Mr Bowron's Lecture.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 44, 15 September 1883, Page 2

Mr Bowron's Lecture.

I . — * — According; to announcement, MrW. Bowron, the Government Lecturer or. I Cheese and Butter Factories, mads hi? I appearance in the Tovrn Hall on ThnrsI day evening. Having been forbidden by j his medical adviser to exert his 7ocal powers for some considerable time, ha 1 bad committed his lecture to writing. The attendance was fairly good, about 100 persons being present. ' i On the motion of Mr Fry, the Mayor : was voted to the chair, and, apologising' for the indisposition of Mr Bowron, " called upon Mr Sherwill to read the I address which the lecturer bad prepared, and which rao as follows : — Gentlemen. — T have seen much of th-j world, but I have no recollection r? seeing any part which is more favourable for the production of cheese and butter than New Zealand is. AH the elements of success are at your disposal. A vigorous virgin soil, well watered witk - running brooks, fountains, and bxosc " rivers ; and, 1 may add, a climate second to none in the world. In my estimation New Zealand for dairy produce is preferable to either England or America. There the winters are long and severe-,. often sealed up in frost and snow for tw-"> > or three months. Their grass season i r » not calculated upon more than six ex seven months in the year. You havo grass the ytar xvund, and winter appear? to be known only by the shortness c': the day and longer of the night. The advantages of Factories oynr small dairies are many. Supposing there are twenty small dairies of from '■iO to 30 cows each purposing to tnv.V.~ cheese. Twenty dairies must be built, twenty applinnces purchased ; and twenty skilled persons to superintend. &\i agreeing to contribute their niilk, otio factory will do; one plant; and «•<? skilled person to superintend the Wholf process. There are many other advantages. A great deal of anxious fcs.fi. work is cleared away from the- fr.nr. house, and a better quality of chee»* Iproduced in the fnctory, size, colour, «a: quality much a like. .. The experience of years proves tbni medium sized factories are better ih*.o. large ones — that i», a dairy or • facto ry with 4UO cows is better than.; the one with 800. The milk is nearer to its destination, and is de ivered earlier in the morn ing, which is of great importance. One person delivering milk late, may, delay the whole operations, and prove injurious to the whole The main point is, will it paj? The cheeseuiakers of England, for many generations, say, yes, it will pay. America, during the last thirty year*, hat built 2000> factories, and it says, " Cheese is gold." Annually fruui three to four millions of British gold i» exchanged for American cheese. < heese factories sounded the death knell of the truck system in America. There never was, and never will be a prosperous community where batter and eggs are exchanged for crockery, chickens for salt and sugar, and bales of wool for ready-made garments. Fifty tons of good cheese will return you 3700 British sovereigns. ; Will it pay P Whatis the value of one cow ? Her value is determined by the quantity of milk she will give, and that depends upon the grass you feed with. A fair average cow will give you two gallons of milk per day during 4o weeks. That is 560 Ration*, at 4d, is £9 t» 8d the farmer receives. How fares the factory? s©> gallons of milk represents about 5 cwt of uheese. That amount, at 60s per owt or 6id per lb,will realise for the factory £15 per cow. That will leave £5 13s 4d profit for the factory, and if the pigs are well managed, they wi'l pay working expenses. [ ask any man of business, will it pay ? Reason and common sense respond, yes, it will pay. - V ' There is one important matter which ought not to be lost tight of, which may assist the directors of every factory in their calculations. The weight off one gallon of milk is lOibs Sou, which if we take the average of one season, and the cheeses are disposed of at the age of ten weeks, will be found equivalent to lib of cheese. If kepUonger than 10 weeks, ifc will be found that lOlbs lloss will be ch«e<te. Cheese losea weight considerably in the transit, and butter also. The contract with the farmer ought to be 10 Jibs to every gallon. A few ounces is nothing to the farmer, but important ta the company. The farmers who take up the shares will reap the advantage of their own liberality. - Bacon at no distant day is destined to occupy a prominent position as an article of export from New Zetland. I fear no contradiction when I state the climate of New Zealand is the finest in the world for pig breeding or feeding. Where one is now fattened, hundreds may be, and no> animal grows into money quicker than the pig. It is no uncommon thing for sv pig six months old te weigh IGOlbs. That is just the weight required for London market. All that is required is a few Wi tsbire Bneoa curera and the refrigerator ; then they could oure in the hottest weather, as they do at home. I think ifc would be well for the Cheese Factories to have a Wiltshire bacon curer working in the factory. Then at. the end of the season he could slaughter, the pigs and turn them into bacon. I wonld add for the encouragement of all whonre interested in these new projects that there is no Island on the face of th» earth which has brighter prospects than. New Zealand has. Your mountains and mines are stores of wealth, but often difficult to find and win, and are soon exhausted. The vegetable kingdom is & perpetual mine of wealth which can never be exhausted. So long as the clouds wevp and the sun shines yon and your children from generation to generation may gather rich harvests of gold from every blade of grass which grows. Mr Sberwill added a few remarks relative to the proposed Peilding Cheese and Butter Factory, and said 961 shares had been already subscribed for, but unless 1300 were, taken OP the thing would not succeed, and (beclireotorate wonld not be prepared (6 make, a start, f The great objection people had. in going ' into dairy business for themselves was that they had to take their produce out in eoods, but one gieat advantage to them of the factory would be that they wonld get ready money. He. strongly urged the farmer* and settlers to take up shares, as the factory would be the best thing for everybody that had eter been introduced into the district. M r Saxon suggested that some person should go, round in the meeting and see -hat additional shares would be taken, up. ./ , ... Mr Sh.rwill a«krd Mr Bowron what a factory for 800 oo« s would be likely to cost. ■■..(.' ■•- '■ ■■- .•;-:•■.>■• v •• - Mrr Bowron said it - would probably coat /about £1200. They had Qaly to

