King Country Chronicle Saturday, March 18, 1911. THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 346, 18 March 1911, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, March 18, 1911. THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

The dairying industry has become so intimately associated with the progress of the Dominion that it seenis like "painting the iiiy or gilding refined gold" to urge the pursuit of the industry in any progressive rural district. The movement at present on foot to undertake the establishing of a dairy factory at Te Kuiti requires nothing on our part to recommend it to the public, and there is ittle doubt the initial meeting to be held on Tuesday next will be attended by all who have the least prospect of helping the matter forward. There is little necessity to dwell upon the desirability of pushing ahead with the dairying scheme. The history of any one district where dairying has been introduced is the history of the Dominion. An unbroken record of success and general prosperity has followed in the wake of the dairyman. Success and prosperity, moreover, that has not been confined to the man on the land. Towns have arisen and thriven, businesses have increased, and sister industries have been enabled to become established as a result of the spread

of the great industry of which close settlement is such a salient feature. In the beginning of things naturally closer settlement does not enter prominently Into the scheme, . but we have only to go to a district where dairying has been flourishing for a number of years to recognise that high prices for land and small areas are inevitable as districts begin to feel the benefits of steady and assured returns representing an average amount per acre obtainable in hardly any other branch of farming. A factor which has to be taken seriously into account in connection with dairying in a new district is the roading of the locality from which supplies have to be drawn for the factory. The most casual acquaintance with the district surrounding Te Kuiti discloses the fact that the means of transit which I is so necessary an adjunct to the dairy- ! ing industry is lamentably inadequate : to serve the of a great pro- ; gressive district. Roads are urgentlyrequired; not merely clay tracks such as perforce serve the district at present, but a system of properly j macadamised highways and byways whereon wheel traffic can be conducted throughout the year. The difficulty confronting the district is inseparable from all new settlement, and is one of the chief impediments to the rapid development of dairying. However, with our settlers alert to the fact that upon co-operation, not only in industry, but in every public matter, does their joint and several prosperity depend, there should be little time lost in working out the roading problem. Heavier burdens on the settlers than at present exist will be inevitable, and the adoption of a comprehensive scheme should be urged upon every possible occasion. As a matter of plain business the necessity is urgent and by taking the right action at the right time our settlers can rest assured of the fact that added facilities, while greatly enhancing the value of their assets, are indispensable to a constantly increasing production from their farms, which will compensate them beyond comparison for any addiional expenditure incurred for roads. These remarks apply with equal force to every portion of the King Country where dairying is projected. Already dairy factories are dotted here and there in suitable localities, and we are only witnessing the beginning of a great movement. Inseparably associated with the spread of the industry the great road question arises, and the responsibilities of our public-spirited men begin to be discerned. We have every confidence in our great district, and an abiding faith in the settlers as a body. In wishing ths industry every success we do so in the full assurance that the efforts of our settlers will be directed wisely, not only to establishing a dairy factory, but to loyal and hearty co-operation in whatever questions arise affecting the welfare and progress of both themselves and their neighbours.