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TWELFTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

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TWELFTH A N N U A L GENERAL MEETING The Twelfth Annual General Meeting of Members of the Society was held in the Empire Restaurant,

Olympia, London, W.14, on Monday, 24th October, 1955

The President, Mr. J . C . Taylor, was in the Chair.

M O K N I N G S E S S I O N

I N I K O U U C ‘ T I O N O F N E W I ’ K E S l D t N T The President: ‘My first task this morning is to introduce your President for next ymr. This is one of the duties that falls to the lot of the retiring President and no duty gives me more pleasure. I t is my privilege this morning to tell you that at the last meeting of the Council, Mr. H. C. Hillman, your Treasurer, was unanimously elected as the President for the coming year. In saying that no duty gives me more pleasure I do not want you to th ink that I am actuated by any malice afore- thought, but only because J remember on a pre- vious occasion the retiring President inferred to his successor that he did not know what he had let himself in for. I t must be quite obvious to you that I cannot take that line with Mr. Hillman, because for so long he has been a “power behind the throne” and well he knows what is ahead of him far more than I did last year.

It is indeed hardly necessary for me to introduce him to you because he is a Founder Member of the Society, he was a member of the original Council and served as Honorary Assistant Treasurer for a long period during the early formative years. In addition he has acted as your Treasurer for the past three years and is now only relinquishing that task to take on the Presidency.

When I was introduced last year by Professor Crossley he said I was “a real engineer”. Well now, that is a very wide term but he did set the precedent and I am going to refer to Mr. Hillman as “a real chemist”. He is very well qualified as a chemist, he is the holder of a science degree, he is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry and for some time he has been the Joint Chief Chemist of the Cow and Gate Organization, to which position he was appointed in 1940 after having joined the Company about twelve years earlier and after having had some six years in practical creamery operations. L believe he received his early training as a chemist at Bristol and I t h i n k , in addition to his experience in thc dairy industry, he did make a short excursion into the teaching profession. I also think he can claim more than a passing knowledge of metal- lurgical processes. With this background and with the obvious knowledge which Mr. Hillman has of the Society’s affairs I cannot imagine that you will have any difficulty at all in appreciating the

unanimity with which he was elected by the Council to be your President for the coming year. I am sure that under his guidance the atfairs of the Society will be i n extremely good hands. Ladies and gentlemen, in formally introducing to you your President for next year, Mr. Hillman, may 1, on your behalf, wish him evrry success with the work which lies in front of him.’(App/uuse).

Mr. Hillman: ‘I feel rather like a swimmer who just before the race is allowed to dip one toe into the water to get the temperature. I am going to be very brief in what I say now because you will probably have more than enough of me during the next year, but I would like to thank the President for his introduction and the members of the Coun- cil for allowing me to occupy the Presidency of the Society during the coming year. I do appreciate that honour very much. As Mr. Taylor said, I have been interested in the Society since its foundation and with your help we will make this another suc- cessful year for it.’

M I N U T E S The minutes of the Eleventh Annual General Meet- ing of Members held on Monday, 25th October, 1954, having been circulated, were taken as read, approved and signed.

There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered by the agenda.

H E S U L 7 - OF E L t C T I O N The Secretary announced the result of the election to fil l five vacancies on the Council as follows:

Automatically, there being no other nominations: Honorary Treasurer, Mr. J . Dyson; To represent Members in Group I , Mr. W. A. Johnson; To represent Members in Group 3, Mr . P. Clerkin.

By ballot: To represent Members i n Group 2, Mr. A. Rowlands; To represent Ordinary and Associate Members. Miss B. M. Fischer.

7Yw Prrsident: ‘ I t is my pleasure to declare those people duly elected to the Council. May I take this opportunity of thanking them for allowing their names to go forward and to wish them every success with the work they will be doing on behalf of the Society. May I particularly mention Miss Fischer-I am particuarly glad to see tha t we are

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going to continue to have a member of the “fair sex” on the Council. Among other things of course, that will ensure that the male members of the Council are kept in order.’

iwisiixrw’s REPORT ( M r . J . C. Taylor) ‘The time arrives when in every Society the President must relinquish his oftice and, i n introducing my suc- cessor to you this morning, I took the first step. M y next step is to present to you, among other things, a brief account of the impressions I have gathered during my year of oflice as President of your Society.

M y first impression is that the usual form of the President’s address is becoming a little out-moded and, although i t must always to some extent “dot thc 1’s and cross the T’s” of the Council’s Report, it should so far as possible be devoted to broader issues. I f this were done I feel sure it could play a very valuable part in pointing the way ahead for the Society and perhaps also the industry which wc serve. 1 myself would try to follow this theme but possibly have to admit that I have been able to do so only to a limited extent in the hope that others who follow me, if they think anything of the idea, would easily be able to improve upon it.

Turning now to your Society’s affairs, under the watchful eye of your Council, these continue to flourish, at least from the financial point of view, for you will see from the accounts that we have consolidated the work of previous years by again improving our reserves. I believe that the sound financial position is also reflected in the other affairs of your Society and I think this is a matter for congratulation to the people who founded the Society and those who have managed its affairs since that time.

However, we are now entering our thirteenth year and, in my view, it would be no bad thing if we now took a good look at ourselves in order to see where we are going and where we should best direct our efforts towards improving our organiza- tion and the services we have to offer to members and the dairy industry. I believe that this view is shared by others; indeed, I am pleased to report that your Council has appointed a Committee for this very purpose. Owing to the heavy commitments of the various members, especially around this time of the year, a meeting has not yet been held, but you may be sure that no opportunity will be lost by the Committee to get down to an early date to the important matters which they have to review.

If there is one thing 1 regret during my year of office, it is that I am unable to report a continued increase in membership; in fact, for the first time in the history of the Society, we have to record a drop in numbers. Now, I am not one to regard this as a calamity nor am I unduly despondent about it, as it is obvious to me, and I t h ink to all of you, that the rate of increase of membership of any Society must

to some extent be subject to the law of diminishing returns and that, sooner or later, a time will arrive when the membership fails to increase. Regarding this as a temporary phase, we should use i t to spur us on to greater efforts to add to our membership.

I t is, I hope, unnecessary for me to urge the importance of maintaining a steady flow of new blood into the Society and I am sure that a number of ways of doing this will occur to all of you, but I would counsel some very careful thought on the subject because I do not believe that the methods which may be open to trade associations and the like are either desirable or advisable for your Society. I n m y view, the best way of attracting new members is by improving our organization, our services to members and, above all, by never losing an opportunity of personally bringing to the notice of all those qualified to join the Society the advan- tages which membership has to offcr.

Now as to activities during thc past year. Three General Meetings were held in London, in addition to the Spring Conference at Torquay about which 1 will have a word to say in a moment. You will have learnt from our Journal the wide field covered by the papers given at those meetings and, on behalf of the Council, I would like to offer to the authors of the papers their sincere thanks for the high quality of their work as evidenced by the papers and also their handling of the lively discussions which followed their presentation.

At the May meeting, by courtesy of the Directors of Arthur Guinness, Son & Co. Limited, a very interesting visit was paid to their brewery at Park Royal, when over a hundred members and guests took the opportunity of comparing the merits of their own products with those offered to the public by another industry.