make a start, and they were sure to succeed. He had taken a view of the district, and spoke very highly of it as being suited in every way for the purpose. Indeed he knew of none more so. H«? had great faith in it and was certain that Cheddar cheese could be made here as good as in England. He had received letters from large cheese merchants m London, expressing their astonishment that thousands of tons were not sent Home from New Zealand. He himself was astonished that the farmers took so little interest in t c matter. An agricultural district was bound to be a prosperous one. He related instances of the great profits that had been derifed by individuals from dairy produce, and there was not a spot on the earth that had such prospects as this country if people would only look after their interests. He instanced cases in tbe South Island in which farmers had got clean out of debt and difficulty with a good margin to spare as the result of their income from factories. The farmers about here, he could not help saying, were evidently asleep. France was drawing £3,000,000 annually from London for dairy produce, the articles being of such good qaality ; and there would be quite as great a demand for that of New Zealand. Mr Bowron then invited questions. Mr Saxon again suggested that the meeting be canvassed, and offered to do it himself. Mr J. C Thompson very strongly urged those present to take up shares, j and those who had taken some to in- j crease their number. He had taken a number himself, and would put down his name for as many more. j Mr Sberwill explained at some length \ the prospectus of the company, and j pointed out that for a factory for 300 cows, even if only half the proposed capital was subscribed, the thing could be started, and the balance of the capital left for working the concern. Mr Saxon spoke of the importance of the farmers taking the matter up and becoming the proprietors of the factory. He believed the suggestion, made at one of the meetings of tlie directorate, that they or some 10 or 12 gentlemen should buy the affair up, would not answer, as farmers might take offence at something or other, and refuse to send their milk, which they would not do if they had a direct interest in the concern. A number of persons them came forward and signed the. application form, and it was announced that over 80 additional shares were thus applied for. A number of questions of minor importanec were asked by various farmers and others, which were replied to by Mr Bowron. Mr Saxon suggested that if all the required shares were not subscribed that night the affair be at once wound up Mr Sherwill would deeply regret this, a<t there was a good prospect of its get ting started. Mr F. Brrce agreed with Mr Saxon. Mr P. Bartholomew said it was a matter for the provisional directors to decide, and not a public meeting. Mr Fry spoke to the same effect. Mr J. C. Thompson proposed that as the directors had been ereatly encouiaged by the number of shares taken up that night, they be requested to carry it on, and that the meeting had every confidence in the directorate. Mr Sherwill objected to a matter which only coucerned the directorate being discussed in a public meeting. Mr Lewers had no doubt that if need should be persons would contribute towards the expenses, and thought that should be considered, and the question of expense not) be allowed to retard the project. Mr Thompson altered his proposition to read, that thin meeting has full confidence in the directors, mnd asks them to do what they consider for the best. 'I his was seconded by Mr Dermer, and carried unanimously. Mr J. C. Thompson proposed, and Mr Bartholomew seconded a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Bowron for his address and the valuable counsel he had given. This was carried with acclamation, and rotes of thanks to the chairman and Mr Sherwill brought the proceedings to a

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