The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6. OUR DAIRIES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 563, 6 December 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6. OUR DAIRIES.

TtiE Farmers' Club meeting on Saturday, if not a very satisfactory one in some respects, was so in others. The attendance, for example, was very large, and those present, though of course much disappointed at the result of the Orari shipment, seemed willing and ready to enter into any new arrangement for the public good.

The letter from the Industrial Exhibition Committee regarding the showing of cheese on the 16th of December evoked considerable interest, and many present declared their intention of competing, and the consequence was that the club very wisely decided to offer three prizes, in addition to that given by tho Industrial Exhibition Committee. Judging l ton\ what we heard, we should expect a splendid show of our staple product, and this is the more to be desired, now that there is no Agricultural and Pastoral Show en Banks Peni'su'a.

The worthy president, however, and several other gentlemen want something more than this They think that a handsome prize should be off red for the best kept dairy, and that farmers should be asked to throw open their premises for inspection for this purpose. They very wisely argue that those who can make really first-class cheese should show the methods they pursue to their less successful brethren, and propose this prize should be given so that those desirous of improving their knowledge of cheese-making should know where to go to see a really good article turned ont. It was pointed out by several that it would not in any way injure the farmer posessei of superior knowledge to impart it, but that, on the contrary, it would benefit him, as by raising the character of the Peninsula cheese generally, he would be able to get a higher price for his own, and as one gentleman said : " If we could all make similar cheese it would be much better for export, fur they always get higher prices from the cheese factories, for that reason, and as i do not expect we shall have a cheese factory here for a long time, we should arrange for our cheese to have a distinctive character, and be as much alike as possible." Now, we hope that it will not be long before we have a cheese factory, but in the meantime let us do what the speaker recommends. We most heartily concur in the movement taken up by the Farmers' Club on this question and shall be anxious to help them in every possible way. We may mention that we think that we can do some good by visiting the principal dairies of the Peninsula and describing them, and giving full particulars of the way in which cheese is manufactured in each. It is our full intention to commence a series of articles of this sort shortly, and we hope farmers will help us in our task by giving t;e idlest information possible, remembering that our only object in (seeking for the information is to contribute to the good of the Peninsula.