: wcwdia a paifliBinfeatajy coiDUHiJtte«<^ ;as to' the pieaaingof 'educaUon ' aad ,' educated person.'- If . you ;tak^ the uaeduoated— that is the bahy, belplese, ignqraat and selfisb-^you fiodtlje only marka of laek «f edueatiOu/ in; its. (helplessness,^ ignorance and selfishnesis. :Advaii?ement out of helplessness ; intto , ability, out of ignorance i^to , ^^telJig^l;lJ3e, atjd .out of selfishneia iiito coroperation for the public; :goodi means )?o(ili;progres8;in education. jNpt. by goiag so m^aay days to, gchool or taking/a course in college is education: gained, iut by: doiog the right things in the right' way at. the right time. The farmers are doing that, and therefote they are. causing gratifying progress in the development of the country.. The main difficulties they meet with generally are four in number. . There are the difficulties in the growing of crops. There are the difficulties in the maintenance of fertility. In France the people have managed to double. the yield of their crops per acre in forty years, while we in Canada have managed to cut the yield of our crops in half, per acre, in many ' places in l^e same time. We began with virgin Boil' and they began with a worn-out soil. ■ That is a striking eontrast as to methods of farm- manage- ment and the value of reEil education am&ng the VOrking farmers. Then there is the difficulty in keeping live stock' profitably, I will use that ch&rt -which you seia'on the wall, shortly, to illustrate that. Theii lastlyttere sire the. difficulties of preparing the products for markets. ' • ' " ' ■ ■ ■• ' '• ' ■ THE SCOPE OF THE BRANCH OF THE COMMISSIONER. In administering tbe brancb of the Department of Agriculture under my more immediate charge, we put the work into seven divisions — the division of live stock, the dairy division, the cold storage diyision, extension of markets division, the seed divi- sion, the fruit division, and the poultry division. Jlacli of tliese divisions has to do vpith some, of these four difficulties— crops, fertility, live stock, or preparing products for market— and each one needs to have more than, one capable man following the developments with care and skill. Some of the men need not merely to bring to their work accuracy, intensity and ability, but leisure time and a habit of meditation or reflection on what they have seen and learned, in order to see what might be done better. There is sometimes so much of a rush in the -wprk of administration that a man in the public service does not have sufficient quiet time to think. In every . nation's pro- gress the leaders must be men who have leisure to think, and to plan, as well aa merely to carry on the. administration of the department. This morning I now want to speak without much detail, on the progress in dairy- ing education. along some of its newer lines. Since the effort to improve dairying in Canada was first organized — it was first organized in a partial manner by voluntary associations of farmers and otherwise — but since it was first organized under the direct care of the provincial government in the province of Ontario in 1885, the ex- ports of cheese and butter have grown very rapidly and are growing steadily. Not by an accidental advance, but by steady evolution and progress in dairy work all over the Dominion. In 1886 the value of cheese and butter exported from Canada was, in round figures, $7,500,000. Ten years later it was $15,000,000 — double in ten years. That is since the beginning of organized effort on the part of the Ontario government. Then take the last. ten years, during which the work was more generally organized in the whole Dominion, and from 1892 to 1902 the increase in the value of exports was from $12,Y0O,O0a to $25,300,000— again double, even on that large .scale. There is another instance of growth equal to that; it is in the pork and bacon business, in which, before any systematic effort was mada tq put it on a rational, profitable basis, for and by the farmers, there was an export business of about $600,000 a year ; that was' in 1890. It had grown to $4,,'>00,000 in six years (1896)* and- then in six years more (1902) it had grown to $12,500,000 of exports. I hope you take in the meaning of these few figures; exports of bacon and hams worth a little over half a million of dollars in 1890; $4,500,000 in 1896, and $12,500,000 in 1902. When you hear a good deal: nbout the prosperity of Canada arising from the settlement of the North-west, do nOt be Hiisled'in iyour jalgiaeHtj'-' iheriprogresB bfJthiS'gT6&t-i)omiQioa haS iidt be^cfue to tlie piairiesxaS^yet/'bHt'-to-- tlie-fajfJiis-'^aMid' far«6e*& of the; other; 'the'older*ettliid'^rta oi^O&nwia:. Ala^gfe detelo^ktt yajrJwjaitfisii tiie prairies of thi Noi»tli-w68t-"l£it6t-oB., bttt justjyfetoup' progress "-i^d- i>iiospe*i'^'«i'e'seeniehfefly'ba thtj- ordinary -fanasoii -this tiifl'«Ji8tern-side of'the Great Lakes.' Lfetiiiegivfey6xi three- instances, because I WouM liketohaVe-the Committee join me' in Mifeviag' that the possibilities of development ia Uaiiada' are simply -iiniiintted in -this isoTt'of Work. •W^hav¬ come to the ea■ -r '■■> "-^--i- ■■■■'■' : ■ V'-ll ..*? '; CO-OpilBATlVE BAIRYINC IN HilNCE EDWARD ISLANO. ' Xhere are ^rtain places espefeiaUy adapted for certain industries. The province of ^Prince Edward Island is especially adapted 'for butter andi cheese, factories, but that.iusifflfiss-was going :^olsward*iojftiwaatiQf aKfarroatioji'TaBd edtieatton. -la J^ year 1892, with the; assistance of mon^y gJven by the Dominion government, I Started one pQ-Qperative cheese factory at New Eertli, iii Prince Edwardrlslatid. Thei machinery was loaned by the government. We sent an instructor to organize the tbusiness; and to arrange the locality into routes for the convenience of those supplying milk. We ran the factory as a government dairystation. -In ;the autumn of 1892 I took the liberty of exporting to Loiidon $3,600 worth of cheese manufactured at that station, and I can recall the remonstranees of sOme of the people against risking their cheese in any steamer. I got fault finding letters asking me why I did not sell the cheese at home or in Halifax. I had been in England and Jcnew something about the English market; and as I had insured the cheese for about 12 per cent more than it was worth, I felt easy on the subject. The cheese got to England, and was sold there for the top market price. Some of it indeed sold for sixpence per cwt. more. I angled for that sixpence and got it. Then, when the Island people knew that they had got sixpence per cwt. more for their cheese than was paid for any other Canadian cheese sold that day in London, it assured them that they could make fine cheese. That was the beginning of the export of cheese— to the value of $3,600. At the taking of the census in 1891 there were four cheese factories in Prince Edward Island, with an output worth $8,448 ; vyhen the census of 1901 was taken there wore 47 cheese and butter factories, with an output valued at $566,824. There is the result of organization and education. There has been no increase in the number of acres of land, and there has been but little increase in the number of cows kept. The change has been in the intelligent latour applied to the conditions. The people now run their own factories, and have repaid to the government every dollar that was lent to them. I don't say that you could do this with dairying everywhere, but it can be done anywhere where the locality is adapted for it. There is no part of agriculture that is not susceptible to the same kind of improvement. ONTARIO AND QUEBEC. Take another instance on a larger" scale. The province of Ontario is noted for the products of its cheese factories and creameries. It has made great advancement in quality and in quantity as between the two census periods 1891 and 1901. It in- creased the value of its output of butter and chee^ from factories hy over seven millions of dollars in ten years; that is to Say, the value of the output in 1901 was $7,136,965 more than the value of the output in 1891. The province of Quebec had not advanced so far in co-operative dairying; but a beginning had been made in organ- izing its cheese factories and creameries into syndicates. The syndicate was a group of cheese factories employing the services of a travelling instructor. In 1892 I had the pleasure and honour of helping to start a dairy school for the province of Quebec. I was a director of that school for some years, and the Depart;- 8 THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AWD DAIRYING ment of Agriculture at Ottawa authorized me, as Comimssioiier, to turn in: $3,000 a year of Federal money to help the. dairy school at St. Hyacinthe, Of course, I am: not a constitutional lawyer. I was not supposed to know, and I confess Ido not yet know,; that the constitution of the Dominion reserves all questions and matters of industrial or technical education to the legislatures of the several provinces. I was not well in- formed with regard to that particular part of the constitution, and I confess I did not care very much. The constitution of a country, like the constitution o£ a man, may be for the weal of the country ; and the weal of the country need never be subordinated for the sake of literal compliance with the phrases of its written constitution. 