M y review of the Spring Conference has already been published and, therefore, there would be little to be gained from my spending more time on that event now. Since the Conference I have given some thought to the position which is likely to arise if we pursue the policy of having only one type of accom- modation, which necessarily means paying a fairly high price for it, and am sure that serious considera- tion ought to be given to finding a means of lowering the cost of attending these conferences, thus making i t possible for the more junior mem- bers in the various branches of our industry to come along and benefit from them. I believe also tha t we would do well to consider our methods for presenta- tion of papers and this would also apply to our General Meetings. I have in mind the procedure often adopted in similar societies in issuing some notes of guidance to authors of papers and the methods adopted for the opening discussions. If, at the same time, we could overcome the extremely diflicult problem of persuading speakers to adopt a less formal manner, this I am sure would be a big advantage and add t o the enjoyment of our

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meetings. Your seven Local Sections continue to do good

work for the Society, as I am sure will be demon- strated by the reports you will be receiving later from the respective Chairmen. I must say, however, that to visit these Sections is to be convinced of the strength which they bring to the Society. During my year as President I was privileged to attend meetings in five Sections, and whilst in the Western Section to attend a meeting of the Exeter branch. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these occasions and was most impressed with all that I saw and heard, and I would like to take this opportunity of placing on record my personal thanks to the Chairmen, Secretaries and members of these Sections for making these visits so enjoyable and informative.

A t the same time I was disappointed that, owing to my other commitments, I was unable to reach my target and visit every Section and, in tendering my apologies to the officials and members of the Welsh and North-Eastern Sections, I can only say that I shall try some time during the coming year to visit them although, of course, 1 shall not have the privilege of bringing with me the halo which surrounds the President!

During the year a number of meetings have been held under the auspices of your London and Rrigh- ton branches and the interest which is shown in these meetings, as evidenced by the attendanccs, justifies the confidence which we place in their establishment. I t is of interest to record here that during the year, and with the approval of the Council, the London branch has elected its own Committee and is now largely managing its own affairs. 1 am reminded by the recollection of a visit which I made to a London Branch meeting and, incidentally, I found the same thing in the Sections, that the attendance contained a large element of visitors-surely a source of supply of new members which we ought to tap. This does not tie up with our drop in membership; and the fact that these visitors do not seem to be so ready to come “into the fold” as perhaps they ought to be, must be very dis- couraging to the officials of our Sections and Branches, and again I wonder whether i t is time we had some new ideas for tapping this fruitful source of supply of new members.

The Standing Committees have been extremely active throughout the year but, as you will be hear- ing from the respective Chairmen a little later on, I will not take up your time by going into the details of their work. I would like, however, once again to stress the importance of these Committees to the Society for, apart from acting as a training ground for younger members, they also assist the function of your main Council by relieving it of a good deal of detail work.

Their importance to our industry in general, I think, is exemplified by the work ofyour Equipment

& Standardization and Education & Rescarch Committees, for the former maintains our relation- ship with the British Standards Institution by ensuring our representation on the several com- mittees dealing with dairy matters and, moreover, is always ready to bring forward matters which we think deserve attention. Our Education & Research Conlmittee still continues its efforts to secure those facilities which are needed to attract a regular flow of personnel into the dairy industry. That their work shows disappointing progress is not due to any lack of effort on the part of your Committee mem- bers but rather I fecl to the fact that the problems in our industry are less well understood by others than they are by ourselves. I fear that we are not likely to see an early solution to the problem but at least we can hope that in the next few months progress towards it will be accelerated.

The regular publication of our Journal provides ample evidence of the work done by your Editorial Board. To maintain the standard which our Journal has now reached, is not an easy task and, in once again reiterating the importance which the Journal plays in our affairs, I would ask members to support the efforts of the Board by never losing an opportu- nity of submitting articles for publication.

Your Society continues its membership of the United Kingdom Dairy Association and our thanks are due to Mr. E. Capstick and Mr. F. Procter who continue to act as our representatives on the Council of that Association; and it may be appropriate here to mention the International Dairy Congress which, as many of you know, is due to be held in Rome next year, towards the end of September. In view of this, and following a referen- dum among members, your Council decided to forego our usual Summer Meeting in favour of organizing a party to visit Rome. Enquiries as to accommodation and alternative modes of travel have been instituted and the results will be put before the members in due course.

In bringing this report to its conclusion, I pro- pose to touch on the political situation and I make no apology for doing so, for it seems to me that in these days politics tend to impinge more and more on the private and business life of individuals. During my year of office we have seen the retire- ment of one, whom I think we are entitled to regard as one of the greatest statesmen of all time, and the succession to his office of one who has played a leading part in international affairs. We have also passed through another General Election and seen the return to power, with an increased majority, of the previous Government, the least socialist of the leading parties. One of the most significant events since then has resulted in a considerable easing of international tension and I am sure we all hope that this trend will continue to develop until we reach the time that all the nations of the world can live on in the knowledge that

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lasting peace has been secured. On the domestic front, despite our apparent

prosperity, we seem once again to be faced with the balance of payments problem and I am afraid that we shall continue to be so while we as a nation attempt to do too much all at once. This leads to too high an internal demand on all our resources and requires an increasingly high level of exports to balance rising imports of food and raw materials and ultimately we are faced, as we are today, with credit restrictions and the distinct possibility of increased taxation, at least in certain directions.

These measures cannot provide a permanent solution to the problem; this can only come by increasing production to the point that the home demand can be met whilst sufficient surplus is exported to pay for essential imports. The dairying industry has its part to play in this long term solution, for among the members of this Society are those responsible for the production, processing, manufacture and distribution of milk; by keeping up and, wherever possible, increasing the produc- tion of this important foodstuff we can help to keep down the cost of imports. I f parallel with this effort our engineers and suppliers can keep up and increase the exports of their machinery, I think this Society will be able to claim that its members are doing everything they can to help solve the coun- try’s economic problems.

I hesitate to continue for much longer but I have the feeling that this report would not be complete without some reference to the state of the industry in this country today. I do not propose to venture outside my accustomed field except perhaps to say that, although there are difficulties from which arise certain stresses and strains, the industry by and large is soundly based and doing an efficient job. As an engineer, and from that viewpoint, I am led to wondering sometimes if we are not approaching the crossroads and that as a result of economic pressure, and 1 use that term in its widest sense, the future may see our present servants discarded and new ones taking their place. So far as liquid milk is concerned, our present processes have served us well and, for all the bad things that are said about him, the glass bottle continues to carry his burdens lightly, although there are now other contenders for his position in the shape of the plastic bottle and the carton. All I am prepared to say at this moment is that our present favourites are likely to give any competitor a “very good run for his money” and if they have ultimately to surrender their established position, they will not do so easily!

In relinquishing my office, I want first of all to express the Council’s appreciation of the work which the members of various Committees and the Section and Branch officers, have done for the Society and to thank them for their untiring efforts. May I add my personal thanks to all these people

and to many individual members for the encourage- ment and support they have given me, and may I finally include in these thanks Mr. Sonn for the assistance which he has given to me throughout the year.’

TREASURER’S REPORT A N D A N N U A L ACCOUNTS The Hon. Treasurer (Mr. H. C. Hillman): ‘You already have in your hands the Income and Expen- diture Account and the Balance Sheet covering our operations during the twelfth year of the Society’s existence.

You will note that on the income side there is an increase in the money received from subscrip- tions. This increase is f71 in comparison with the previous year and now totals f2,277 as against f2,2 1 6.

The cost of our operation continues to show a rising tendency covering items of administrative expenses, printing and stationery, hire of rooms for meetings and travelling and sundry expenses. This is perhaps not unexpected in view of increaLe in membership and a general rise in prices.

In comparison with the previous year there has been an improvement in the financial position with regard to the Journal. You will note that on the expenditure side items are included for editorial fees and expenses and also cost of reporting meet- ings which are in fact greater than the receipts from the Journal which are shown o n the income side. This is a matter which has been receiving the careful attention of the Council.

During the year ou r income includes f32. 8s. 5d. resulting from sale of the Pasteurizing Plant Manual. In this connection you will see that the stock of these books has now been reduced to a low level.

The result of the year’s operations is a surplus of E599 compared with f517 in the previous year.

The Balance Sheet shows that the Society’s creditors at the 30th June, 1955, amounted to f 7 1 compared with over E1,400 last year. This decrease is reflected in the cash at bank which has fallen from f2,27 I to E929.

There have been some changes in the Society‘s investments as f500 previously invested in three per cent Defence Bonds have been converted into three-and-a-half per cent Defence Bonds and in addition a further E1,OOO has been invested in three- and-a-half per cent Defence Bonds. Against this investment must be offset a reduction in the Post Office Savings Bank Account of E425. As a result of these changes there will be an increase in the interest which the Society receives on its invest- ments. The increase in office equipment results from the purchase of a recording machine which is now in use at our meetings.

I shall be very pleased to supplement these remarks if any member wishes to ask a question.’

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A U 1) I TO RS The Auditors, Messrs. Chalmers, Wade & Co., Chartered Accountants, 24 Coleman Street, Lon- don, E.C.2, were re-appointed Auditors to the Society for the ensuing year.

REPORTS O F C O M M I T T E E S E D U C A T I O N A N D RESEARCH (presented by Professor E. L. Crossley, Chairman) The work of the Committee has been continued through the Joint Dairy Industry committee (S.D.T., C.M.D.C., and M.M.B.) and has been devoted entirely to the proposed courses at Rease- heath for dairy foremen, under-managers, and other ‘floor’ workers; these proposals were re- ported last year (Minutes 1 1 th Annual General Meet- ing, Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1 , p.6). I t was then reported that in September last year a delegation attended the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss the Scheme thoroughly, when we were very well received but told that the Ministry of Education is equallyclosely concerned and would also have to consider the proposals.

In January 1955 the Ministry of Education duly wrote to the Cheshire Authority setting forth the preliminary reactions to the proposals and indicated that there were a number of doubts which could only be resolved by further discussion. The Joint Committee held a preliminary meeting on the 28th January at Reaseheath and considered the first criticisms by the Ministry of Education.

This was followed on 1st March, 1955 by a most important meeting at the Ministry of Education between the Ministries of Education and of Agriculture and the Central Youth Employment Executive on the one hand and the Cheshire County Council and the Joint Dairy Industry Committee on the other. The meeting proved to be rather a difficult one and we had to meet a number of objections, although at the same time various points were clarified. A great many detailed criticisms, too long to elaborate on this occasion, were answered. Apart from these, some major points which arise must be summarized briefly.

Firstly it was made clear that two types of entrant are proposed, viz: ( 1 ) school leavers who showed promise after two to three years ernploy- ment, and (2) adult workers with experience who would be selected by the employer for ability and personal qualities. I t was agreed that the first emphasis would be upon the key adult workers to secure a nucleus of skilled operatives, but that the future trend would probably swing towards the junior entrant.

It was explained at length that openings for the students can be guaranteed by the dairy trade, why existing City and Guilds and other courses in the technical colleges do not cover all the needs, and why the particular institution at Reaseheath seems to be well suited to this new development.

The major stumbling block, as it has been from the start, was the question of an apprenticeship scheme. The Youth Employment Executive in particular strongly advised reconsideration of the whole programme, which in their view was con- ceived in the wrong order. The apprenticeship scheme and a ladder of promotion ought to be established first, otherwise the industry will not secure a good type of entrant for educational courses. In reply it was stated that the industry is not opposed to some form of entry scheme, but the special difficulties would take time to solve and in the meantime the industry urgently wished to train the adult workers it already has in order to over- come an immediate serious situation.

The absence of any publicity material describing the industry was also criticized and it was agreed that steps would be taken to remedy this deficiency. A draft booklet, with illustrations, describing careers in the dairy industry is now being prepared by Mr. Procter (S.D.T., and C.M.D.C.) and Mr. Pugh (M.M.B.)

This meeting was followed by a further letter at the end of March giving the considered views of the three Government Departments. Perhaps the most important statement is as follows: ‘We are con- vinced that the best solution of the industry’s recruitment and training problem lies in an apprenticeship scheme; and we should regard as undesirable any expedient interfering with or delaying the introduction of such a scheme’. The letter points out that in view of the time involved some preliminary action should be initiated at once. I t further suggests that the number of students envisaged will have little effect on the industry for some time and that the proposed course is no substitute for a proper apprenticeship scheme. I t is also considered that the course is too long for what is wanted and that less time should be spent at Reaseheath. The Cheshire authority is asked to reconsider the length and content of the course and to examine further the possibility of using facilities at local dairies. I t is suggested that two periods of six months, or less, at Reaseheath with intervening practical employment would be adequate and it is made clear that no substantial capital expenditure will be permitted. Subject to agreement on certain matters, a course may be held from September 1956, as an interim measure, but the original scheme as proposed cannot be authorized. The importance of national publicity was also stressed once more.

The Joint Committee met again on 23rd May, 1955, to discuss the points raised in this letter. This Committec held the view that there is no real divergence of view concerning the advantages of an apprenticeship scheme, but that the Ministry of Education still does not realize the difficulties involved and that in the meantime the facilities are required urgently for our present workers. The Committee cannot agree that an apprenticeship

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scheme will be delayed by providing training facilities now-indeed the contrary.

The Committee would be disappointed if the courses are shortened and believes that its original proposals are sound. Arrangements were made for Ministry of Education Inspectors to visit Cheshire dairies to inspect the facilities offered and also to see some of the individuals who would be sent for training; it was hoped that following this the Minis- try might reconsider the question of the duration of courses.

The only safe comment at the moment on several years' labour seems to be that at least we have suc- ceeded in getting one course started. This may prove to be the thin end of the wedge and in the meantime the other points at issue may be resolved.

This completes a chronological account of events during the past year, but I would like to return to the question of publicity. I am convinced that the real difficulty of the industry arises from poor public relations. The shortage of new entrants applies equally at all levels from the highest to the lowest. The educational facilities we now have are not fully used anywhere and fewer people are coming forward every year. Now that the Reaseheath scheme is to go forward at least in part, this country has obtained training facilities at every level from the university downwards. Partly as a result of pressure from this Society the facilities in Britain are adequate and if they were used the shortage of recruits would dis- appear. Nor are the difficulties financial. There are plenty of scholarships available and apart from a few gaps which could be closed the lack of finan- cial means need not keep young people away from dairy courses. Much public money has been spent on dairy education and we must not be surprised if the authorities adopt a cautious attitude towards an industry which is unable to attract sufficient people to training courses.

