OUR DAIRIES.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 679, 16 January 1883, Page 2

OUR DAIRIES.

Mit McKay's, at Pigeon Bay

Of the many pleasant rides on the Peninsula, one of the most delightful is that to Pigeon Bay by tho old road. After the journey to the Head of the Bay, the track winds up the side of the hill through very picturesque country till the summit is reached, whence one of the finest views on the Peninsula is obtained. The whole panorama of the Harbor stretches on one side, the bold Heads standing out in strong relief against the waters of the Pacific. The Christchurch road winding up from Bairy's Bay to the pass by an easy gradient, the homesteads in the valley, the little lakes in the bosom of the hills, are nearer objects which attract one's attention; and on the other side the broad green slopes of Pigeon Bay stretch down to the sea, whilst in the distance tower the lofty summits of the Kaikouras. It is a pretty steep path that leads from tho summit down, but at any rate there is little time lost in going round curves to reach Mr McKay's gale. The houses of Mr McKay and bis son Mr G. McKay, are very pleasantly situated in a most sheltered situation, and in both cases have well-fenced gardens in front. Mr McKay came to New Zealand in 1859, and after living a short time in Pigeon Bay took up a part of the land he at present occupies, and has resided there ever since, adding to his property from time to time. In those early days food was scarce and the country very rough, and much privation was endured before tilings settled into their present pleasant state. As a matter of course the land was all bush, and the clearing fell very heavily on the earlier settlers; but the land is now heavily grassed, though for many years to come the big trunks will show what labor was necessary to make it productive. When they first settled on the original 25 acres purchased, the fern was so high that they had great difficulty indeed in finding their cow amongst it. Potatoes were their principal article of diet, and their first beef purchased from the Rev. R. R. Bradley, was rolled up the hill in a cask with great difficulty, but wasn't it enjoyed when they did get it home at last 1 There are many English trees and a few gums about the homestead, and Mr McKay has a lot of young Norwegian pines coming up, which he imported himself, and of whose good qualities he expects great things, as even at Home they grow so rapidly that they make useful spars in 7 or 8 years, and no doubt in our more favored country they will do even belter. The house was built by Mr McKay himself, who was originally a cooper, but is so handy that he found little difficulty in finding out how to do any work that was needed. The timber was of course sawn on the place, and the very bricks for the chimney were manufactured there, so that it was a pure case of- local production. The garden is Mrs McKay's peculiar delight and care, and she has collected many choice shrubs and flowers, that in years to come promise to be very beautiful. There are quite a mass of buildings at the homestead. First, there are the two dwelling-houses, Mr Geo. McKay's being only two or three chains off. The dairy itself is large and commodious, being- 26ft by 28ft. It in admirably situated in a cool hollow, that renders il peculiarly adapted for the purpose for which it was intended. This is the second dairy that has had to be built, for the first one was carried away by ths bursting of one of the mountain lakes above, which came down the creek and carried it away. Luckily the torrent swept by the side of the dwelling-house, and left it uninjured. The present dairy is divided into two rooms, in one of which thecheeso is made and in the other stored. Above these rooms is ft spacious store-room. Everywhere one sees the traces of Mr McKay's ingenuity. Of course some of the presses are the usual iron ones, but that where the cheese gets its final squeeze is a lever one, made by that gentleman. It has much greater power than the other, and is as neatly put together as such a thing could be. The big cheese vat is of totara, tongued and grooved in the American style, and, like the chessets and other tubs and vals, were also made by Mr Mc Kay. Close to the dairy is the carpenter's shop, and hero wo saw another proof of his ingenuity, in the shape of a new curdcutting machine. The iron wheels were part of a machine once brought here by the celebrated •• Harry Head," which Mr McKay has adapted to their present use. Tho pegs on the cylinder are barely the eighth of an inch apart, and are expected to make the curd very fine in going through once. A very ingenious winnowing machine was also shown to our reporter. Adjoining the carpenter's shop is the stable. The latter, and indeed every available space, is full of some of the best rye grass hay it has been our reporter's lot to see. The stockyard and cowshed are excellent, and we had a laugh at a very ingenious patent for keeping the cows tails out of the milk buckets. The washhouse at the back of the dwelling-hcuse is fitted with an excellent boiler and a baker's oven, from which a batch of 501b of excellent bread had just been taken. It is not usual to make so much, as only the family are supplied, but in the grass-seeding time there are a lot of hands about. Here were hanging up some excellent fishing nets, also Mr McKay's work. The next place visited was the blacksmith's shop, which is well fitted in the usual manner. Mr McKay explained to us that he had this erected because when a chain broke they had to go all the way to the Head of the Bay to get the link mended, and so lost a great deal of time. Now any job of that sort can be done at the place. Here Mr McKay showed us some waggon wheels he had made of kowai, which had done hard work for sixteen years, and had never hail a shed over them. They looked as good as ever, and no doubt will do many years service in the future. This shows what some of our New Zealand wood is capable of when properly seasoned and put together. The waier supply is abundant and excellent. It is taken from a spring, and is, like Mr McDonald.s, of Wainui, very cold and clear in the hottest weather. The house is supplied by a pipe, the water from which falls into a tub, from which a waste pipe runs into a small ; rtificial pond, whore a number of young