'The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the SaBbath.' So $3,000 a year of Federal money went to the province of Quebec to promote dairying and agriculture by means of education. We did not call it education. That might have been an unconscious skp at the constitution. We began by giving short courses in dairying. Some of the wiseacres said it was foolish to think of imparting any education "worthy of the name in a two weeks' course. However, we niade it a rule that Only students should be admitted who had worked for one year in a cheese factory or butter factory. We had neither the time nor the money to devote to- those floating atoms who, in an indefinite way, wanted a college educati:. ;-;. '.■.-;;. '•'; i' -.-v./-. ; Statement showing total amounts advanced as loans and as payments for apparatus and fitting up of different creameries operated by the Department of Agriculture in the North-west Territories ; also repayment^ of j-these advances. Crr^amery. ,y,- uiA:-'i.'y>ii Caa^^I<(>ftqs, -T*H ' A'dvBnde&t' Apparatus. , Amouhl;a .■•'•■•o£'=- Advanee.i; .., ^or« ,1902. Kppaid ■' ' in . 1902.' Aniountii due to . jj De{;>'artmeafc. i.;'S5'i i> J;fs Atetna :ge &" *r)oiigola. «; ^Tributanes.' Jhurcl Giiehf dl.,A . ... ,,. .. Innis{»ilJt *Tril?^t»ries. Mapla Creek. .."..":' .:':' ■ Moosejaw Mooaomin ^ Olds ...,..;.. Prince Albert and *I)uek Lake-... . ... Qu'App^lle. . Red Dfeer Begiha & *GraTen ... Saltcoats Saskatoon TindastoU & *Swan Lake. Wetaskiwin & *Tributanes WhitewoOd W'olseley & *MofFat Yorkton..... .^,.. ■ qoo 3,000 ' 4I560 '"750 ■r?; l.OOQ,: ''' ' $ ' cts. *r >' I. '. ., 277 33 ' ' 4,018 Ct 2;758 81 3,464 92 2,594 44 1,619 86 1,6B1 74 .2,558 61 1,2B2 14 ;.-,2f?06 19 ' 2,171 31 .d}739rl8: 1^21 74 3,7«e.93; 2,732 43. 2,962 21 2>4H 8afj ■" $ ' cts. 277 33 ^ 5,218 61 '3.464 m 7,094 44 1,619 86' 2,411 74 .:.*568 6l • ~ 1.262. 14 .iEa3JQ6.,J9:;, ■ m^ ..!!£,-729,l8j -s .ffi5t64 •: ' ^06' 48 '1,4217<' , 3,786i93, 2,732 43 2,962 21 '■■3,474 82 cts. f'^,19&70- . 3,464, 92 5,383 33 648 02 2,411 74 • 1,4.'!5 40 1,131 22- ,1.306 98 frii4t«1649 r,-JSl 64 ' '206 '48 - 1,42174 1,S52 88 2,732 43 912 73 >:t;2,474 82 i:ii /.■; ;;;. '1,676 '32' •<;^-' $ cts. 4,B'J3 11 130 66 70 80 147 27 104 63 1,711 11 1,071 84 i',i23'2i 130 92 2,47119 864 33, "iis .69 f 215 80 ,455 36 163 33 1,934 05., 2!oi9"48' 9,850 42,eJti-3o 62;474 30 36,436 ; 2,522 29 "16,037 93' ;''■"'* Skimming Station. "''^'' ■ '■-:'' ■ ■: ;. ■;r.'\ -:-.-•, "--i ^ ; «^^^^ -; - ■ - ..-., ...j.;, .. v. By Mr. Sproule:.^^^^ ^.^^, .. .- , ^s. oj... Q. Before taking up another subject I would like to ask for a little information upon one matter with which you have already dealt You said that 539,000 packages of butter were sent out of Canada, of which 525,000 packages were sent in, cold storage. Therefore there seemed to have been 13,000 boxes sent otherwise. Have you any fn- formation as to the amounts realized from that sent in cold storage as compared with that not sent in cold storage? . , ■ r^ ■ v, ,4-- A. Practically nobody ever, sends fine butter to Great Britainnot in 'cold stora^- bvit there is still some butter sent as ordinary freight,. low grade butter for which ship- pers are not willing to pay the extra freight charge for cold storage. Creamery butter going outside of cold storage in summer would not come within two cents a pound of the selling price of the same butter sent in cc>ld storage.- Some butter goes to New- foundland and the West Indies not in cold storage, ,..-,^„,, , .. ,v' due entirely to the adoption of this principle of rolling and harrowing aftej:. ILLUSTRATION COOL CUBING ROOMS. Since cool curing is desirable for cheese and gives the result in quality which the market wants, the question we have to as5 ourselves is what means should be adopted to get it in the cheapest and best way. The sub-earth air duct has been re- commended; it lets the air into the curing room through a duct underground and al- lows it to be cooled by passing through tiles in the earth. I had ducts like that in operation twenty years ago, in 1883. But few of the 3,000' odd cheese factories in Canada used any agent or appliance for the cooling of the curing rooms. The use of a cement floor sunken in the ground is another method of using the cooling power of the earth; the whole floor becomes a cooling agent. As far back as 1885 I used stone waUs and cement floors for curing rooms, and these gave a large extent of cooling surface; but the appearance of mould on the cheese prevented their usefulness. It is only of late years that the means have been discovered to prevent mould by the use of formalin and of paraffin wax to keep the surface or' rind, of the cheese clean. 'With these we can follow the practice of haying stone walls and CMuent floors sunken in the ground as cooling agents, and so can use this large surface of stone and cement without much expense. The jise of these niust become general in this Dominion; and I shall speak a little later of the. value of cement floors for cow stables. The want of eertient floors to keep the stables warm in winter has prevented the success and extension of winter dairying. When we have cement floors generally we shall have a large expansion of winter dairying in Canada. By the authority of the Minister of Agriculture it was decided to establish four experimental and illustration cool-curing rooms in Canada. In Ontario one was estab- lished at Brockville, which has the largest cheese board of any in Canada I think; another at Woodstock, a large railway and market centre for cheese in western On- tario. In Quebec we have them at Cowansville, the largest cheese board and market of Quebec, and at St. Hyacinthe, in the heart of the French-speaking country, where dairying is followed. These four centres were choseii and buildings 'were put up, pro- perly insulated and constructed so as to be object lessons. The capacity of each was 2,Y00 boxes of cheese on the shelves. We took in cheese from surrounding factories from the first of July to the end of September, altogether 26,531 boxes of cheese, from 37 cheese factories. The salesmen controlled the cheese themselves and sold them as they liked. We did not own the cheese as a department and had no control over them or their manufacture. We had simply charge of the curing of them, and charged the factories only the value of the difference between the shrinkage of weight of cool- cured cheese and cheese cured in the ordinary way. That was the only revenue we had, and it was for the last year $3,139.04. The saving in shrinkage of weight was 31,403 pounds on the 26,531 boxes of cheese which we handled. Mr. Euddick, chief of the dairy division, gives, in a report, details of the shrinkage, the methods of manage- ment and the practical part of the work generally. As I think the members of this Committee would be glad to see that incorporated as part of my evidence, I will, with your permission, put it in as an appendix to. to-day's evidence. By Mr. Cochrane .• , Q. Could that be applied to ordinary factories? A. Yes; I will speak in a moment about its being applied in ordinary factories. In our work we put aside from every factory once a week, or oftener, two cheese from tlie same batch ('batch' is the term used to designate all the cheese from one vat of miIlc);so that the oheese were exactly alike in quality before the curing process began. In every instance one of these cheese was put in the cool-curing r^om and the other, its mate, in the ordinary curing room. We. had altogether 450 pairs of cheese lilie li- THE C0MMI8SI0NEB OT AGRICULTimtr AND DAIRYING tKat. We had '.the» examined by cheese ©lafcef^, by iHetohantS! fram'-MoQteeal^aiid elsewhere, by myself aad: by experts. j anid'in no single casfej was the cheese otfred in ^e' warm ordinary curing rooms as good in quality/ ^asgoddi-in flsmAir 'or bodyiak itst mate which was cured in the cool-curing rooms. Of these 450 pairs examined last year, in nearly every case these cool-cured cheese were decidedly betfef thin their mates cured in the ordinary way. These cheese were made by ordinary cheese; makers ill ordiqai-y, factories, and in, erery, instance the„r^sults in quality were sub?,tantially better from tiie cool-curing rooms.than by ,1;he ordinary jnethod, Mr. Ruddipk's paper gives the details o£ the dili'ercnce in temperatijres, Q. What is the difference .i]fl, the tyne. of curing ?/ ..., A. About a. week longer ip the cool rqqm to bring the cheese to what is palled l;he, breakdown stage; not more than that, at a temperature between 54° and 58% as against .. a temperature ranging from 60° to 80°, in the ordinary curing rooms. Oiit of these four cool-curing roqnis ther^ ;(Y6'^P:S9M 500 .lots of cheese by the salespien, .week;^ by we^k... Last. season ,was,a ^particularly .favoarable. year for cheeset-making, but I heard of only four lots that were compliuned of by, the buyei;s as bein^g fit alL inferior; ^nd:, the inferior quality was not due to the curing of the cheese, but arose from other causes. These cheese were sent to England through the usual .channels of commerce, and the English salesmen said that the cool-cured cheese were substantially better and sold for higher prices than lots curMuhder'tfie ordinary conditions. WS foTlowwl up some of the different lots to the other feidej' to the English markets. '"We had only one little slip that I want to explain. We were late iii the season in' being rfendy to' start the cool-curing rooms^ and some of the cheese got a little mouldy tefore we could correct it; and' some of our patrons thought that was 'gOlng to do a lot of harm. At St. Hyacinthe, where we iiad more moulded th^n usual, owing to the lumber being perhaps a little green and the floor not quite dry, the cheese buyers who bought the cheese one Week docked the price of the cheese on delivery lialf a cent a pound. The cheese buyer of course will take every chance he gets to dock the price of the cheeke; that is his business. I do not say it is dishonest; the buyer evidently countk it a- legitimate part of his business in buying cheese to dock the price if he can. But in the case of those St. Hyacinthe cheese which were slightly moulded it^was unfair dock- ing; the buyers took an unfair advantage of the salesman. The reason I say that is because I had a man go to the warehouses in Montreal the next day and try to get tliese cheese back at the full price for whieh^they were first purchased, and the buyers would not give them up. We got hold of one lot that was docked; it afterwards brought the full price of finest cheese. It was made in July? and the cheese were sold in Glasgow in December, for a price equal to September cheese — 63 shillings per cwt; and they were bought at first from the salesman at St. Hyacinthe at 9J cents. I cannot make it too plain, that this little trick of getting after the cheese makers and upon un- warranted pretexts docking the price of cheese has done the trade much harm. As far as we could manage it we stopped it last year. The statement I have made shows the result in one instance.- By Mr. Cochrane: Q. Where was your government inspector? Have you not a government in- spector? ' A. We had an official referee at Montreal, but this salesman ct St Hyacinthe accepted the buyer's gtatfement of conditions before he knew all the circumstances. I- can only give the Committee one or two words more on this subject. We have been' striving: also to have the cheese: sent from Canada boxed iw better boxes, so as to be delivered in England with fewer breakages. Part of the expenses .at the illustration cooUcuring rooms was due to the fact that we paid more for cheese boxes than the ordinary prices. Our patrons objected to paying more than the usual figure for the ordinary cheese boxes; so the difference was charged to our department. ■ We paidi $501 more for boxes last year, which represents the- difference between whkt the extra^i stroBgiboxes Bt a igeiierilidesir© i«r b«ttec b^JteSjiin orj^eritbat ^ our c^eeia^ way-bo kaded.ini^^gla^d ',:iji jb^tor cOndition.r ; i By MnMcSwen: ; Q. What do these cheese ba»B3 bost? '' • ■ A. They cost us 15 cents each in 'soine cases ; and' this year we are going to use a - still- stronger box, to see' if it prodttcesstiH- better results, because the additional cost" of the box is a mere bagatelle in comparison with probably' two shillings'' more per cwt. on the other side for the cheese. We Tpoiinrd in Some cases that as marry as 40- i>er Cent of the cheese boxfes' ex some cargoes at Bristol Were bi'bkenwheii taken' out of the ship, in large carg'Oes of over 7,000 boxes each. ■ '' ' • ^ The average ctist of - running these four illust'tation curing rooms, including those things I have told you, w'as $1,862 each; thit was for maintenance for- the year; and that includes all the- ediic'ationar work w^ aiis doihgthis winter by the four superinteri- dents travelling around kttending the farmers' nieetings. 'By Mt- Cochrane: ■, ■ ' Q. That was the .cost of maintenance, but npt of the building? A. Yea, that was the cqstjOfi maintenance, In Oanada we qiake practically three- fourths of the cheese in JuEie, July and August, that is. during the hot weather, nionths. If we get. all these cheese cured ^t ailow teniperature, we can put on the market in July, August and September, not a whole lot of hot flavoured and ill con-_ ditioned cheese, which act like a drag on the market, but good quality of mild qheese. . We can give the English eonsumer a cheese which he wants and a cheese for which, if we keep up the quality, there .will be a deniand that will keep pace with any possible production during, the next,^n years. We can always find a saf^ market if we give to the consumer the article he wants; and, as I have shown you, the cost of obtaining . this excellence from cool-curing is not very great. By Mr. Kendall: Q. A few years ago it was said that we had, comparatLvely speaking, reached, the limit of our cheese sales in Great Britain. What do you say about that I A. I have heard that statement made for the last fifteen years, that we were near the limit of our profitable production, so far as the market was concerned; and yet last year we sent out $20,000,000 worth of cheese and the market prices were seldom if ever better than they were then. It is a question of quality; the English consumer will eat almost any quantity of a dainty thing if he can get it, in good 'condition; and 'if we can keep bur cheese up in quality on the average to that of our cool-cured cheese, we can, I believe, double our exports in the next twenty years and still have a profitable market price. By Ilr. Boss (Ontario): Q. How do you arrive at the total production? A. We take these figures of exports from the returns of the Trade and Coifamerce- Depaxtment, which published the returns «f exports, and we add. a little: for home con- sumption. The figures I have quoted from the provinces of Quebec and Ontario were t.iken from the census. The. cool-curing of cheese may become common at individual - cheese factories; quite common. There are many places in Canada where the con- solidation of curing rooms is not practicable. There are perhaps forty centres, taking Caiiada as a whole, where the consolidated curing room will be Hie rooat effective and cheapest way. We will have two methods— K)ne the improvement of the curing rooms at the individual factories; and the other the centralized curing rooms, each serving fi. number of factories. Both mfethods-^ihe improveinent of the in(Jividual curing 16 TEE COMMISSIONER OF AGRieULTURE AND DAIRYING rooms and the establishitneilt •of eoBfsolidated cool-curiiig rooms, of ntodifications and combinations of both — will bring benefits to all concerned; the patrons by getting more for their milk; the cheese maEers by having less risk of loss and trouble with their product; the cheese buyers by having a safer article to handle; and the consumers by getting a more wholesome and better article of food. There is a practice that has come out of this also; that is the practice which is now practicable, of coating the cheese with paraffin wax in order to prevent mould and shrinkage in weight. We tested the practice on cheese cured at the oMinary atmospheric temperature and found that it cannot be done with advantage on cheese cured above 65° or 10°, because the cheese take on an unsightly appearance; but where cured at a low temperature, the use of paraffin wax as a thin coating all around saved a large amount of shrinkage in weight. Cheese paraffined in August and September had not lost any weight when shipped in February, as against a loss of 2J pguijds per box in cheese up-der ordinary conditions, not paraffined. " .'['''''_:. ^ ~ By Mr. Boss (Ontario) : . . Q. What is the cost of paraffining? A. Perhaps two cents per cheese of about 70 pounds ; it does not require more than two ounces of paraffin. By Mr. Cochrane: Q. Could you give me an idea of. the cost o:{ hauling the cheese from the factories!, within a radius i from Brockville cool-curing room? A. The whole cost of hauling cheese from the factories to the cool-curing room at Brockville last year was $702. We hired teams to bring the cheese in regularly and the cost was $702. As a matter of fact, cheese has to be taken to a railway station some time; and if there is to be delivery by the patrons themselves, the cheese may as well be delivered when it is two days old as when it is two weeks old. By Mr. Kidd: Q. Are these curing stations to be open this summer? _A. We established them with the intention of keeping them open under depart- mental control three years. By Mr. Cochrane: Q. In connection with the cool-curing room, is it necessary to have the walls of the basement of stone ? A. It is an advantage to have the floor anywhere from 2J to 3} feet under ground, to get the full value of the cooling; power of the earth at that, depth. You need stone walls a little above the ground and above that an insulated wooden wall. Wooden shavings are more satisfactory than sawdust as insulating material. Q. The shavings are the best you say ? A. Yes. By Mr. Wright: Q. You said something about cement cellars in stables; is that embodied there or shall we lose it? • A. I shall refer to it again. - -■ ' By Mr. Sproule: Q. You say that covering with paraffin prevents shrinkage and waste? Would you mean that that is due to its imperviousness ? A. That is the main reason for using it in the curing of the cheese. We went so far in experimenting on this line, that we had some new cheese put in tin cases and PROGRESS IN DAIRYING 17 sealed up hermetically. They were kept sealed for moaths and it was found that these cheese were as well cured as those which were not encased. There was no difference in the curing when the cheese was covered as imperviously as tin or parafSn would make the covering. By Mr. Kidd: Q. Does it cure as well as in the hox on the shelves ? A. Unless one is quite careful to have a dry, well-seasoned box we find the odour of the elm wood penetrates the cheese. IMPROVED TBANSPORTATION FACILITIES. Let me now speak of what the department is doing to help in the safe transporta- tion of cheese aiid butter. There are many difficulties in getting perishable products from our country to the British market, because of distance, because of deterioration from high temperatiires and because sometimes of rather high charges. These are the three difficulties, distance, deterioration from unfavourable temperatures, and high charges, Now three things seem desirable in transportation, safety, which comes foremost, regularity and reasonable rates. I think in Canada we have obtained a transportation service which includes all these three as applied to cheese and butter, safety, regularity and reasonable rates. It costs very little more to take cheese from any town in Ontario or Quebec on a main line of railway, to London, England, than to take it from my own native county of Ayr, in Scotland, hardly any more. By Mr. Ross (Ontario) : Q. Ayr, in Scotland? A. Yes; . The rates on Canadian railways and on steamships are reasonably fair. Q. How far is it from Ayr to London? A. About 400 miles. Q. And 3,000 from Toronto? A. Yes, about 3,500. Q. And you say the freight is practically the same? A. About the same. By Mr. Cochrane: I Q. How do the rates charged from American points across the Atlantic compare ' with the rates on the Canadian lines ? A. Ours from Canadian ports are usually a little higher on cheese than from Boston or New York. ' By Mr. Kendall: Q. Is it not complained by the farmers in Scotland and England that the railwny rates are almost prohibitive? A. Quite too high. We have striven to get cold storage at creameries by publish- ing plans and offering a bonus, which is stilr available, to the extent of $103 per creamery, under three conditions, (1) that the cold storage shall be properly constructed (2) that the factory shall turn out a certain amount of butter, and (3) that the cold storage shall be maintained at a suitable temperature. The bonus is not paid unless these conditions are complied with: (1) construction, (2) quantity of butter, and (3) maintenance of cold storage. A good many butter makers were dissatisfied last year because they did not get the' second or third payment of the bonus. That was because i they made cheese, but if thfey make butter this year and comply with the conditions, they will get the bonus. D— 2 18 THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICVLTDRE AND DAIRYINQ ByMr.BossiOntand): • ' Q. Do you know the rates from Ontario points to London on cheese! A. I am not sure of the present rates. It has been anywhere from 40 shillings up to 55 shillings a ton. Q. A ton? , A. A ton, yes. That would be about 2 shillings a hundred weight, 50 cents a hundred weight. ■ By Mr. Kidd: Q. That is the winter rate? - A. The winter rate, yes. I have known the rate to be as low as a quarter of a, cent a pound. I have shipped for that right to London. Q. 26 shillings is the rate very often. That was the rate a year ago, last summer. A. That was when the rates were low. That would be about a quarter of a cent a pound. ■". Q. Yes, a shade over ai quarter of a cent. A. On the railways, provision has been made for running cold storage cars in a large way, from 42 points once a week to Montreal and from six points once a fortnight; We guarantee that the railway companies will earn by each car per trip two-thirds of a carload rate from the starting point. Many of the cars pay their way, but on some of the routes they do not, because the trade is not developed yet ; that is why the yearly payments by the government have not become less, because when one route becomes self-sustaining, new routes are started. We have had three inspectors doing missionary work in that connection ; the main business of one of them is to visit the railway agents and educate them on the mean- ing, uses and application of cold storage. It was quite a common thing for a cold storage car to come to a station and be left with the doors open for half an hour. Then too a farmer will sometimes bl-ing in butter and leave it on the station platform, in the sun. That is from ignorance of course ; but the butter is damaged and goes into the car heated and damages some one else's butter. We have been t.rying to remedy that by giving information and counsel. We have an inspector at Montreal who examines the cars to see how they come in, and to see that the railways do their duty. He examined last year 629 carloads of» butter. He could not examine all that came in, but he examined that many, and re- ported on their condition. Then in special cases he put a thermometer into the butter to find whether it was cold when it started on its journey or not, and if it was not, he got after the creamery man who tried to make the car a cold storage room to cool his butter, instead of using it to keep it cold. Sometimes he found the butter colder near the surface than at 2 or 3 inches deep, which showed that the car "had cooled it from the time it was shipped. We are following up this to get the butter shipped in a proper state. By Mr. Sproule: Q. Are the great bulk of the cars kept under proper cold storage? A. Not more than perhaps ten cars out of the 629 were last year reported as being without ice or in bad condition on their arrival at Montreal. An intimation to the men in charge has usually brought about any necessary change. By Mr. Rohinson (Elgin): Q. Is the butter packed in square boxes? A. In boxes of 56 pounds each. Then we also took up with the railway people the matter of getting better cars and better car service for cheese. Sometimes a refrigerator car is used for carrying cheese. Now, a refrigerator car without ice does not give nearly as good service as a common box car. The closed refrigerator car without ice catches the heer cow. Ration : malt sprouts and ground oats, 6 pounds ; corn' stover, marsh hay and straw. 'It is plain to see why No. 12 did not get as good returns as No's 4 and 7. He fed fairly well, though not as well as 4 and 7 did, for they fed ensilage; but apparently the main reason is, he was giving his feed to cows of a beefy type, while theirs were cows of good dairy tjrpe. 