We must face the fact that the general public believes dairying to be a low grade occupation with- out prospects, poorly paid and involving long hours. Moreover, the teaching profession-which has much influence upon impressionable young people -is no better informed and the various people who give advice on careers do not normally know that the modern dairy industry even exists. The majority of students now attending dairy courses entered them against the strongest efforts to dissuade them.

Against this background the dairy industry is entering a new phase of very rapid new technical development and will soon have to meet very strong competition from abroad, even in the liquid market. The skilled workers to be trained at Reaseheath are badly needed now and will continue to be needed, but the ultimate future of dairying does not rest with them. The people who really matter are still at school-those able pupils in grammar schools and the public schools who are drawn at present to other careers. Somehow the industry must get its

share of them, and the time is desperately short. The high level people who will develop the industry take three to four years to train, and after that they need several years of experience to reach their best. Even if we start now we shall not begin to get results for about ten years;and.I know that many of you are acutely anxious for the future.

Present difficulties are partly a result of sociolo- gical conditions. To the lower grade workers the five day week is undoubtedly a major consideration, but in my experience it is only a minor matter in the eyes of the better type of recruit. We also tend to overlook one very clear development of the new Welfare State. In the old days numbers of very able children left school and owing to lack of means they had no hope of developing their abilities by higher education and were compelled to obtain employ- ment. Some of them found their way into dairying jobs, where they did well and rose to senior posi- tions. Now those same children are skimmed off by the State and given higher education plus a wide choice of opportunities to enter attractive careers. Our job is to persuade some of them that in dairy- ing they will find a rewarding career both financially and in other ways. We cannot go on scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I would therefore like to make a personal sug- gestion to the new Council. I t may be that the Education Committee has nearly completed the task it set out to do. In its place we might set up a new committee to tackle this urgent matter of publicity, which has many facets of which publicity booklets are only one. Other bodies, such as the C.M.D.C., are also concerned, but with all due respect I do not think that they can tackle this job on their own and our Society could play a very valuable part.

(Presented by Mr.. H. S. Hall, Chairman) During the year the Dairy Equipment and Standard- ization Committee has held six meetings. I was elected chairman to succeed Mr. Goodman, whose membership of Council had expired; and Dr. Clegg was re-appointed secretary.

As you will have seen from your Council's re- port, there has been much activity on Committees of the British Standards Institution dealing with matters affecting dairying. This work, as you know, is kept continuously under review, the Society being represented on most of those committees. In fact, in matters which are specifically dairy technol- ogy, the chairman of the technical committee is usually a member of this Society. I will not embark on a survey of the work in progress except to refer briefly to two items. The long-awaited dimensional standard for cap-finished bottles for pasteurized milk is still being negotiated. The bottle manu- facturers are suggesting tolerances which the dairy engineers think are too great. The result would be

D A I R Y EQUIPMENT A N D S T A N D A R D I Z A T I O N

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that the dairyman, particularly one in the smaller business, would experience difficulty in bottle capping. Your Committee and the Society's re- presentatives are determined to avoid this. The Technical Committee on Milk Cans has begun to discuss the standardization of the aluminium alloy milk can. This is a development which has been long awaited, and we shall do our best to help it along.

Before leaving the subject of British Standards, I would draw your attention to the abstracts of published standards appearing in the Journal from time to time. Very shortly we shall be publishing another comprehensive list of engineering and other standards which are of interest to the industry.

Pasteurizing Plant Manual. The Pasteurizing Plant Manual is now out of print. This book has been something of which the Society can be justly proud. The original inspiration, you will remember, came from Mr. J . R. Cuttell, and in the course of time the Dairy Equipment and Standardization Committee with the help of many individual mem- bers brought the manual into being. We printed 2,000 copies in time for the Dairy Show two years ago. Within a year over seventy-five per cent had been sold and now we are sold out. We have al- ready considered whether we should reprint or pro- duce a new edition, perhaps including additional matter, as orders for the manual continue to tricklc in. But we have decided that any such action would be premature and we shall consider the situation again in a year's time.

Flow Meters. Mr. Goodman has prepared, from the various discussions we have had in committee, a note on flow meters, and this will be published in the Journal. We hope that the information will clarify the position for many dairynicn interested i n the subject, and also we hope it may stimulate the exchange of views on what accuracy is required commercially.

Tests j b r Eficirnq. of' lioniogenization. We have received and discussed at considerable length the subject of tests for efficiency of homogenization. We have extended our enquiries to manufacturers and users of homogenizers and to research organ- izations abroad. We hope in due course to produce for you a reasoned and informative statement on the subject, summarizing the views of the various interests concerned and, 1 hope, indicating the most f ru i t fu l lines of future work.

Tlieitnal Insulation. For some time your Com- mittee have felt that our members might appreciate further information on thermal insulation. To that end the Council readily agreed to our suggestion that a general meeting should be devoted to this subject, and asked us to makc the necessary arrange- ments for January next. We have now to tell you that Mr. Sutton, of the Ministry of Works Technical Division, will give us a paper on thermal insulation for the conservation of heat, and Mr. Sales, of

Messrs. W. A. Taylor Ltd., will read a paper on thermal insulation i n refrigeration applications. Mr. Saunders, the Managing Director of that firm, will collaborate in the preparation of the papers.

In order to stimulate your interest and help initiate discussion at the meeting, Mr. Milligan and I have prepared a brief note which appears in the October 1955 issue of the Journal.

Finally, without exaggerating its importance, I will mention one point which we discussed during the year, because it cannot perhaps receive too much attention in the industry. I t was reported to us by Mr. Rowling that difficulties were sometimes experienced by dairymen concerning the repair of processing instruments. I t seemed to us that this would not arise if the dairymen relied on the dairy equipment manufacturer rather than the instrument manufacturer. The former is always in a position to give rapid service and he knows or should know exactly what is required. The instrument manu- facturer is perhaps too far removed from the particular application to provide service for instru- ments within a matter of hours. The advice to rely on the equipment manufacturer is being passed back to the dairymen by the appropriate channels, and we have taken steps to inform the public health authorities about this matter.

ED I TOR 1 A I. B O A K I> (Presented by Mr. A. Graham Enock, Chairman) The preparation of matter and arrangements in connection with the publishing of the Society's Journal continue to function smoothly, and the 1955 Volume 8 (Part 4 of which has just been issued, contains 202 pages of Editorial matter and 65 pages of advertisements. Approximately eighty- one per cent of the Editorial matter dealt with accounts of, and papers read at, General and Sectional Meetings, personalia notes and items of general interest to members. The remaining nine- teen per cent was devoted to the publication of technical papers and contributions not presented at Society meetings.

As foreshadowed in last year's Report, the letting of advertisement space in the Journal has improved upon 1954, and the number of advertisement pages has risen from sixty i n 1954 to sixty-five in 1955. Wc are most grateful to our regular advertisers, as well as newcomers to the Journal, for their valued support, but are still hopeful that increasing use will be made of the advertising space available in the Journal.