trout are raised. Pieces of decayed meat are suspended over this pond, the maggets from which drop into the water, and are eagerly devoured by the voracious youngsters, who are very lively, and do exceeding credit to their keep. It is now three years since Mr McKay first took trout to his farm. There are two natural ponds or lakes in the hollows of the hills above the house, and Mr McKay being a Highlander, and mindful of tho well stocked mountain lochs in his own land, determined to make them useful. He therefore got some Scotch and American trout, and they did well in their new home. He went to great trouble in making races for them to spawn in, but he found that a sort of water beetle in the upper ponds bit the eggs and killed the young fish. There are none of these pests in the pond by the house, so he intends in future to lear the young ones there, and this season he will strip the trout in the same way as they doat Christchurch, and remove the fish when of an ago to take care of themselves to the upper ponds. There are 280 acres in tho place altogether, and three houses, tho third being situated at the top of the section, and occupied by Mr Knox, who has married one of Mr McKay's daughters. At the homestead 31 cows are now being milked, and at Mr Knox's 21. Besides the cows there are some 50 head of dry cattle on the place, and Mr G. McKay has just received a present of a splendid pedigree bull calf from Mr W. Get>bie. 20 calves have been reared. The cattle are good, and the cows milking very well, averaging 3 gallons of milk a day each, so that about 150lbs of cheese are made daily, 90 at the lower and 60 at the upper dairy. There are 70 acres of cocksfoot shut up for seed. Mr G. McKay has also some sheep always running there, as he soils meat in the bay. He generally kills a bullock a week as well as tho sheep. There is a good dairy at the upper farm, and the cheese is made exactly in the same way at both places, for Mrs Knox used to be the cheese-maker at home before she married. Mrs George McKay, assisted by her husband, is the present cheese-maker at the homestead. Both dairies are exquisitely clean and tidy, and fitted with all sorts of handy labor-saving appliances. The process of cheese making is as follows:—The milk is set in pans at night. In the morning they are skimmed, and the cream wanned with milk and added. There is no water used to lower the temperature of the milk, for it ia such a cool place that it is usually from 60 to 65 degrees in the morning. When thetwomi ; kingsare mixed together the whole is set at 84 degrees, or if cold a little higher. Hansen's extract is used. After an hour's rest it is broken up, and as soon as the whey is run off it is heated to 90, then allowed to settle, and afterwards raised from 100 to 102, according to the weather. There is no sour whey added at all in any weather. As soon as the curd settles, after stirring to let all the whey run off, it is cut into squares, half being put in the dripper and the rest put in the tub for cooling. When it is down to 70 degrees it is put in the dripper and pressed gently for an hour, sometimes longer. It is then taken out of the dripper, and ground into a bath, lifted in and weighed, and the salt added. It is generally put into the vats about 3 p.m., and left in the iron press till next morninc No dry cloth is put on that night as it has a tendency to put too much skin on tho cheese. In tho morning it is put in the wooden press for greater pressure. After being three times shitted in the wooden press, it is bandaged, put in the iron press again for half a day, and then placed on the shelves. The whole process occupies from two days to two days and a half. As before stated, the show of cheese is one that for evenness and quality it would be hard to equal anywhere. Our reporter could tell more of Mr McKay's ingenuity, how he built a splendid boat in Gough's Bay, invented a new washing machine, and did ot : ier things worthy of note, but space forbids further extension. He can only return his thanks to both Mr McKay, Mr G. McKay, and the ladies for their kindness and hospitality, and conclude by saying that if all the land on the Peninsula were as well managed as that 280 acres, it would indeed be a wealthy and prosperous district.