MR BOWRON'S LECTURE.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 509, 31 May 1881, Page 3

MR BOWRON'S LECTURE.

On Saturday Mr Bowron, the well known lecturer on dairy management,, delivered; an address. in the Oddfellows Ha 1, Akaroa. The meeting was he d under theauspices of the Banks Peninsula Fanners Club, which body had requested Mr Bowron to pay this place a visit, a request te which that gentleman had promptly responded. J. D. Garwood, Esq, Mayor of Akaroa, occupied the chair, and in introducing Mr Bowron said that though many pleasing duties had fallen to his lot as Mayor, the one he was then performing was the most gratifying to him. Mr Bowron then came forward, and commenced by expressing tho pleasure it gave him to meet them. He was an old Marnier. The lecturer next gave a racy and amusing account of his first coming to London as a Yorkshire lad, expecting to find the streets paved with gold ; how he ..went into the business of buying and sailing cheese ; and finally, how he took a farm and commenced producing the article himself, at the same time buying from his neighbors. He would say at the outset that he did not think they would do any good by exporting butter to London. There were only three months of the year when it would be saleable in that market, viz., December, January, and February. It might then fetch Is or Is Id a lb. It was questionable whether this price would pay them However, he bad sent some home himself, and when he got a full report he would let them know tbe result through the papers. (Cheers.) They had another and a nearer market, and that was India He thought it quite possible that it might pay to send butter there in 61b and 121b tins. Their sheet anchor was cheese, and he had never seen a place equal to this fonts production. They had three or four of the grandest grasses under the sun which flourished luxuriantly on their breezy hillsides. It was most probable that the Quality of their milk was the same. They must make their cheese all o£ the same quality, and that must be good. There was the same expense for freight, etc., whether the article were good or bad. lie knew they could make good cheese, as he .- had seen it. The cheese, be had seen ought to fetch 66s to 70s in the London market. He was aware that it was a very difficult matter to make good cheese. Me could go through twenty dairies at Home * and only find one that was really good. Taking the general run of their dairies, lie could compare them favorably with an equal number in Somerset. If it were convenient he would say start a factory. The factory system possessed great aavartages. They could make their cheese then lust of the size that was most suitable and could ensure uniformity in quality and color. The best size, he tnought, was from 561b to 601b He k would strongly recommend them to have ***n factory, if only on a small scale, say IoU i cows. Let them get a good man-never mind tho cost-and their sons would be able to learn in the factory. Ihe size ho had recommended, that about ha f-a-hun-dredweigbt, packed well, travelled well, and sold well. . , Another important point was, when they had their cheese made, how long to ■fc, keep it before sending it away. In this great judgment was required. Sometimes one cheese wou d ripen three months before another. Ihey must not keep them till they were ripe. _ When they got ripe they began to deteriorate. His impression was that cheese should be sent away about ten or twelve weeks after it was made. It was better to send it away too early than too late. If too ripe, the heat of the tropics would bring out the bad qualities of the cheese, and these would never go out again. • Another question was as to whom they ebould send the cheese to. If it was consigned to a general merchant tbe charges would be very high, and too little attention would be bestowed on it. They should **" - have some man at Home who would receive •the cheese, take each one out of its box arrange it well, and classify it according to quality. Then he would send for the wholesale cheesemonger, and the whole would be &old at its value according to quality. In conclusion, he bad no other object in coming thero than to do them good. II he could give them any information whiel would be of service to them he would be happy to do so. He was now ready to Answer aby questions, aud if any of them wanted to quarrel with his opinions, he

was prepared for a stand-up fight. (Applause.) In answer to questions, Mr Bowron said it was quite true that, on passing a saleroom and seeing some cheese, he had said if that was a sample of the cheese to be sent Home, it had better go to the bottom of the sea. It was a very bad thing- f" r n new article of commerce to get a bad name to start with. This bad been the case with American cheese, and it was a long time before it recovered its good name It some cases he would approve of the cream of the night's milk being taken off. It was done in some rich dairies. With regardtoStiltoncheese.it might pay them to make a few for the Christchurch market, but not for export. Mr Bowron here described its manufacture, which certainly did not consist of putting the night's cream into the morning milk. He would not advise any on 3 to start its manufacture, except on a small scale and for local requirements. With regard to a factory, if they < had any dairies skirting the harbor and within a mile of it, there would bo no difficulty whatever in collecting the milk from them. In America it was often driven five miles. Let them get milk down to 62 dogs, and it would keep sweet for twenty-four hours. ! As to packing cheese ; if they had suitable wood, he would recommend a round hoop. In any case let there be one cheese only in a box. The Americans tried every other plan but they had to come to that at last.

. With regard to dairies, it was of great importance to have proper dairies. For a good' dairy they needed plenty of water running through it, plenty of space, and plenty of air. The dairy should have a right aspect, and they must work by the thermometer. If the whey got into the cheese they could never get it out again. With a proper degree of warmth the whey gradually went away; otherwise it got fixed and the cheese was spoiled. As yet he had not seen a good dairy here, ahough he had seen a good cheese-loft. For his part he preferred an old loft with plenty of darkness and cobwebs about it. Those were best that were shaded by trees. In explanation of his preference for Somerset over Cheshire cheese, the lecturer detailed his experience in the two counties. He had come to the couclusion that the difference lay more in the way the cheese was manufactured than in the land. He bad seen as good Somerset cheese in New Zealand as anywhere. Therefore, he said what one man had done another could do.

As to their pasture, it was simply wonderful. In time of a severe drought, he had seen milking cows with rolls of fat on them. Their beef and mutton were emalto any in England. Let them make use of their magnificent climate ; every blade of grass would be turned into gold. It did no harm to put curd left over one day into tho next day's cheese,where coloring was not used, When it is employed, care must be taken, or the cheese might show streaks of different color. As to temperature, they should never allow it to run higher than 86. The curd should not set under an hour. If it came sooner either the temperature was too high, or there was too much rennet. The rennet was a very important point. If they had their own calves, he should strongly advise them to make their own. As to the breed of cattle, their cows were a grand breed. They were decidedly on the right track in that respect. He would bo proud of such two and three-year-olds as he had seen here. Mr VV. Barnett after explaining how it was that Mr Bowron had been indu ed to come among them, moved a vote of thanks to that gentleman for his very interesting lecture. Mr Duxbury regretted seeing so few present. The hall ought to have been full. It Avas, however, unfortunate that the County Council met that day, and there was also an election meeting in Pigeon B.iy. He was very glad to hear Mr Bowron's opinion as to tho quality of their cheese, but was aware there was still room for improvement, especially in their dairy buildings. He had great pleasure in seconding the vote of thanks. The motion was carried by acclamation.

Mr Bowron, in res-ponding, assured them that it hnd given him great p'casure to be there that day. He would always be happy lo give them any advice. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings