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Check Testing of Milk and Cream Samples This work was continued as part of the routine duties of Dairy Instructors and Special Inspectors, who during the year checked the factory testing at 736 visits and checked 4,547 samples. The check testing revealed that with few exceptions the work had been carried out accurately and conscientiously. Warnings about compliance with the regulations were issued where necessary. Check on Yields and Overruns The check on yields and overruns is of great interest to the dairy industry, as it "involves the reocrded payout of dairy companies. The Division carries out fat analyses on all butter and cheese submitted for grading and is thus able to assess butterfat received compared with that credited at dairy factories. The competitive element in the industry is not lacking and tends to cause some short-crediting; some yields and overruns cannot be substantiated by analyses. By constant contact between divisional officers and dairy-factory managers the position is being kept reasonably well in hand. Crediting by butter-factories is not unsatisfactory. A number of returns show slight under-crediting, and efforts are made to reduce the incidence of this.' Yields of ■cheese-factories present much more difficulty, as they involve assessment of a greater number of variables in losses of manufacture, and, more particularly, variation in sampling methods. Some cheese-factories show short-credits and others over-credits, which illustrates how difficult solution of the problem is. Milk-sampling investigations by the Division's Instructors with the aid of the Dairy Chemist have continued, and though a great deal of information has been obtained, the problem of correct milk sampling is not yet solved. At the request of the company a large amount of work was carried out at a Taranaki -cheese-factory to investigate alleged faulty sampling methods. Litigation on shortcrediting of butterfat between a supplier and the dairy company is pending and the Division's findings in the investigation are likely to be prominent in the hearing of the «case. The whole question of yields and overruns requires further investigation, and it is clear that under-crediting is not necessarily deliberate. Government Herd Recording The year has been noteworthy because of changes in the system of preparing and issuing monthly returns and also because of some extension to the Division's service to testing breeders. There has, however, been little improvement in staff numbers and transport, and it has been difficult to cope with the continued increase in entries. During the year 697 breeders were listed, compared with 642 the previous year. Cows on C.O.R. test number 1,257 and cows on O.H.T. 12,452, compared with 1,419 .and 9,649 respectively for 1947, a decrease of 162 cows for C.O.R. and an increase of .2,803 cows for O.H.T. The total number of cows on test, 13,709, is a record and an increase of 403 per cent, over the pre-war period. It was necessary during the year to ask approval for an .increase of 6 in the staff -of Milk-testers, and the present establishment is 52. The number employed at 31st March, 1949, was 45. The testing staff is constantly changing, and of the 20 appointments made during the year, 15 were required to fill vacancies because of resignations and sas an increase to staff. Many of the programmes are too large and necessitate too much o.vertime and leave insufficient time for special checks, but some of the necessary further appointments cannot be made until more motor-vehicles are available. The introduction of the " all-cow " rule, which is considered fairly urgent, also depends <on the additional transport required being available.

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