'thuee good herds, well managed. ' No. 20—5 cows, grade Jerseys, good dairy type, 3 fr^h in March, 2 fresh in September. Cost of feed, $27.00; returns from creamery, $48.79; pounds of milk, 4,375; pounds of butter, 245; price of butter, 19"9 cents; price of milk, $1.11; for one dollar in feed, $1.80; net profit of butter over cost of feed, $21.79. Adding value of skim milk makes profit $30.54 per cow. Ration: 2 tons bran to the five cows; shredded com stover and timothy hay, (J of roughage, hay) ; in summer pasture only. 'No. 21— 22 cows, Holstein and Holstein grades, 4 or 5 fresh in fall, balance in winter and spring; cost of keeping, $25; returns from creamery, $45.17; pounds of milk, 6,016; pounds of butter, 231-6; price of butter, 19-4 cents; price of milk, 75-1 cents; for one dollar m feed, $1.81 ; net profit of butter over cost of feed, $20.17 Adding value of dfim milk makes profit $32.20. Ration: IJ pounds bran, 45 pounds ensil- age, 8 pounds clover hay, and oat straw, all they will eat. 'No. 25— 16 cows, Holstein thoroughbreds and very fine dairy type, most of them fresh in fall; cost of keeping, $40; returns from creamery, $67.79- pounds of milk 8,396; pounds of butter, 333; price of butter, 20-3 cents; price of milk, 807 cents; for one dollar in feed. $1.69; net profit of butter over cost of feed, $27.79; adding value of skim milk makes profit $44.58. Ration: 8 pounds bran, 40 pounds of well eared ensilage, hay and corn stover, all they would eat; in summer good pasture only. Cows kept in good barn and fastened m Drown stalls. 'cold barns not conducive to profit. 'No. 26-17 cows, Short-horns and Short-horn grades, a few with a little Jersey and Holstein blood fresh one-half m fall, rest in spring. Stable cold cows fastened with chains; cost of keeping, $34.50; returns from creaSiery, $24 33; pounds of tiSf 3,182; pounds of butter, 133; price of butter, 18'3 centsj^rice of mr76-5 crnte' r ^:-(::V;. n ; PROGltE^S IN DAIB7IN0 •: ; ;v ^ ■ 27 for one dollar in feed, 70 cents; value of butter iper cow less than cost of feed, $10.17; counting the skim milk at 20 cents a 100 pounds there is still a deficiency of $3.81. Ration: bran, oats and, corn ground, 8 pounds, marsh hay, a little timothy hay and fodder corn, not well eared. In sumnler, pasture and a little bran. ' What is the matteriwith No. 26 ? In the first place, his cows are not very good dairy cows ; and secondly, and the main cause of his failure to get better returns, is his ba*n was so cold and his cows so uncomfortable that although half of then? were fresh in the fall, they produced very little milk during the winter, as shown by the records of the creamery. He fed very well and quite expensively, but the cows had to use most of the feed to keep warm, and left but little for milk production. They gave most of their milk in summer on pasture, but even then they did not do very well, owing no doubt to the care they had' in winter. ' ENSILAGE A l''ACTOK IN PEOFITABLE DAIKYING. ■ 'There are five creamery patrons who fed ensilage: No. 4, who made on butter $29.18 profit per cow ; No. 7, who made on butter $14.05 profit per cow ; No. 17, who n;ade on butter $12.69 profit per cow ; No. 21, with $20.17 profit per cow ; and No. 25, with $27.79 profit per cow. One cheese factory patron fed ensilage. No. 4, whose profit on milk delivered was $22.23. These six silo men averaged $21.02 profit per cow, while the average profit of creamery patrons was oiily $5.94 per cow. Tie gross re- turns for the silo men averaged $52.52 per cow, while those who did not feed ensilage received an average of but $34.00 per, cow, a difEerence of $18.52 in favour of the en- silage men. ' Can any one doubt, in face of these facts, that it will pay to build a silo ? Is it possible that all this gain in gross receipts and profits is because these men feed ensilage ? Or, is it, in part, because these men are more progressive, up-to-date farmers, have better dairy cows, study to feed a balanced ration, and, in short, have less of old fogy ism than many of those who do not have silos? These are questions for you to ponder on and answer. 'My own opinion is that, although I think any man is making a great mistake who keeps a herd of dairy cows without having a silo, the feeding of ensilage did not and could not, of itself, make this astonishing difference of over 54 per cent in gfross receipts and more than 500 per cent in net profit. ' Prof. Yoorhees, Director of the New Jersey Experiment Station, found that en- silage increased the amount of milk 12 per cent over dry feed of the same kind, when everything else was equal. Taking that statement as being the real difference in favour of ensilage, then in our case $4.08 out of the $18.52 gain per cow should be credited to ensilage and $14.44 to " the man behind the cow." ' So I hope that none of you here who have had small returns per cow will en- tertain the idea that all you have to do, to get as large returns as these men who fed ensilage, is to build a silo. A silo will no doubt help some, but something else i^ needed.' LESSONS FOK CANADIAN DAIRYMEN. These statements as presented by Mr. Goodrich furnish much food for thought by Canadian dairymen. It would be most useful to have a similar cow census taken in a number of different localities in the Dominion. I would draw particular attention to the fact that every dairyman who made a large profit per cow, fed corn ensilage, with one exception. The expensive nature of a cold stable for cows during the winter is made clear. If every dairyman who attempts winter dairying in Canada provided a cement floor in his cow stable, the gain to him in every direction would be great. In very cold weather the cement floor becomes a means of warming the stable by conduct- ing the heat of the earth into the interior. In the cool-curing rooms, with their cement floors, the temperature during the winter has not gone below 40 degrees when 28 THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND DAIRTINQ they have been empty and entirely without fires, although the temperature outside has been 20 degrees lelow zero at times. We have kept a record for the whole winter and the information thus obtained is very suggestive indeed. By Mr. Cochrane: . , Q. What kind of a silo is best? A. On the whole I think the round silo, and for durability one lined with cement. That is one important thing for us. We can have profitable winter dairying in Can- ada if we have warm cow stables and ensilage. We will find such dairying profitable. By Mr. Thompson (North Grey) : Q. Another question. You did not give us any definite figures or final amount as In the quantity of milk used by the family, or in feeding calves, or the quantity of butter used. A. This was in a dairying section, and the man who took the census, Mr. Good- rich, indicated that there was practically not enough difference per cow to affect the conclusions he drew. Q. There is, however, in the tables a deficiency on that point, and you could not accept these figures as being accurate ? A. Except as illustrations of important principles, and methods of mauagement. Q. There might be quite a difference? A. Yes. By Mr. Stephens: Q. Some of these men might have had larg6 droves of pigs? The Committee adjourned. Having examined the preceding transcript of my evidence of April 1, I find it correct JAS. W. EOBEJITSON, Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying. (Addendum to preceding Evidence of April 1, 1903)' By Mr. J. A. RVDDICK, Chief of the Dairy Division. THE COOL CURING OF CHEESE It has been known in a general way for many years that when Canadian Cheddar cheese is exposed to the extreme heat of summer during the period of curing or ripen- ing, there is rtiore or less deterioration in quality, and some unnecessary loss of v/eight, but it required the experimental results of the last four or five years to show how serious is the injury to the texture and flavour of cheese, and how much is really lost in weight, when the temperature iii the curing room is allowed to go too high. We now know that certain undesirable characteristics and defects in the quality of summer cheese, which were considered at one time to be inseparable from the hot season, can be almost, if not wholly, avoided, if means are adopted to secure a proper temperature. The investigations along this line have taught us also that the maximum temperature at which cheese may be cured without injury to the quality is very much lower than was commonly supposed, and further, that the minimum temperature at which proper curing will take place is a great deal lower than any one imagined pos- sible for securing- good results. Babcock and Russell have cured cheese at temper- atures ranging down to below the freezing point of water, and their work, along with that of Van Slyke, Dean, and others, proves beyond any doubt that cheese may be cured at temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahr., or even lower, with most excellent results, as far as the quality of the cheese and the saving of shrinkage is concerned. The employment of such a low teniperature is generally referred to as 'cold curing,' and if I may be allowed to draw a line of division, I would say that all cheese cured at temperatures under 50 degrees might be called ' cold cured,' to distinguish them from those cured at temperatures ranging from 50 to 60 degrees, which are more pro- perly described as ' cool cured ' cheese. At first sight this may appear like making a distinction without a difierence, but on the whole, I think there is sufficient reason for making the two classes. The cold curing of cheese introduces entirely new and al- together artificial conditions, because under no circumstances has a natural temper- ature lower than 50 degrees been employed for the curing of Cheddar cheese. ' Cold curing 'entails heavy expenses for refrigeration, and as it takes from 5 to 8 months to properly, cure the cheese at 40 degrees, the length of time that the producer would have to wait for his money is something that has to be considered. On the other hand, the cool- curing of cheese is simply an attempt to create conditions at all seasons, similar to those existing naturally when the very best results are obtained. It has al- ways been considered that the finest quality of Canadian cheese is produced during the months of September and October, when the average temperature ranges from 55 to 63 degrees throuRliQut; the cheese-making sections of Canada. The Cheddar cheese-maker's ideal is, however, the best of the English and Scotch makes, and it is on these cheese that the taste for Cheddar cheese: has been cultivated. It is worthy of note that the average temperature of the English and Scotch curing rooms is not over 60 degrees. The cool curing of cheese, therefore, does not introduce any new conditions, nor does it involve any expense that will not be fully met by the Eavinar in shrinkage, to say nothing of the improvement in quality. Furthermore, it requires only about a week longer at a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees to produce the physical change which we call 'breaking down' as compared with the length of time required 29 30 TEE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND DAIRTINQ in ordinary uncontrolled teiiiperaturea, which may range as hig^ as 80 to 85 degrees. It would appear that the checking of the ripening process is proportionately much more appreciable after the temperature is brought below about 55 degrees, than it is doWn to that point. It is along the line of cool curing that the. department has been working for some time. During the seasons of 1899 and 1900 an extensive series of experiments were conducted at the Carp Cheese Factory, under Prof. Robertson's direction, and the in- formation thus collected has been freely circulated among those interested in such matters. On several occasions samples of cheese from the same batches, but cured at different temperatures, have been submitted to the Montreal buyers and other experts, rnd in every case they have pronounced the cool-cured cheese to be superior in quality to the ones cured at ordinary temperatures. The difference in value has been placed as high as 1 cent per pound. The question of improvement in curing rooms, and kindred topics, have been discussed at meetings and through the press, for two or three years past, and the advantages to be derived from such improvements have been clearly £et forth, yet there has nob been as much progress made in this direction as there ought to have been, and it seemed as if something more was necessary to convince those- engaged in the manufacture of cheese that it is a matter of economy to spend sufficient money on the improvement of curing rooms to ensure proper control of temperature at all seasons of the year. CENTRAL COOL-CURING ROOMS. With the object of providing a practical working illustration, on a scale suffi- ciently large to attract general attention, to thoroughly test the commercial aspect of' the question, and to get a comparatively large number of people directly interested in the results. Parliament was asked last session to vote a sum of money to be used in constructing four large central or consolidated cool cheese curing rooms. It is generally known that this plan was carried out, and that curing rooms were built at Woodstock and Brockville in Ontario, and at Cowansville and St. Hyacinthe in Quebec, where sites with siding accommodation were given by the Grand Trunlc r.nd Canadian Pacific Eailway companies. I shall endeavour to briefly describe these curing rooms, and to give some notes and observations on the results of their operation during a part of the season of 1902. In describing the buildings I may say first that the temperature is controlled with refrigerating machinery at Woodstock and Cowansville, while ice is employed at Brock- ville and St. Hyacinthe. The buildings are all designed on one general plan, but where ice is used there is a separate chamber in which it is stored. The curing room proper consists of a basement 9 feet clear between floor and ceiling, and a little over half below the ground level. The stone walls, which do not rise above the si\rface of the ground, are laid with cement mortar to make them waterproof. The floqrs are con- structed of the best quality of Portland cement concrete. The walls above the stone work consist of 7-ply of lumber and 8-ply of paper, 4-ply of which are of damp-proof quality. The last two courses of lumber on the inside, with damp-proof paper between are continued down to the floor inside the stone wall. There are two one-inch air spaces in addition to the space between the studs. The ceilings underneath the joists are made of 4-ply of lumber, 4-ply of paper and one air space. Above the joists there is a double flooring with 2-ply of paper between. The spaces between the studding and joists are filled with planing mill shavings. The ice-chamber is placed at one end of the building, but does not go below the ground level, which brings the floor of this chamber about 4J feet above the level of the curing room. The insulation of the ice-chamber is rather better than that of the purlng room, and differs in two respects : (1) The walls are constructed with 'sta-o^ered' studding, that is to say, there are two rows of studs, one for the inside sheathing and the other for the outside, leaving a space of one foot between the two sheathings with PROOREmiK DAIRTim ^ no coahectiiig pieces. The ceilmg is made in the same roanjxei, and ^he spaces between the inside and outside dieathing are all filled with; planing mill shavings.^, C?> J-^o concrete floor of the ice chamber is covered with. 3 inches of duy sand, Above this, there is a false floor resting on 2 x 4-inch joists. The lower edges of the main joist^ are about 6 inches above the top of the false floon The main floor consists of 2-inch tongued and gtooved lumber, covered with galvanized iron, which is flashed along the walls to a height of 10 inches. The space between the floors is filled with pkning mill shavings. The upper story of the building is not insulated, except a compartment used for boxing and shipping. The rest of this flat is utilized for ofiice, receiving room, stor- age of boxes, experimental rooms, &c. The floor of the shipping room is on. a level with the floor of a railway car standing on the track alongside. The plan for utilizing the cooling power of the ice is simple and effective. Placed just above the floor level of the ice chamber and, therefore, about 4i feet above the floor of the curing room are three openings, 18 x 9 inches, through which the cold air flows into the curing room. The warm air returns to the ice chamber through thre? flues, 18 X 9 inches, running the length of the curing room just under the ceiling, and rising to the top of the ice chamber. There are several openings in these flues, which, beiiig fitted with slides, enable those in charge to regulate the temperature , so well that it does not vary two degrees from day to day in any part of the room. The ice is not covered, so that the air passing over it is readily chilled and purified and dried to some extent. The insulation of the chamber is depended on to prevent excessive waste of ice. The mechanical refrigeration at Woodstock and Cowansville is effected with 6-ton vertical, double cylinder, single-acting ammonia compressors of the Linde British type, using the forced air circulation system for cooling. The size of the curing room proper is 60 x 42 feet, and the five tiers of shelves hold exactly 2,Y00 cheese, and