A LEVINITE ABROAD.

Shannon News, 10 May 1927, Page 4

A LEVINITE ABROAD.

DAIRYING DE LUXE

IMPRESSIONS OF VANCOUVER

Letters from Mr. Henry Kilsby of Levin, who is at present on a health recuperating tour in America, indicate Ihj-t already his holiday has been benefiei.al. He writes interestingly of a brief visit to Honolulu and of his stay in Vancouver, and intended spending some time in Seattle before going East. Vancouver was referred to as a fij:e city, but the suburbs gave one the impression that a city was being built, m the back-blocks. Miles of concrete streets and roads were baing laid down through country that was covered with big pine 3tumps and -: : ;ones and covered with second growth. This land was all being .cut up for residential sites. Car lines were being put down in all directions, and houses going up in hundreds. Evidently that policy was. the opposite to that of New Zealand, and modern means of communication preceded settlement and encouraged it, rather than settlement having to wait for roads and railways. Naturally Mr. Kilsby was taking keen interest in farming methods. He had been out to see two dairy herds on the Fraser river. These were housed in sheds the whole time from the -calf stage until they were no further use for milking, only being turned cut m a yard occasionally. One of these farms was very up-to-date, fifty cows being milked with machines, run by electric power. The bails joined the stables and the cows were led into the milking place by a man who spent his time looking after the cows. The two attendants on the milking machines we.re dressed i'i white suits and caps. When the cows j went back into the stable they were I washed down and fed. "They were tested by a vet- every month and the men were.medically examined every week. Everything- was "" spotlessly ; clean-. The milk was supplied to the public of Vancouver and was known as "certified- milk." It went from the releaser through the cooler straight into a bottling machine, where it was bottled and sealed by the time the milking was finished. The day of the week on which the hilk must bo sold was printed on the bottle cap, and once the seal is removed it cannot be replaced, the purchaser thus being guaranteed against the milk being tampered with in any way. The retail price was 25 cents per quart, or about 12Jd. •The milking room is plastered throughcut and the bails and fittings are white enamel finished. The feed consjstel of ground grain of various kinds, lucerne hay and ensilage made from pea straw and pod. Two silos held 120 tons each/and the whole of the feed was bought, the milking and stabling premises only having a few acres of ground attached. The health of the lows was remarkable. Every one was fit t-o go=into the show ring, with skins loose and glossy and their condition good. They were mostly pedigree Jerseys and Guernseys, with some high grades. . . , Another interesting place visited was a fox farm, said to be a very profitable business. The foxes were killed for their fur.

Vancouver is full of sawmills, the lumber coming down the Fraser river and up the coast in huge booms. A great quantity of wheat was; also coming through from the prairies/ it being

the main part of Canada, that is not ice-bound at some time of the year. The climate is very mild, seldom going to zero in winter and up to 80 degrees in summer. There was a good deal of .lnemployment in the city as men went there from all over Canada for the Winter." ',■-■•