THE STRATFORD CO-OP.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 70, 28 July 1913, Page 6

THE STRATFORD CO-OP.

ANNUAL MEETING. There were about sixty members of the Stratford Farmers' Co-operative Association at the 1 annual meeting in the Town Hall I his.morning, when the chairman of! directors, Mr R. Dingle, presided.

The report and balance-sheet (previously deaß withi.'in oitf'Oootumns) were taken as read..

The Chairman, in moving the adopjtipnji&f the (report and balance-sheet, congratulated the shareholders on having a gojpd year's work. The disposal of the;' butter was taken into serious consideration, as the price- of butter-fat was the- main factor. Last year three-quarters 1 o"f tho butter was sent Home cnj a guarantee without recourse at I l-16d. The balance was sent on open consignment, and realised lljld. Had all ■ the butter been sent Home on the .latter arrangement »they would have : received only'"'llijd: 'As to the future policy of the Company, Mr I Dingle referred to .Mr, .Marfel'l's trip Home. Mr tvasi willing to. : resign from the directorate, but it was better for him to meet the dairy people there as a director and get useful information. The. chairman was of tho opinion that it would be better for the Company if more of the directors went Home and obtained an insight into the industry. Referring to the matter of power, the directors had considered it from all points of view. Their business wan growing, as was shown by the fact that the Company commenced with 7000 lbs. and their supply was now 72,000 lbs., and so they had to increase tho machinery and the power. The directorate had gone into tho matter of power by considering the questions of suction gas, and water and had also considered a scheme brought down by Mr Webb to shift to Skinner Road. The outcome of it all was that the manager says he is going to scrape through again. (Hear, hear.) As they knew, the water was drawn from tho borough supply, but the Uounci) was being hard pressed by fresh connections, and tho Company's supply would be among the first to be cut off. The question was, where would they get their supply. The river water would not be good for butter making, they would all agree. Tho directors had decided to put down a bore. It was an experiment which might not be a success, but-thcy would agree that if they could get a supply,at an expenditure of about £l5O, it would be a very valuable asset to the company, and boring was going on at the present time. As to cream carting, a motor lorry company had put a scheme before the directorate, but they found that it was no cheaper. > Concerning butter at the Moturoa Freezing Works, it was the same price as last year, namely 4d a box, which meant a nice profit of about 5 per cent, on the capital and 2s back to the factory of about 9 per cent. (Hear, hear.) The Box Company had entered into a very big proposition. It took more to cover cheese than butter, and the bush they had would not last more than six years, so the directors of the Box Company had entered into negotiations for bush which it was estimated would last for fifty years. When companies came in, they had to pay £l. There were between 25 and 30 of them which all assisted in the finance. The Box Company paid no less than 6 per cent., and had put £I2OO to reserve; in fact, they were building up a big reserve. The National Dairy Association had fixed up a contract for shipping for five years, and at the same time they got better prices and terms than before. As to the Stratford Co-op's own work, continued the Chairman, their creameries and factory were up-to-date; he said so without fear of contradiction it was a paying proposition. During the year the directors had decided to receive homeseparated cream. Personally, he had been prejudiced against the systefj, but the manager assured them that the carted cream was every bit as good as tho cream in .their own factory. A Voice: "I cannot seo why it should not bo" Mr Dingle said that the company's grades and the quality of the butter spoke for themselves, and ho did not think that there was any danger in taking in home-separated cream; there was no fear that it was

going to affect the quality of their jbutter. It was going to increase their business and to uelp the settlers in jtho districts where there was not sufficient supply to warrant them in erect-

ing creameries. Recently the directorate had received a deputation from Huiroa on the subject, and it was pointed out that th« 3 directors would have to consider Die advisability of ! erecting a creamery or taking them in j under the scheme of shitting the Malum creamery a mile or so. Makuri I had increased their supply, and as } they recognised, as the supply increased so did the cost of manufacture decrease. Coming to the balance-sheet, Mr Dinglo said he did not think iie should take up much of their time over it. Their liability was nothing, while the reserve had decreased by about

£IOOO.—A Voice: Have you added to the reserve this year —"No; nothing this year," replied the Chairman.

A somewhat informal discussion on items in the balance-sheet followed, the Chairman explaining the questions put to him. At the Toko creamery, they had built two rooms to the manager's residence. The creameries jgeneral account referred to horses, drays, harness, etc. Their boxes were costing Is Id each, but other comjpanies were paying as high as Is 4d ito Is 6d to tho Box Company. They j might be able to get them for Is, but [that would not be running the eomipany on business lines. Fuel was increasing in price and was likely to do j so; they wera paying 24s for what cost j2os a while back, and it was not so Ignod as then. On the motion being seconded, the Chairman said lie was pleased to seeso many present, at the same time there should at the animal meeting. ft had been suggested that absentees should bo lined £5 or be made to provide- a doctor's certificate. (Ltaughter.) Ho referred to tho fact that there were 260 shareholders to provide accommodation for, and had they known that only GO or 70 would turn up a cosier room and less expensive one could be procured. Shareholders should look upon it as their duty ; it was not right or fair to leave the business to a few to do the criticising. Ho had no objection to fait criticism ; in fact, liked to see it. Mr Dingle said the balance-sheet was then open for discussion.