The increase in advcrtisement space has affected thc Journal accounts, and has more than halved the loss of El81 which we suffered in 1954, the 1955 loss amounting to €77 up to the 30th June. For 1955 it is hoped that we shall be able to balance the position because advertising revcnue from the Octobcr number just issued contains a still greater volume of advertising than was present in earlier

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numbers. During the period under review there were

increased sales of back numbers of the Journal as compared with the previous year, which undoubted- ly helped to reduce the loss.

Under the rota of retirements, I leave the Hoard this year, and upon our recommendation your Council has appointed Mr. C. H. Brissenden to f i l l the vacancy thus created on the Board.

We would like to express our great appreciation of the valuable work which continues to be done by our Editor, Dr. Charles Crowther, and the Society's Sectional Officers for their ever-ready co-operation, and also to the publishers as represented by Miss Vera Watson and Mr. J . Cecil.

R E P O R T S F R O M LOCAL S E C T I O N S M I D L A N D S E C T I O N (presented by Mr. R. Scott, Chairman) I have to report this year on the formation of a Branch in the Potteries area. This area has a num- ber of members who by reason of transport diffi- culties could not participate in regular meetings. However, as i n many other places, the apathy which seems to exist in.dairy circles, both in trade associa- tions and other societies, has given rise to difficulties in the formation of a strong body i n the Potteries, in spite of holding four meetings during the year. It is hoped that assistance from the main branch will help towards establishing a firm footing.

The East Midland Branch has progressed satis- factorily, having held some six meetings and an Annual Dinner. The membership has increased and attendance at the meetings has been good. A fu l l programme for next session started with a ralk and discussion on 'Bulk Collection.' Future papers on Refrigeration, Milk Bottles, and Dairy Main- tenance, together with a visit to Rubber manu- facturers, were confirmed at the Annual Meeting on the 21st Scpteniber.

The Section held its Annual General Meeting on the 13th October at which a film on the 'Tetra Pak' was shown. The report to the meeting noted that four meetings had been held during the year a t Birmingham, together with one visit to Minsterly Creameries. The year had been successful. The future programme was in course of confirmation and included papers on Jlctcrgents, High Tcm- perature Pastcuriation, Fuel Eficiency, Milk Marketing and a discussion on Electrical Main- tenance. The paper on Milk Marketing is to be given by Mr . Trehane on 10th January, and i t is hoped to give wide publicity to the meeting.

While the Midlands may be able to present a sat- isfactory position, much discussion has been held with regard to attendance at meetings. Almost fifty per cent of those attending meetings are visitors. Some of these visitors are regular and one would assume are potential S.D.T. members. The various committees have discussed this problem and put

forward a plea for some invcstigation and possible revision of membership, especially Associate membership. The concern of Council in the reduc- tion in membership of the Society has been reflected in these discussions.

W t L S l l SE('I I O N (Presented by Mr. H . J . Richards, Chairman) I t is pleasing to report that this has again bccn a year during which further advancement of the aims and ohjccts of the Society has been achieved by the Section. This is duc in the main to the many interesting meetings which have been held, the work of the Branches and activities i n the field of further education ;is well as a new innovation at the Annual General Meeting in the form of an exhibition.

Mcnihersh ip Membership of the Section now numbers 120 compared with 126 i n 1953 and 129 i n 1954. This represents a fall of nine compared with the previous year but i t is understood that there are about twelve new potential members who have completed forms of application. Branches have done much to stimulate membership by bringing meetings to the doorstep of many of our potential members.

Financc) The Treasurer reports that the balance at the bank on 30th June, 1955, was f41. 5s. IOd. This financial state of affairs compares favourably with that during the previous year. It should, however, be stressed that the continued prosperity of the Section depends largely upon having a total erective membership and i n this respect members arc to be encouraged to keep their subscriptions to the Society up to date.

Meetiiigs duriiig JXYI~ Spring Mwtincq- This was held at Wrexham on Friday, 25th March, 1955, when a large audience heard a n address by Mr. C . D. Wilson, Animal Health Division, Weybridge, on the subject 'Con- trolling Bovine Mastitis'. Mr. W. I.. Kowlands. Veterinary Investigation Officer, Rangor, opened the discussion. After the meeting, members were cntertained to tea by rhe Principal of the Technical College, and wcrc provided w i t h an opportunity to view the magnificent nem Technical College premises.

Suintner Mec.ting.--The Summer niccting was held in conjunction with the Midland Section, when by kind permission of Messrs. Wathes, Cattel & Gurden, both Sections were privileged to visit their creamery at Minsterley and to scc tlic m a n y interesting developments which arc taking place there. About thirty-live members attended and were entcrtaincd to lunch afterwards by the creamery management. Thc party also paid a visit to the Hea

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Valley Foods Ltd., Minsterley to see the canning process. We are indebted to Messrs. Wathes, Cattel & Gurden and Rea Valley Foods Ltd. for their hospitality. This type of joint meeting is rapidly becoming an institution in the activities of the Midland and Welsh Sections.

Annual Gmc)rul Meeting 1955.-This was held at the Dairy Buildings, Llanbadarn Road, Aberyst- wyth, on 13th October. About thirty members attended the business meeting in the morning and this was followed in the afternoon by a paper on 'The Chemical Sterilization of Dairy Equipment', by Dr. L. F. L. Clegg of the National Institute for Research i n Dairying, Reading. The opener of' discussion was Miss A. S. Pricc, Milk Production Officer, Carmarthen. This was an extremely successful meeting and approximately eighty members and guests attended. During the course of his address, Dr. Clegg outlined the various modifi- cations to the cleansing and sterilizing technique, which have been introduced as a result of the development of practical experience in the field and progress in research work. His remarks on the recently introduced immersion cleaning method created much interest among members and pro- voked an extremely interesting discussion.

At this meeting a new innovation to Section activities was introduced following a suggestion made by Mr. J o h n Lewis. This took the form of an exhibition of items either old or new which were of interest to all members. About twenty objects were displayed, ranging from pieces of dairy equip- ment of over 100 years old, to such modern ones as ball compressor for determining the body of cheese.

Future Programtnr At their last meeting, the Committcc discussed this matter and several suggestions were put forward for consideration by the ncwly appointed Com- mittee. Subjects included Milk Publicity and Sales Development, Modern Dai- y Management, Ultra High Temperature Pasteurization and Summer Visit to sonic place of interest.

tu r thcr Educutiori The Section may justifiably feel proud of the progress that h a s been made during the year in this connection. The progress of Courses at Carmarthen and Wrexham is kept under observation by Joint Education Su b-Com mittccs appoi nted by the Section Committee. These include members re- presenting the C.M.D.C. and the Society. Mr. A. W. Isherwood reported a t the Annual General Meeting that seventeen students have enrolled at Carmarthen for the coming session, grouped as follows:-

1st year intermediate - !-ix students. 2nd year intermediate - five students. 2nd year final - six students. At Wrexham, some diHiculty had arisen i n the

past in regard to obtaining a suitable tutor for the

course. However, the Joint Education Sub- committee have been most active recently and have had several discussions with the Principal and staff of the Technical College. As a result, it is probable that a suitable tutor will shortly be appointed by the College Authorities and so far, thirteen students have enrolled for the course. Three students have already passed the intermediate examination.

