DAIRY FACTORIES' DRAINAGE

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 493, 2 January 1920, Page 2

DAIRY FACTORIES' DRAINAGE

Papakura and Manurewa. KNOTTY PROBLEMS/ CO-OPERAflttt. ESSENTIAL GRApiNq^^'PROFITS a trip down the Waikatotratfng the holidays, a representative of the Times noted a number of the members of the Papakura Town Board getting on the train at Taupiri, and in close conversation with Mr. W. Y. Kjrkman, manager of the N.Z. Dairy Co., Ltd. It did not need the trained mind of a journalist to sense the fact that something' of importance was afoot. Anyone could have guessed as much. The Board members had been on a visit to the Gordonton casein factory, to inspect the drainage system in vogue there, and with a view to making improvements at the Papakura factory. , The problem of drainage in connexion with certain classes of factories is a very difficult one to solve, unless Nature has provided a ready-made system, But it must, in the interests of both the dairymen and the townspeople—which means the whole community—be solved. The N.Z. Dairy Co. was asked to pipe the effluent from the Papakura factory to a point below low water mark in the arm of the Manukau jutting in near the township, which would have meant anything from a mile to a mile and a half of piping. The cost would make such a scheme prohibitive, and therefore it is useless to consider it. A much more practical solution has been found, namely the precipitating tank system, such as is acting very satisfactorily at Gordonton, and winch catches solids, thereby preventing offence later on. The Gordonton tank was constructed on the advice of Mr Pond, late Government analyst, and incorporates the latest practice and information on the subject. The capacity is 4,000 gallons, which is found to be ample.

A contract has been let for the construction* of a similar tank at Papakura, but larger in proportion to the volume of effluent to be dealt with, than the one at Gordonton. The results, therefore, should be very satisfactory indded. The Board members, Messrs. A. W. P. Brookfield (chairman), E D McLenuan, and also the clerk, Mr A L Cooper, were very favourably impressed with what they saw. Mr D W Jones was unavoidably prevented from being present. Trouble of a somewhat similar sort is alsoin prospect at Manurewa, whdPbrS factory was to have been erected, but the drainage problem is disconcerting things. For the N Z Dairy Co to provide the necessary drainage would mean putting in, a 6-inch pipe from the proposed factory site to the stream near Takanini, at a cost of approximately £750. Naturally, the Company are not disposed to make such an outlay on an absolutely unproductive work. The position is singularly un- , fortunate, seeing that a factory at Manurewa could be turned into a milk supply depot for Auckland city when the supply was uot sufficient for manufacturing purposes. Thejremedy here would seem to be%s\t the Manurewa ratepayers should put in a drainage system for the town, or, for the time being, the most thickly settled parts of it. The dairy company would then have to contribute its share towards the special rate for this work. But it is not likely that any company is going to spend about four figures on a drainage system, with the likelihood of having also to pay towards the general rate for township drainage systems later oh. This latter observation applies to both P.apakura and Manurewa. One would be foolish to be too definite, or at all dogmatic, on this question, in regard to either town, partly because there are many relevant factors which the residents of Papakura and Manurewa alone are fully conversant with. There can, however, be no denying the fact that any sort of a dairy factory in a township, by reason of its drawing the farming community to that township as a centreespecially on cheque days—and by the men it employs, increases the trade of that town. In fact, hundreds of townships in NeV Zealand to-day would languish were it not for the dairy factories of one sort and another dotted all over the Dominion. It is obvious, then, that it is to the interests of the ratepayers to meet all such companies in a conciliatory spirit. Co-operation is essential to the mutual interests of the farmer and the township dweller. quality Improved.

Among over 5,000 boxes of N.Z. Dairy Co's. butter manufactured between Dec. sth and 10th, 1.33 per cent, only went to second grade, while first quality reached as high as 94. This splendid result is the outcome of more efficient methods made possible by the amalgamation Even better results are being aimed at, and as the prices realisable depend on the relative quality of <> ur butter on the markets of the world it follows that the higher grade article is going to fetch higher prices.and hence higher profits to the primary producer. Dairymen cannot be too strongly or too often impressed with the fact that each supplier, by observing.

or otherwise, the necessary cleanliness and attention to every detail of the milking shed, the uniform care in the handling of the product, can assist, or the factory managers in their unremitting efforts to produce a uniformly high grade article commanding top prices. Here again, concentrated, intensive co-operation is the secret of success.