leave room for storing several hundred more in boxes, but having the cheese of so many factories to keep separate, it is not practicable to fill the shelves all full. The temperature of the curing rooms was maintained constantly be- tween 54 and 58 degrees as long as they contained any cheese. There was not the slightest difficulty in regulating it so that it did not vary more than one degree from day to day. The records of temperature, both in the cool rooms and in the warm or uncontrolled rooms, were kept by means of thermographs, instruments which give a continuous record on paper, so that we know exactly what the temperature was at any time of the day or night. I need not go further into details of construction, as a bulletin with complete plans and specification, such as will enable anyone to make use of the ideas incor- porated in these buildings, is now available for distribution. Having said so much by way of description, it will now be in order to refer briefly to the plaii of operation, and I cannot do better in this conection than by giv- ing the form of agreement between the department and the salesmen of the factories, covering the reception of cheese at the curing rooms. DOMINION OF CANADA, DEPARTMENT OF AGEICTTLTURE COMMIS- SIONER'S BRANCH. COOL CHEESE CUBING ROOMS. Cheese will be received at the cool cheese curing room on the following conditions: — The Department of Agriculture will undertake (o) To collect the cheese free of charge to the factories. (6) To issue warehouse receipts for the cheese as received. (c) To store and take care of the cheese during the period of curing without any charge except as hereinafter specified, for a period not exceeding eight weeks. (d) To keep the cheese fully insured. 32 TEE COMMISSIONER OF AORICULTVRE AND DAIRTING (e) To provide boxes of good qualfty, box the cheese and ship them according to instructions received from the salesman. The factories will be charged the usual price of good, ordinary cheese boxes de- livered at the factory, and the cost of scale boards, nails, &c., used in preparing the cheese for shipment. The Department of Agriculture will charge each factory a sum equal to the value of the weight of cheese saved on account of less shrinkage in the consolidated curing room, the amount to be determined by actual tests of shrinkage on the cheese of every weeks' make and the scaling price. The factory will have full benefit of any increase in the price of the cheese per pound owing to the improvement in quality. The Superintendent will not accept any cheese of inferior quality, poor finish or in unsuitable condition. The Department reserves the right to refuse the cheese from any factory which fails to comply with the requirements or rules of the cool cheese curing room. The cheese are to continue the property of the factory, and to be at the disposal of the salesman. J. A. EUDDICK, Chief of Dairy Division. Ottawa, April 8, 1902, Approved (Sgd.) JAS. W. ROBERTSON, Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying. On behalf of the , I accept the above conditions for cheese delivered at the government cool cheese curing room at Salesman. Date 190 The curing rooms were not ready for use until the first of July, but from that time until September 30, cheese were received every week day, until the latter part of September, when they were collected only every second day. During these three months, 26,531 cheese from 37 factories were handled at the four places, divided as follows: — " . Factories. Boxes. Woodstock 9 11 g57 BrockviUe 10 q 644 Cowansville. 14 g ggg St. Hyacinthe. 4 1 954 37 20,531 If cheese had been received from the middle of May the number would have been nearly 40,000. The factories from which the cheese came are all located within about 10 miles of one of these curing rooms, and. practically all the factories within that radius joined in the sclieme. In fact, the only difficulty experienced in this connec- tion was that the applications of several factories had to be refused.' The number received at St. Hyacinthe was, smaller than what was expected, because several of the factories in that district made butter instead of cheese. The capacity of the V\'ood- stock curing room was rather overtaxed, handling 11,657 cheese in three months, while the others might have taken care of a few more. About 100 cheese per day, or between 11,000 and 12,000 cheese during that part of the season when cool curing is beneficial Ftout represents a good working capacity of these establishments. Special boxes were provided for carrying the cheese from the factories to the curing rooms. Two kinds were tried, one made of tin and the other of wood like, an ordinary cheese box onlv of heavier material and more strongly made. The wooden ones were found to be the more satisfactory, and cost only about one- third of what the tin ones did. They wer> PROGRESS IN DAinriNO 33 made to fit the cbeese snugly, and as for durability, I may say that out of 400 in daily use for the three months, not more than half-a-dozen have been broken. THE SAVING OF SHRINKAGE. As the cheese were collected from the factories, a number from the same vat from all the factories were set aside each week, and after being carefully weighed to two ounces, one was placed in the curing room and the mate to it was put in a room in the upper storey, where the temperature was not controlled. When the cheese ot the corresponding week were sold, these cheese were again' weighed as before, and th* difference in shrinkage noted. From this difference the saving m shrinkage on the whole lot was easily calculated. Table I gives the details of shrinkage and tem- peratures for three typical lots. Table II shows the actual saving of shrinkage on all the cheese. Table I. Date Weighed. Cool Curinst Room. Uncontrolled Room. Shrinkage Weight. Loss. Temper- ature. Weight. Loss. Temper- ature. Saved. Lot 1— Aug. 9.. Sept. 8.. Lot 2— Sept. 12. . Oct. 11.. Lots— Sept. 13.. Oct. 11.. Lbs. Oza. 80 2 78 6 81 12 80 4 85 4 83 8 Lbs. Ozs. i" "12 " "i 8 1 54-56 } 52—56 1 52—56 Lta. Ozs. 82 79 12 82 78 12 83 4 79 14 Lba. Ozs. . ^ ...... '3 6 } 61-77 1 50-72 } 50-72 Lbs. Ozs. 3 1 12 1 12 1 10 Table II. Cheese. Lbs. Percentage Shrinkage Saved. Amount Saved. Value at Selling Price. Woodstock 11,657 6,644 6,260 1,964 906,560 526,950 494,296 143,190 1-56 1-52 1-34 1-66 Lbs. 14,327 8,050 6,610 2,380 S cts. 1,424 13 814 48 662 02 238 41 Gowansville , St. Hyacinthe Totals 28,531 2,070,936 1-51 31,403 3,139 04 If these figures are raised to what they would be if operations had been commenced at the middle of May, the value of the saving in shrinkage would be something like $4,500. This sum represents the interest at 6 per cent on $75,000, or in other words would provide for a capital outlay of over $2,000 for each of the 37 factories. This is certainly a low estimate, because, as everyone knows, the past season was remark- able for the very cool weather and moist condition of the atmosphere which prevailed all summer. In an ordinary season the saving of shrinkage would be very much greater, because a high temperature and a dry air are the two conditions that increase the shrinkage. D— 3 34 TEE COMMISSIONER OF AGBJCVLTURE AND DAIRYINO IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY. -,, ! : But the saving of shrinkage is only a minor consideration. The main one is the great improvement in quality. Altogether 480 pairs of cheese were set aside as al- ready mentioned, for testing the shrinkage, one being cured in the cool room and the other in an uncontrolled temperature. These cheese are still in the possession of the Department, having been bought from the factories When sales were made. They have been examined and compared by a large number of cheese buyers, cheese-makers and others, and in every case the cool cured cheese has been pronounced the best in quality. Out of something over 500 lots of cheese sold out of the four cool-curing rooms, I have only heard of two lots of which there was any fault found with the quality. In one of these cases the cheese were sour, and in the other they had a bads flavour even when freshly made. There was some complaint about mould on the (jheese at first, but this is another matter, and does not affect the question of cool curing. THE EFFECT OF A HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE QUALITY OF CHEESE. Having the cheese from 37 factories to deal with, there were many opportunities for observing and studying the effect of a high temperature on the quality of cheese of different character. The first effect of a high temperature, and one whi'.ch is always iioticeable, is to make the texture of the cheese rough and mealy, and in