Successful Co-operation.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 340, 14 February 1902, Page 1

Successful Co-operation.

UP-TO-DATE BUTTER FACTORY,

Wellington, Feb. 12. The Rongotea Co-operative Dairy Company has long been regarded as one oi the most successful co-operative dairying concerns in the colony. The remarkable success which has attended dairy farming in this, the most favoured corner oi the Oroua Downs estate, demanded a faotory capable of dealing with the product m an up-to-date manner, and if the first factory of the company lacked such a necessary modern dairying appliance as a freezer, the fine supply of artesian water readily available in the district partly made up the deficiency, and enabled butter of good quality to be manufactured. The rapid growth of the milk supply soon, however, demanded a larger manufacturing depot, and recently one of the most compact and, up-to-date factories in the colony has replaced the old structure, which now stands in the centre of the quaint little village of Rongotea as a monument to the tirst heroic band of settlers by whose brave and laborious exertions the district has been converted from a dense forest to a group of well-stocked dairy farms, some of which are under cultivation, and present all the appearance of the most modern farm, with good residences and out-buildmgs, well-stocked orchards and gardens, and everything conducive to profit, and enjoyment. The present factory is a reflex of the general air of prosperity which pervades the settlement. , . There are two things in the factory building to call for special attention—the roomy butter room and the skim-milk tanks alongside the receiving pMorrn. This latter arrangement is rather different from the plan generally adopted, and possesses the great advantage that the manager can superintend the. work of leceiving and attend to the skun-milk distribution at the same time. . The apportioning and weighing of the skim-milk is the most novel, and at the same time, one of the most satisfactory plans in vogue in the colony. The general rule is to have only one skim-milk can, and the suppliers have to wait in a row, and lose thereby a certain amount of time, whereas by having five cans, as at Kongotea, five carts can be backed up, and test work goes on without interruption. The weighing of the milk is managed by an ingenious arrangement invented by Mr Car Anderson, a former chairman of directors. It is on the principle of a steel-yard. The skim-milk can hangs from one end, and on a plate suspended from the other end are put squares of iron, each one representing a gallon. When ihe can contains the correct weight of the milk a spring is released and a gong is strrek, which calls the attendant, who turns off the supply, and turns on the tap. over the next can, the supply-pipe running over all the cans. The only drawback to this system in comparison with other weights is that it requires continuous attention, whereas such a inachino as Marchbant's is perfectly automatic, and also moarares the milk instead of weighing, a sysiem which does away with the froth difficiltyv H.9we v er, tbs simple Eongoiea Ulolici *IS finding favour, and has already teen adopted by several other factories. Other appliances in tie factory are equally up-to-date. The milk hoist is worked by steam, and cram is elevated to a splendid cooler and tha cream vats by a Sabre elevator. Six 400-gillon separators are required to deal with the milk, the largest separating plant under one roof in the colony. Is is to this concentration of the milk supply that the Rmgotea factory principally owes the repitation it has established for its butter,