KING COUNTRY DAIRYING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 415, 18 November 1911, Page 5

KING COUNTRY DAIRYING.

THE DISTRICTS PRODUCTS

: Dairying in the King Country is : once more in full swing. The Aria ; Co operative Dairy factory is now re- ! chiving milk from twenty-five settlers, ' and it is expected that for the next six weeks the supply will be at its highest. At Pio i'io similar activtiy is taking place, and the output for the year, it is anticipated, will be considerably in excess of last year. In the Ohura district the industry has assumed a permanent aspect, and both the Matiere factory and the Ohura | Cooperative factory are receiving ! supplies considerably in advance of the j corresponding period of last year. It is estimated that the output of butter from that district will be increased by fully 50 per cent, this season. The newly erected factory at Marakopa ia in full swing, and everything is proceeding satisfactorily. The quantity of cream being handled per week is about H tons, the source of the supply being from the Kinohaku and Ratanui districts. The settlers in the former district are more fortunate than those in the letter, inasmuch as they can cart their cream to the factory, whilst the mode of transport from the Ratanui district is by packhorse. A fair proportion is also being obtained from the Marakopa end, and is conveyed along the Marakopa water way by launch. Hitherto the output has been disposed of locally, being butter of high grade, but it is expected that an export will soon commence to deal with the increased supply. The directors have made arrangements to obtain cows for settlers requiring assistance. There is every indication that the factory will be a success, and those interested confidently expect that there will be a supply from fully 1000 cows next season. There is no reason why such should not be the case, for the factory i 3 ideally situated in the centre of a number of districts thoroughly adapted for dairying. In the Te Rau-a-Moa district matters in the dairying line are net as they should be. The factory has been in existence for eight years, and was the pioneer factory of the King Country. For several years everything went well, but during the last few seasons, dissention arose in the camp, with the result that last year the transactions of the company resulted in a loss. This season the factory is closed down. The directors attribute this to the lack of interest taken in the industry by the settlers, and consider that if they were to take sufficient interest in the matter, the supply of last year could easily be doubled. The position as far a Te Rau-a-Moa ia concerned is serious, and a decidedly retrogressive one, because the prosperitywhich the district has enjoyed, during the past six or seven years, has been entirely due to dairying. Now. they are without any stable industrty, and the few who are continuing dairying are having their cream carted to Otorohanga, a distance of 22 miles, from when* it is taken by rail to Hamilton. Tnose who have discontinued milking are going in for sheep, and it is very questionable if such a step will be r. payable proposition, because the holdings are on the small side. It is to be hoped that Te Rau-a-Moa settlers will see the folly of having their factory closed down, and that before next season matters will be adjusted, and the facory started working once again.