Brunch Mwt i t ig s Both Branches have been most active during the past year. The North Wales Branch held a Brains Trust at Colwyn Bay, a Dinner-Dancc at St. Asaph and two paper reading sessions, one at Wrexham and one at Colwyn Bay. All of these meetings were exceptionally well attended. The Carmarthen Branch held four meetings at Golden Grove, Whitland and two at Carmarthen. Both 13ranches have submitted detailed programmes for the coming year.

s c o ~ l r l ' 1 s El s F: c . I I 0 K

(Presented by Dr. R. Waite for Chairman, Mr. J . Kirkwood) The programme carried through by the Section during Session ended 30th June, 1955, was in every way a very successful one. The Speakers and Sub- jects chosen attracted very good attendances. As usual the Subjects were ones which would interest the Scottish Section membership and the response was most gratifying. The Summer Outing to Edinburgh was also a success and a visit to a new Bottled Milk Creamery in conjunction with one of the Section Meetings was much appreciated by the members attending. The following are details of the Section meetings:

7th September, 1954-Annual General Meeting; Speaker, Mr. Young; subject, 'The Future of the Dairy Industry after Withdrawal of the M of F Control' (47).

9th November, 1954 Speaker, Dr. Waite; subject, 'Solids-not-Fat Content of Milk' (86).

18th January, 1955 --Speaker, Mr. Graham Enock ; subject, 'Engineering and Mechanical Handling Developments' (57).

8th March, 1955 Speaker, Mr. J. Hutchinson; sub.ject, 'Mi lk Temperature Control from the Cow to the Creamery' (5X) .

Ac/rw-t ising During the past Session the Committees' decision to advertise the Section meetings was carried o u t but while the attendances improved it is not certain that this can be attributed to the advertising.

Coil r m it t CE

d n l y one change in the personnel of the Committee is to be recorded. Mr. John Wilson, Fenwick Farmers, joins the Committee, representing the 'Manufacturing' Side.

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Mrmhership A slight decrease has taken place during the past session and this decrease has not been made up by the enrolment of new Members. The total on the roll is now 156.

It is hoped that Members of the Section will continue their support during the Session that lies ahead. Fresh speakers with interesting subjects have been engaged, subjects which concern all connected with the Dairy Industry. The Committee has arranged for two evening meetings with the hope that this will attract members and others who can- not attend the ordinary afternoon meetings of the Section.

The Committee again appeals for new members and requests the assistance of the members in nominating persons who are engaged in the Industry and who have not yet joined the Society.

N O K T I I - W E S T E R S SI:C l.lON (Presented by Mr. Ci. A. Barley, for Chairman, Mr. F. Roberts) Whilst we may derive some satisfaction from the fact that the four General Meetings held during the year have, in total, attracted the largest aggre- gate attendance in the hisotry of the Section, it is regretted that this does not show any reflection in increased membership, or in increased member- interest in the work of the Society. Lack of secre- tarial assistance has materially contributed to administrative and organizational difficulties. The percentage of members attending our meetings remains at too low a level commensurate with the standard reasonably expected to justify the con- structive importance of such a Society as the S.D.T. I t is with regret I have to report that membership lapses exceed the number of new members enrolled during the year. Our publicity material of a more personal character has reached a greater number of those engaged in dairying as demonstrated by meeting attendances, but the necesary 'follow-ups' and recruitment has been left to the few enthusiasts who are generally those with many other commit- ments and responsibilities. It is hoped that the new personnel of an enlarged Section Committee will enable us to rectify this position during the current year.

Seci ion M w t ings We opened our programme at Crewe on the 26th November. In spite of the most inclement weather we had a most exhilarating and constructive even- ing in the form of a Joint Dairying Brains Trust, organized con-jointly with the Cheshire County Branch of the National Farmers' Union. The attcndance of 236 was made up largely by dairy farmers, but we had a larger than usual attendance of members and their personal guests. The latter fact may be some reflection on the outstanding personnel of the platform ! The four-a-side team

gave a sparkling demonstration of knowledge of of problems of mutual interest to all sections of the industry, and justified the time and thought given to the preparation of the questions. It is unfortunate that we have been unable to accept the several invitations rcceived to stage a similar function at other centres in Cheshire and Lancashire.

Mr. A. Graham Enock visited Manchester for an cvcning meeting early March. His paper: 'Engineer- ing and Mechanical Handling Developments' illustrated by slides and film was most-excellently presented. The discussion was of a high standard, and was agreed to be one of practical usefulness to the distributive side of the industry. A n attendance of sixty-one of whom twenty-three were members had some consolation in the fact that the majority of our guests were plant operatives from a wide geographical area.

W tS'1.E K I\: S E ('T I 0 N (Presented by Mr. F. C. Kingscote, Chairman) Once again I am pleased to report that the Section has had a successful year with varied and interesting activities in all areas. The Membership is now 226. One less than last year. The main event of the year was the Society's Conference at Torquay, where thanks to the careful planning of a Special Com- mittee everything went well, with plenty of interest- ing diversions from the more serious business.

General Meetings On 2nd December at Exeter. Mr. J . Hutchinson,

Senior Testing Officer of the N.I.R.D. read a paper entitled 'Milk Temperature Control from Cow to Creamery'.

Upon this occasion we were privileged and pleased to welcome the President Mr . Taylor who presided over an attendance of fifty-two.

We held a meeting at Dorchcster on 24th May when Mr. R . A. Jeffrey, Chief Regional Officer of the Milk Marketing Board gave a thought pro- voking paper on 'The Problems and Prospects of Milk Marketing'. This was an evening meeting and the attendance of only twenty-six was disappointing nevertheless thc members who did attend were very interested and the meeting was most successful.

The Eleventh Annual General Meeting was held at Bristol on 4th October and after the business, Mr. A. H. Walters gavc an enlightening paper on 'The Human Hazards in Clean Milk Production' followed by the Deosan Film 'Milk, Microbes and Mastitis'.

R K A N CII A('T1 V l T l E S

Ilristol With Miss K . D. Maddcver as Chairman the Branch has completed another successful session and an increased attendance at meetings is rcportcd. The mcetinps were as follows:

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27th September, 1955-‘Antibiotics’, by Dr. J . Harrison.

6th December, 1955-‘Present and Future Activi- ties of the Milk Marketing Board’, by Mr. Ed. Davis, Regional Officer M.M.B.

5th February, 1955-An Evening of Short De- bate and ‘Any Questions.’

The average attendance was thirty-two.

Gloucester Mr. R. 1. Williams was Chairman and five meetings were held.

9th November. Two Films. ‘The Manufacture of Butter, Dried Milk and Condensed Milk’ and ‘The Bournville Story.’

7th December. A Debate. A motion was pro- posed by the Gloucester Young Farmers’ Club that: ‘Milk Bottles are out of Date.’ The Gloucester Branch opposed the motion but lost by two votes.

1 1 th January. A demonstration of the cooking of milk dishes by Miss Blake at the South-Western Gas Company’s Showroom.

8th March. A n experiment in the use of a tape recording of Dr. Provan’s Paper ‘The Composi- tional Quality of Milk.’ Questions were answered by Mr. H. H. Jeffery. The experiment was success- fu l and it was considered there was wide scope for the use of tape recordings at Branch Meetings.

