THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4459, 28 August 1922, Page 1

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Mft T, W. RHODES? VIEWSi Tn t'he House last week Mr T. W. Rhodes, M.P. for Thames spoke on the subject of Government assistance in matters connected with the. dairying industry, and said he wished tc impress upon the Government the desirability of doing all it possibly could to enable the New Zealand dairy producers to market their dairy produce tb better advantage than at pesent. He quite realised that it would be a very big contract to enter into competition with what was known as the “Tooley Street Gang,” but it should be practicable to minimise if not to eliminate the interwas carried on extensively it must that there was one large dairy concern in the Auckland district which had, to some extent, eliminated ;he intermediary as, far as their operations were concerned, with great benefit to the industry generally. That concern sent a man. Home tp act cn their behalf, and be understood he bad succeeded in very much improving the conditions of the marketing of the produce in the Old Country. Anything that could be done to stabilise prices and .enable the producers to get a proper market for their produce was going to be of immense importance to the whole Dominion. The dairy industry was assuming very /arge proportions throughout New Zealand, and particularly in the Auckland district, the increase for New Zealand last year as compare I with the previous year being 30 per cent., but in the Auckland district it was something like 45 per cent. And that district was not going to stop there, because subdivision and more intensive cultivation would come abouf as the result of the high land prices, and many more men would engage in the industry than at present. In the Auckland district they were wholly co-operative factories, while in other parts of New Zealand the proprietary concerns were operating, and the latter were very much opposed to anything in the way of what was generally known as a “pool.” In the interests of export control he would certainly urge that it would be in the best interests! of the produce industries generally, and particularly the dairy farmers, if the exports were controlled and properly marketed overseas. Anything' that could, be done in that direction would, be very helpful. With regard to the question of improving the herds ; in his. district the farmers were doing a very great de,al themselves in that way. They’had testing associations, and individual testing and'culling of cows was going on all the time. That w,as the case throughout Thames Valley and Hauraki Plains, and no doubt in many other parts of New Zealand. If it was carried on etxensively it must result in improved Herds in the very near future. Farmers were hot going to be so silly as to continue to feed a cow which actual results had proved was not worth her keep, but would j at once take steps to get rid of that j cow. In this connection there was j one subject : which he thought'ought I to engage the attention of the Min- [ ister of Agriculture, and that was to ; ascertain what became of these culled i beasts. Were they fo ! sted on to some ( unsuspecting farmer, or were they j destroyed and turned into beef, and tinned ? As dairying .cows they liad j been proved not to be worth their

keep, and compulsion ought to be exercised to ensure that they were not resold to some unsuspecting person. He had heard of cases where beginners in the industry, including returned soldiers, had bought cows that looked all righit, and had a good pedigree behind them, but proved to be, in the soldiers’ own words, “duds”— they were no good. But the settlers had paid good money and were not in a position to buy other cows. That sort of thing ought not to be allowed to go on. Then the matter of scrubber bulls being controlled needed attention. If the Minister of Agriculture would take a note of these points and bring in legislation to render jt impossible—by branding or other effective means—for this sort of thing to go on, he would do something that would very materially improve the condition of dairymen and assist in increasing output. There was another direction in which, be thought, tjie. Department ought to do more than it was doing, and that was in affording greater facilities than at present were available for dairy farmers to obtain expert advice as to any trouble that might affect their cattle, or anything of that kind. Where dairying was carried on extensively the farmers had troubles of various kinds throughout the year, particularly in the spring, when the cows were coming in, and if they were not in a position to obtain '.he services of a veterinary surgeon they were seriously handicapped, and they suffered loss .all round. In t'he Hauraki Plains and Thames Valley districts very appreciable loss had been suffered in that way. He hoped that that would be a thing of the past, as the settlers had taken, not the cow, but “the bull by thd horns,” and had formed clubs themselves, and were paying veterinary surgeons to .advise them and go round the district periodically. No doubt it would be a good business proposition for them. But as it was a matter that so vitally affected production, something ougut te be done by the Department tp assist and advise the farmers in districts where they were not numerous enough, on were riot in a position to establish a dub themselves. He had every faith in the present Minister of Agriculture, who was anxious and willing to do all that was possible for him to do to help the industry. In any matter that he (Mr Rhodes) had brought under the honourable gentleman's notice he had always found him most anxious to assist, and very capable in the administration of his Department. The matters' that he had just been mentioning he had not approached the Minister in connection with, but he trusted, now that he was making an appeal from the floor of the House, that the honourable gentleman would have a note taken of the several matters, and see if he could not do something tangible to improve the conditions. If the Minister could assist the producers by any means in more .advantageously marketing thein produce, and in improving their herds, and at the same time ensuring that useless cattle were destroyed and not sold into some other district, then he would be doing a. great deal for the industry. He would commend the matters he had mentioned to the serious consideration of the Minister of-Agricul-ture, as only by increased production could they hope to tide over the very trying times through which they were passing, - and increased production with good prices would scon reflect favourably on the revenues of the country.