A long discussion ensued on the position of the Huiakama shareholders in "having to pay the cost of carting. The "grievance" was brought up bj Mr O'Neill, who was supported by Messrs Lehmann and West.

Tho Chairman pointed out that the company took over the branch on condition that the members would get exactly what Stratford suppliers received, less the cost of cartage, which amounted, at one-sjxth of a penny, to £36. Then they had come in when the main factory Was all paid for and after the original shareholders had had to carry a burden of per cent, on £13,000.'They would not have como within "cooee" of what had been paid them if'they.had gone on their own. Again, they, received tho benefit of £IOOO which was received from the Moturoa Freezing Works. 'Mr West considered the main factory was standing in its own tight, and he moved that'it be "a recommendation that the matter be considered By the directors. This was duly seconded. Mr Rawdes said he would oppose the motion "tooth and nail," a remark which met with general approbation. Messrs, Lehman, Stewart and Sang ste'r also spoke against it, and eventually alter a long wrangle, the motion was withdrawn.

. ..Mr Weblj, referring; tothe report, said tho test should Be going up in-, stead of down. Ho also pointed out that tho over-run had increased. The management figures had also increajii* cost .was less 10 years ago than to-day, and he mentioned the figures for a few years back in support of his argument. The Chairman pointed out-that the directors were very careful with the expenditure," and if the shareholders could show them how to keep it clown they would be pleased. It was pointed out that all the men had received a rise in wages, which probably accounted for the increase, "And we have a rise in butterfat!" interjected a shareholder, which caused hearty laughter. The motion for the adoption of a report and balance-sheet was then put co the meeting and carried without iissent.

Votes of thanks on the motion of Mr Rawles, seconded by .Mr Webb, a hearty .vote of thanks was accorded to the retiring directors, special men tion being made of the services of Ml stewart, who after three years on the directorate was leaving the district.

Tho Chairman added his tribute to the good work that Mr Stewart had done. Ho was sorry to lose Mi Stewart who had been a very good man for the district. Mr Rouson had also done good nvoi'k. The motion was carried amidst applause, and Mr Stewart suitably returned thanks on behalf of himself and Mr Robson.

Mr Watson also replied, thanking he shareholders for their vote. THE OFFICIAL TESTING.

Mr S. McKenzie, in the course oi his remarks to tlio meeting, thanked all for the spirit in which his work ;iad been received during the season. There had been absolutely no friction, which was as it should be, but the position was peculiarly gratifying to aim in his official position, and that ivas the reason he referred to this pleasant state of affairs. Referring to independent cow-testing, Mr McKenzie said the system was going to spread throughout the country. Many districts were already talking of forming associations similar to Stratford, among which were Rahotu and Mangorei close at hand, whilo Hawke's Hay, where ho had recently spent a holiday, embraced many places where he had,, by request, given particulars of the system. Stratford was the pioneer association of the movement, and it was flattering to see so many instances of imitation. As to the past season's work, Mr McKenzie referred to a few of the more striking figures among the results, which, he hoped, would bring homo to members more clearly the great importance and value of testing to the industry. During the nine months ending May IG, 1913, 701 rows were tested. The average Association cow produced 216.451bs butter fat; the host herd averaged 277.10 ( 24cows), and the worst herd averaged 177.99 (38 cows); the ten best herds averaged 23G.41. and the ten worst herds averaged 196.41; the best cow gave 441.08 (a grade Jersey), and the worst cow gave 83.H7 ; the ten best cows average 368.42, and the ten worst 117.34. There were eleven herds above the average of the whole Association, and 13 under the average. Taking the upkeep of a cow for the year at £7 10s, the best cow

produced ,441.051b5. of butter-fat, ' which at Is per lb, equalled £22 Is, showing a prolit of £ll lis. The worst cow produced 83.571 b fat at Is equalled £4 3s 6d, showing a loss of £3 6s 6d. If the average Association cow had been 2501 lis fat each of tho 24 members would be over £53 better off at the end of the season. Four cows produced over lOOlbs fat, and four cows gave 350 to 4001bs, thirty cows Irom 300 to 350; 407 from 200 to 30CL The tptal cows giving above 2001bs fat were 115, and the remaining 319 were below 200, down to 83. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr McKenzie.

THE NEW DIRECTORS. The following were the nominations with the number of votes received: — R. Dingle, ST; Henry Watson, 42; M. T. Phillips, 44 j M. O'Neill, 10'; John Davis, 20. Messrs Dingle, Watson, and Phillips were declared elected. Ac tliis stage, the meeting adjourned for lunch.