During last winter, several members took the London City and Guilds Course No. 159 and this Winter Course 160 has been organized.

During the year Mr. J. Abbot, the Secretary of the Branch for the past four years, left to take up an appointment in Scotland, and 1 should like to take this opportunity of expressing our thanks to Mr. Abbot for the able and energetic way in which he carried out his duties, and also to congratulate him on his appointment at the Hannah Dairy Research Institute.

Exeter With Mr. W. T. J. Akers as Chairman interest in the Branch was maintainned and the meetings were well attended. Four meetings were held as follows-

7th October, 1954-‘Laboratory Control’, by Mr. A. Rowlands.

2nd December, 1954-‘Some Aspects of Dairy- ing in Australia’, by Mr. S. Trainor. Senior Produce Inspector, Australia House. Also Two Films ‘Sunny Pastures’ and ‘A Place in the Sun.’

27th January, 1955-‘Steam Raising and its Efficient Usage’, by Mr. W. M. Baker, Spirex Sarco Ltd., Cheltenham.

16th March, 1955--‘Factors affecting the Chemi- cal Quality of Milk’, by Mr. C. D. Rickaby, Nutrition Chemist, N.A.A.S., Starcross.

Enrolments of over thirty for the London City and Guilds Courses 159 and 160 have been received for the present session. The Bronze Medal awarded in connection with the exams held in 1954 was won

by an Exeter Student.

Cricket Malches The Annual Match between Bristol and Gloucester was held, and Bristol again won. They then chal- lenged the Exeter Branch with a similar result, so once again the ‘Milk Ashes’ stay at Bristol.

Acknodedgemen~s Thanks are due to the Bristol University and the University College of the South West for the use of rooms for Committee and General Meetings, to speakers who have devoted so much time and effort in the preparation and presentation of papers, to Messrs. Aplin & Barrett Ltd. for clerical assistance and many others who have contributed to the smooth running of the Section and its Branches.

I also thank the ONicers and Committee for the work they have done, particularly Mr. Johnson the Secretary and Mr. Warren the Treasurer who have now completed ten years’ service in those capacities.

S 0 K T H F: R S I R E L A N I) S E C 110 N (Presented by Mr. P. Clerkin, for Chairman, Mr. .I. Guild) No significant change has taken place in the membership figures in the Section and a very sat- isfactory level of attendances has been maintained throughout the past session. In addition to the Annual General Meeting held at Loughry Agricul- tural College by courtesy of the Governors and Principal, in October, at which a joint paper on ‘Dairying in Retrospect’ gave rise to a lively dis- cussion, papers were read throughout the session by a number of Ulster and Cross-channel speakers on the following subjects, ‘Reflections on the Sum- mer Conference’, ‘The Alkali Maker and the Dairy Industry’, ‘In-Bottle Pasteurization’ and ‘The Solids-not-fat problem’. The Section was indebted to I.C.1. Ltd., in regard to the arrange- ments so hospitably made for the presentation of a film show to members in the Midland Hotel, Belfast, during the session.

An innovation in the form of a Spring Outing was organized this session, the venue being the Co- operative Wholesale Society’s spacious installation near Armagh where members were conducted round the factory and entertained to afternoon tea before adjourning to Armagh for an evening meal as the guests of Fane Valley Co-operative Society.

The number of members attending has encour- aged the Committee to make provisional arrange- ments forasimilar outing in the forthcoming session.

A substantial donation from the Northern Ireland Wholesale Dairymen’s Association with a sugges- tion it might be used to finance a practical course of instruction for dairy workers has resulted in a Sub- Committee being set-up to investigate the possibi- lity of organizing a course suited to local require- ments.

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During the session the Section were pleased to welcome the President of the Society at one of their Meetings. I n view of the distance involved the Section appreciates the efforts made to give them the benefit of a Presidential visit.

Due to the good attendance, the keen interest shown by the members and the valuable discussions arising on papers read to the Section the Committee felt justified in arranging an extra Meeting in the programme for the forthcoming session. The Sec- tion is again indebted to Queen’s University, Belfast, for facilities generously granted to hold paper- reading sessions in the lecture theatre of the Faculty of Agriculture.

N 0 R T H - E A S T E R N S E C T I 0 N (Presented by Mr. A. D. Thorp, Chairman) Mem bersh ip The present strength of the Section is 115, which shows a slight decrease in numbers due to members joining other sections through change of address and two resignations. The strength has not altered to a great extent since the formation of the Section in 1951, and so it is thought that a reasonably large potential membership lies untapped in the Sec- tion’s area of Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. This recruitment of new members is a responsibility which can only be shouldered in a determined manner by present members.

Meetings Eight meetings have been held during the session, five of which were day and three evening meetings as follows:-

24th September, 1954 at York-‘Trends in the Processing of Liquid Milk’, by Dr. J. G. Davis.

9th December, 1954 at York-‘Some recent observations on the Bacteriology of Sterilized Milk’, by J. D. Ridgeway.

6th January, 1955 at Leeds--‘Any Questions’, by 7. H. Hilton, K . G . Round and W. A. Cuthbert.

10th February, 1955 at Sheffield-‘Any Ques- tions’, by W. Hipkins, T. H. Price, A. Myers and G. Stuart.

3rd March, 1955 at York-‘Some Aspects of Materials Handling in the Dairy Industry,’ by J. T. L. Homewood.

24th March, 1955 at Leeds-Film Show. 7th April, 1955 at York-‘Refrigeration from

1 I t h May, 1955 at York-‘Recent Developments Farm to Dairy’, by N. Beams.

in Milk Treatment Equipment’, by J . R. Cuttell.

Dairy Education Courses have been held during the Session as follows :-

Milk Processing and Control (Final Grade). Barnsley Mining &Technical College. (two students gained 1st class passes).

Award of’ book prize bj* the Society of’ Dairj, Technology It is felt that a special mention should be made that one of the successful students in the Milk Processing and Control (Final Grade) examination of the City and Guilds of London Institute, is a member of the North-Eastern Section of the Society of Dairy Technology, and consequently receives the award of a book prize value three guineas by the Society of Dairy Technology.

The person concerned is Miss S. Mellor and the congratulations of the Chairman and Committee are extended to Miss Mellor on the excellent results that she has achieved during the past six years, culminating in the latest awards, derived from the lectures she has attended at the Barnsley Mining and Technical College.

The Secretary has co-operated with the City and Guilds of London Institute in the provision of local examiners for the practical and oral tests in Milk Pasteurization and Distribution in the North of England where applicable.

ELECTION OF MEMBERS UNDER RULE 33

Upon the proposal of Mr. E. Dobson, seconded by Dr. A. L. Provan, Mr. R. L. R. Beswick of Arusha, Tanganyika, was unanimously elected a member of the Society.