extreme cases show a greasi- ness which is undesirable ; or in other words it destroys that silkiness of texture always present in cheese at its best. Bad flavours are intensified at the higher temperature, r.nd many cheese go 'off' flavour, while their mates that are cool-cured remain sound and clean. All cliccsc become sharp and ' tasty ' much quicker at the high tem- perature. Of course cool-curing will not make a fine cheese out of a poor one, but still cheese which are a little weak and open, or on the other hand Lave a little too much acid, show up better when cool-cured than they do when cured at ordinary hot weather temperatures. Now this brings us to the question, what is a high temperature for curing cheese ? Cheese-makers have, in the past, considered that their cheese were fairly safe as long as the curing room was not warm enough to cause the fat to exude from them, and yet it requires a temperature of about 74 degrees to make the cheese show grease on the surface. It is not many years since 70 degrees was recommended as a suitable tem- perature for curing. Careful observation on this point during the past summer has established the fact that positive injury follows, as soon as the temperature goes above 60 degrees. As a matter of fact, the temperature in the ordinary room at the Brotk- villc curing room went over 74 degrees only on sixteen days during the summer, and on two days only did it reach 80 degrees. For the rest of the time it averaged about 70, until the last half of September, when it varied from 60 to 70. This record is very low, and in an average summer it would be about 10 degrees higher, but I mention it to show that the difference in quality and the saving of shrinkage which I have already quoted, is simply the result of curing cheese on the one hand at a temperature considered about right a few years ago, and comparing them on the other hand with cheese cured be- tween 55 and 60. MOULD ON CHEESE. Some difficulty was experienced at first in preventing the growth of mould on the cheese, owing to the excessive moisture. There can be no ventilation without bringir" air in from outside, and to do so when the outside air is warmer than that inside would only make matters worse, inasmuch as warm air that may be relatively dry, will when cooled sufficiently, reach the point of saturation, and deposit moisture on all expose^l surfaces. Under ordinary circumstances, if the warm summer air is cooled down to 65 or 60 degrees, it will become saturated with moisture; therefore, it is not only use- PROGRESS IN DAIUYINO 35 less, but highly undesirable to have a cool-curing room ventilated except when the ouside air is cooler than the inside. Of course there is always some outside air; in- troduced into the best constructed buildings, but the chief source of moisture in thete . cool curing rooms, with their good insulation, was the evaporation of water from the cheese as they dried out in the curing. Our records show that 14,000 pounds of water, as represented by the shrinkage, was evaporated from the cheese in the Woodstock curing room during the three months of its operation. The remedy for excess of moisture in a cool-curing room is rapid circulation of air, through the room and over the cooling surface, where the excess of moisture will be deposited. When the circulation is poor, the moisture hangs around the cheese from which it evaporates, and thus makes a condition favourable for the growth of mould. The ice cooling system provides for circulation, and as the air passes over the ice it is chilled and thus loses part of its moisture. In this way the large quantity of water coming from the cheese is constantly being disposed of. The relative humidity of the Brockville curing room remained fairly constant at 88 per cent and the cheese began to show signs of mould after being there about a week, just as they do in many of the cheese factories. It is desirable that the cheese should be free from mould, and we do not look for any trouble on that point hereafter. There is always a tendency for mould to grow in a new curing room, and it is not likely that we shall have another season for some time with as high relative humidity in the atmosphere as there was last summer. Moreover,, some measures are to be adopted to ensure the cheese being drier on the surface when delivered at the curing room. It was noticed particularly that certain cheese that were delivered to the curing rooms with wet surfaces were always first to show signs of mould, THE CEMENT CONCRETE FLOOR. The cement floor is an essential part of the plan of these cool-curing rooms. It necessarily lies on the ground, and being a good conductor of heat, its surface has a constant temperature of about 50-58 degrees, according to locality and the character of the earth immiediately underneath it. It requires no argument to show that the cement floor is a great aid in maintaining an even temperature of 55 to 60 degrees in any room where such construction has been followed. It would appear to be a very fortunate thing that the cool cheese curing temperature and the natural temperature of a cement floor are so close together. As an evidence of how the cement floor keeps the temperature down in a well insulated room, I may state that the cool air from the ice was not turne:! on at the Brockville curing room until July 8, and the te:nper;iture never went above 60 degrees, although it went as high as 76 in the room upstairs, and about 1,000 warm cheese had already been placed on the shelves up to that date. On the other hand, the temperature in this curing room did not go below 50 until Novem- ber 22, when it gradually dropped without fluctuation, to 42 degrees on December 10. On the same date the thermograph in the room upstairs registered 10 degrees, and the outside temperature was 20 below zero. This is not important except in showing the controlling effect of the cement floor. In future construction of cheese factories and creameries there should be no question about putting in cement floors, except in butteu refrigerators, where the concrete requires to be insulated. CONCLUSIONS. Before concluding these remarks I may be permitted to make some observations of a general character bearing on this question. One cannot estimate the great benefit that would accrue to the Canadian cheese industry at large, if all the cheese were cool-cured. We have in the past season a most excellent illustration on this point, inasmuch as the comparatively slight improvement in quality due to the unusually cool weather which prevailed all summer, had the 36 TEE COMMISSIO'S'EK OF AGRICULTURE AND DAIRYING effect of encouraging consumption to such an extent that the demand forced prices d to a point that few ever expected to see again. The situation suggests possibilities i, the future of the industry that are certainly very encouraging. In regard to the central or consolidated curing room idea, I would like to point oi 1 bat the Department does not urge the general adoption of th.s scheme. I have abead mentioned the reason for the establishment of those now in operation. If they ai tlie means of convincing those engaged in the trade of the necessity for adopting son plaA of cool curing, their object wiU have been attained. The desired result m probably be reached in different ways, according to local circumstances and condition The larger cheese factories will, I think, be inclined to make the necessary improv ments in connection with their own buildings. Already a number are preparing to ( so. Combination, or consolidation, may be affected in some cases, but the jealoi rivalry which exists among factories stands in the way. It is probable that the e porters themselves may in the future have something to do with the curing of some t the cheese. I see one obstacle in the way of getting improvements made in proprietary co cerns, and it is this: Nobody needs to be told that any saving of shrinkage or e hanced value in the cheese will go directly into the pockets of the patrons, and ve: little of it will stick to the fingers of the manufacturer. It is hardly fair, therefoi to expect the man who owns a factory to meet all the expenses of improvements fro which he will receive no benefit, especially in view of the fact that the commissic which he receives at present is not sufficient to provide decent buildings and prop equipment, and at the same time leave a reasonable margin of profit. If patrons d| sire this increased revenue, and there is no doubt they do, they must be willing make concessions to the factory owner to get it. Patrons of cheese factories sho pay a fair price for making and then demand the best possible service in return.