Dairy Industry.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1922, Page 4

Dairy Industry.

CANADA AND NEW ZEALAND. SOAIE -C OAIPAIIISON S. Air J. A. Riuklot-h, Chief Diiiry Commissioner, Canada, in a pamphlet gives seme, interesting comparisons between Canadian and New Zealand Dairying. He says: “1 am afraid we have reached the point where it must he admitted that New Zealand exports are larger than ours, and- that we now have to take second place among the cheese ex porting countries of the world. 1 believe that New Zealand is destined l be the greatest dairying country in tieworld, and f will give you some of the reasons why 1 think so. “At the present time sheep-raising is s' ill the largest industry, but tin great rise in land values makes it difficult for anyone to purchase good land at prevailing prices and raise sheep profitably. There will be largo areas of rough upland unsuitable foi dairying which will continue to be sheep country, but the more fertile areas are being fast converted into dairy farms. Whenever the high priced land as to change bands it generally goes into dairying. “New Zealand will never be a great cereal country. Production of cereals is only about sufficient for borne requirements. During the war they imported wheat from Canada. Over the greater part of the North Island the rainfall is so frequent and so excessive as to make even the curing of hay a difficult matter. Dairying seems to be about the only business for which large areas of" the country are suitable.

“The climate is favourable with no extremes of temperature. AX’o have as cold weather in Ontario in Octoboi as they ever have at any time of the war, except at high altitudes, and the hottest weather is about like ours in .June. The cows are at pasture the year round, and very little feeding is required in any part of the country; mile at all in the greater part of the North Island. There is no large outlay for harms or stables. A milking shed is the extent of the building on most dairy farms. As a rule the wholearea' of the farm is in grass. The dairy farmer and his family have nothing to do but milk the cows and deliver" the milk at the factory. This permits of the handling of large herds.

“In 1920, there were 381 factories that manufactured cheese and 103 that manufactured butter. Alost of these factories have dual plants and can turn out either lmttcr or elieesc. They are for th.e mo-=t part organised on a cooperative basis. The creameries operate chiefly on the whole milk plan; in some cases with contributory skimming stations. The centralised creamery as we have it on this continent practically does not exist. Both cheese factories and creameries average very much larger outputs than ours do. Out of a total of-153 creameries in 1920. two had an output of over three and a half million pounds each, and eight others made over one million pounds ot butter. There wore 384 cheese factories in operation that year, of which tk

jnado nvcr 800 tons, 59 made 375 tons, 9 iWade over 500 'tons, ail'd 1 over 1000 ions.”