P R E S E N T A T I O N O F P O R T R A I T Professor E . I . . Crossley: ‘The Society has reached the end of the working year and our great friend Mr. J . C. Taylor is about to pass through the last ordeal of the President. We call ourselves the Society of Dairy Technology. The word “Techno- logy” conjures up visions of something soulless, mechanical, without any traditions at all. Well i t is true that we do not make our President wear a cocked hat, nor even a chain of office, but never- theless we have developed some very pleasant traditions and one of them is that as a mark of our great appreciation every President is presented with his portrait at the conclusion of his year of office. This has the great advantage, of course, that all Presidents are treated the same; if they do not like it they cannot blame anyone but themselves. I t is also the great privilege of the Immediate Past President to make this presentation and I cannot help thinking now of exactly a year ago when I crept into the house at night, carrying a large parcel, and tiptoed up the stairs making for an old box room we have at the top of the house. Unfortu- nately 1 was waylaid on the way and from that day to this the portrait has ceased to be my property at all. The only thing that happened was that my son, who is by way of being an amateur photographer, looked at it and said “Well, they have touched it up pretty well, haven’t they!” As far as I can see it is up to the usual standard this year but, however

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that may be, we give it to you, Mr. Taylor, as a mark of appreciation. What you choose to do with it tomorrow is none of our business. I would warn you that it is extremely likely that Mr. Sonn has a copy of it.

A second tradition seems to be growing up- purely an accident, I think--that this meeting is held on this particular day and the Dairy Show opens with a new President of the Society of Dairy Technology-another rather pleasant tradition. What I would like Mr. Taylor to do when he gets home tonight is to take a glass and put some- thing into it-I imagine it would probably be an amber coloured fluid-wait unt i l the clock strikes midnight and then drink a toast, partly as relief that his labours have finished and partly to wish success to our new President, and as you drink that toast, Mr. Taylor, you may reflect that al- though it has been hard work it has been a job very well done. You have left the Society’s affairs in a very sound condition and you have been an excellent Chairman of the Council. We tend to be very garrulous and you never failed to bring us back to a commonsense path. 1 think all Council members have noticed that you have not tried to do the easy things of the moment-all the time you have been thinking of the future welfare of the Society. Apart from that you took charge of our Annual Conference, visited the Sections, have been pleasant to everybody with your own particular brand of humour, and in fact, Mr. President, you have done everything we could have expected you to do and we are extremely grateful to you. So on behalf of all our Members and as a token of our thanks and best wishes 1 ask you to accept this portrait.’ (Prolongedapphse) . The President: ‘Professor Crossley, Ladies and Gentlemen: I cannot hope to match the eloquence

of Professor Crossley, indeed it would not be up to me to do so. 1 must thank him straight away for the very kind things he has said about me. If 1 have done the job to your satisfaction well then, I my- self am well satisfied. Professor Crossley said that when he took his portrait home he indicated any- way that it was his property, well, I am not doing that. I shall take this home and hand it over to the person to whom it belongs because my wife chose this particular photograph. I f she does not like it there is no comeback to me. I am reminded, I think it was Dr. Smith who said that this picture at least gives us an opportunity of seeing ourselves as others see us. Well, if that is so 1 must be satisfied since my wife, aided by my Secretary, chose it, and if that is the way the fair sex see me, again 1 am quite happy about it. What I shall do with it, or what m y wife does with i t , I cannot tell you. There was a suggestion thrown out this morning to me, I hope without any malice, that of course it would make an excellent tea tray, but the suggestion was then followed up and they said “of course you would have to cover it up.”

Well now, ladies and gentlemen, time is getting on so I will conclude by once again thanking Professor Crossley for the kind things he said about me and also thank you, the Council, the Section Officers and all the members for the support that you have giving me during the year. I would not say the job is an easy one but nevertheless 1 have enjoyed every moment of it. 1 am sorry I did not get round to two of the Sections but I will try and put that right during the year. Finally, 1 would like to say to Mr. Hillman that I will do everything I can to support him during his year of office by attending as many of the meetings as I am able to. That, I think, ladies and gentlemen, is all 1 have to say, thank you very much.’

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A F T E R N O O N SESSION

The President: ‘Before we proceed to the main business of the afternoon I want, first of all, to extend to our overseas visitors, of whom there are quite a number here this afternoon, a very cordial welcome to our proceedings. 1 do hope they will “make themselves at home” and also that they will feel perfectly free to take part in the discussion or put questions after the paper.

Secondly, among our overseas visitors here is a very old friend of mine, Mr. John Bryant, and I think the members would like me to offer him our sincere congratulations on being awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Society of Dairy Techno- logy for the meritorious work he has carried out for dairying generally. I will not ask him to reply; he is well known to many of you, he has done a lot of work for the dairy industry, he is a founder and Past-President of the Australian Society and is of course a world-wide traveller. Not only does he pick up a lot of information, but he is never hesitant to impart that information to anybody with whom he comes into contact. (Applause).

This afternoon we are to have a paper on “Mar- ket Milk Organization in New Zealand” given to us by Mr. Twomey, the Superintendent of Market

Milk of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture in New Zealand. Mr. Twomey was born in Southern Ireland and he received his early education in dairy science in the University College of Cork where he qualified in 1932. For some years after that he gained experience in Irish creameries and milk plants and he was for some time Manager of our Milk Marketing Board‘s Camborne Cream- ery. Later, just after the war, I think, he accepted his present appointment as Superintendent of Market Milk in New Zealand. Among his duties is the supervision of the Dominion’s Milk Treatment Stations and collaboration with the New Zealand Milk Board and other authorities on most aspects of milk marketing and organization. During the time he has been in New Zealand, some nine years, he has seen the market milk industry of that country revolutionized. He is, at the moment, visiting England as part of a very extensive world tour where he is studying milk plants and systems of milk procurement, milk treatment, distribution and control. I need say no more and with these few words of introduction I will now ask Mr. Twomey to give us his paper.’ (Applause).

MARKET M I L K O R G A N I Z A T I O N IN N E W Z E A L A N D B Y T . P . J . TWOMEY

Superintendent of Market Milk, Dairy Division, Department of Agriculture, New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION To the casual observer the organization of a market milk supply in New Zealand would appear to be a simple matter. Such an observer might even query why any organization at all is necessary when New Zealand is such an extensive producer of milk. New Zealand’s milk supply, however, is a seasonal one and the production of milk is geared to the production of dairy products, not the production of milk for town supply. In most other dairying countries some system of controlled milk marketing has had to be developed to restrain the flood of surplus manufacturing milk into the liquid milk market. In New Zealand controlled marketing had to be developed to attract milk to the liquid mar- ket. In England, the Milk Marketing Board came into existence in 1933; in New Zealand the need for equivalent action did not arise in earnest until 1943, ten years later. Milk Marketing problems in New Zealand, where eighty-eight per cent of the milk is manufactured and only twelve per cent is sold as liquid, are radically different from those arising in

England where the opposite proportions apply. The lack of milk in the major cities, the lack of

security for the town milk producer and the lack of properly equipped milk treatment stations or dairies all combined in 1943 to demonstrate forcibly to the Government that some system of controlled milk marketing was overdue. A Milk Commission was appointed to investigate the problem and its findings were used as the basis on which the present structure of the market milk industry was estab- lished. The basic organization established in 1944 is still substantially the same as that in operation today.

Two Acts of Parliament have served to give the organization of the Milk Industry its present form. One, the Marketing Act, was already on the statute books in 1943 and gave the Government the necessary powers to introduce the National Milk Scheme. The other, the Milk Act, was a new introduction and became law in 1944. When pre- sented as a Bill designed as a blue print for the reorganization of the town milk industry it met