DAIRYING INDUSTRY IN KENYA.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 January 1926, Page 4

DAIRYING INDUSTRY IN KENYA.

'Lo dairying industry of Kenya is Beginning to develop. Up till the present time cattle breeding has been carried on .quite extensively, some 20.000 lie-nil (icing owned by Europeans ; pigs for bacon are also reared, and a factory is .operated for the manufacture ot bacon and hams. No serious attempt has, however, been made to breed cows lor milking purposes or to malnifaeture butter on a large scale. Me learn from the “Primary Producers’ News” that a new step has lately been taken by Kenya, settlers in this

direction. Some months ago a local syndicate was formed, and the services of an expert obtained to investigate tlie possibilities of the dairy industry. Mr Hazelton, previously manager of the Co-operative Butter Factory, Wauthu|>e. Hastings River, New South Wales, undertook the investigation. After studying the position for a month -Mr Hazelton came to the conclusion that the pasture in the Rift Valley area 'was unlimited, and that with good stock there should be no difficulty in producing up to 150 tons of butter per week. Ho laid great stress on the importance of the individual, and on the co-operative spirit strengthened by increased settlement, and suggested that the pastures should be cut into small holdings, 509 acres on an average —each under the direct supervision of a white man capabfe of securing the I best results. Criticising the results at present obtained, Mr Hazelton stated |

that though pure bred cattle ran true, their milk-yielding capacity was small, and they were not prolific. Allowing for different areas and different altitudes, he considered the Ayrshire breed would lie the eventual basis. Alethods of handling the herds lie condemned as suicidal. Thinking only of milk production. the Kenya farmers were careless in their methods of milking, and the whole system tended to lower the efficiency of the cow and did not encourage her to he a profit earner. In comparison with Australian conditions, he believed that it would be many years before the stockowners in Kenya graded their herds up to the Australian average: Laud, 'however, in Kenya is cheap and plentiful, and the management and conservation of pasturage should enable a high production of milk. The climate is favourable to dairying, and cool nights and dry air would be advantages ill the manufacture and transport of butter. Afuch would have to he done in educating the farmer, and in eliminating the “let the native do Tt” spirit in breeding and care of tke cattle. Aluch depended on the individual efficiency of the producer, who should have every assistance in obtaining equipment, labour, and information for running bis farm. Air Flazelton considered that tlio erection of a factory would provide a great incentive, and he proposed that one should be built on cooperative lines on the Gilgil or Morandat rivers, allowing lor expansion. A factory of this kind would place the industry oil a sound footing from the beginning, and an output of three and a half to four tons of butter per week might he commenced witli, which in a short time would be doubled. In view of the fact that Air Hazelton’s report was so favourable, a meeting was called by the and it was decided to lonn the “Kent a Co-operative Creamery. Limited,” a new company with a capital ot £20.000. At this meeting nearly a. hundred local farmers attended, and the proposals of the syndicate based on Air Hazelton’s reports were unanimously adopted.,'With Lord Dclnmcre in the Chair, the' necessary initial capital of 28.000 was subscribed at once, and it was decided to erect a creamery on the most modern lines, which would concentrate on the manufacture of butter only lor the present. r lhe present productive possibility of the farms visited by Mr Hazel ton was estimated at 8,000 lbs.

per woeK. tnr *»«•« > eeived by those present, that aiinngemcnis are going forward tor the erection of the factory at once. The efforts of the Kenya farmers now 1 > ei up; made to establish a dairy industry probably foreshadow the. entry of a new competitor into the world’s markets. a competitor possessing the double advantage of cheap labour and a fliniat.e where production can lie maintained all tile year round.