Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. THURSDAY, APRIL, 29, 1909 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4404, 29 April 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

THURSDAY, APRIL, 29, 1909 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY.

2 his above all—to thine own self be true, ind it must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

That the nine months concluded on March 31st last should show an increase of the butter output of the Auckland district of 42,679 boxes, over the output for the corresponding period of a year ago is a matter for congratulation. Reduced to tons this represents 1066 tons, or £IO6OOO value in cash. There has been . half a million sterling worth passed through the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company’s works during the last nine months, and it is estimated that the total quantity 1 of butter manufactured for the year, including that for local consumption, is estimated at approximately threequarters of a million pounds sterling. It is quite impossible to estimate what this great industry will yet represent to Auckland, and also to the Dominion as a whole. The cry for the opening up of Crown and Native lands is one which will increase in intensity as the industriously inclined, with a taste for dairying, realize more and more keenly what the years output for a moderate sized holding represents, when devoted to dairying. In the recently published manifesto The River Silting Committee Statistics were quoted in relation to the 540.000 per annum which is paid out by the Thames Valley Dairying Company to its suppliers. And in a recent article dealing with the dairy industry, “ The New Zealand Herald," basing its calculation upon the advance of recent years, predicted that the Auckland province will shortly be exporting butter to the value of £1,000,000 per annum. All of which proves of how great value to the Province and the country this industry is. But, if, with the present state of development in methods, so much is being achieved, and still remains to be achieved, how much more could be accomplished supposing a thorough system of testing and culling were applied by each individual farmer. In an article which appeared in the columns of the News. under date of April Ist, the contributor, a gentleman of practical experience in matters agricultural, drew attention to the need for the application of the principle of culling, There can be no two opinions with regard to the worthwhile of this practice The energy which is spent in milking, and the capital which is wasted in feeding a cow of a low-grade yield of butter-fat would ba immensely profitable if applied to ono of a high grade yield. Farmers should by no means be satisfied with a good yield of butter-fat from a herd consideVed in the aggregate, but should set themselves by carefully weeding out the poorer cows, and substituting really profitable ones to secure individual perfection in the matter of the butter yield of each cow, and so secure the highest aggregate yield obtainable. This is precisely one of those forms of profit securing whipb is dependent upon nothing save the farmer’s own enterprise, for as the Dairy Commissioner says “ The weeding out of inferior cows and replacing them by better ones will do more to increase thp profits of the milk producers th n a substantial rise in the price of ei'. er butter or cheese," anfi this would render them more independent of the fluctuations of the Home Market, such as have recently occurred. It must be admitted that the satisfactory testing pf cows is a matter requiring both time and pains, for a slipshot test might result in weeding out of the best ammnl instead of the , worst. But if we consider the time which is now was|ted in the milking

of unprofitable cows, time for which there is worse than no reiuni, we easily see that time and pains spent in correcting that loss will inevitably more than pay for itself. Farmers would do well to apply to the Dairy Commissioner for pamphlets giving full directions as to the mo it thorough and efficient method to be followed in making the tests, and the best appliances to obtain, and they could also get from him the ruled sheets suitable for keeping a reliable record of each cow’s performance, and the amount of feed consumed.

Agriculture is coming to be regarded more and more in the light of a scientific profession. The prominence given to it in America viewed in this light is remarkable. And the day is now past when blundering and wasteful methods may be perpetuated without uneasiness. The farmer of the future is the agricultural scientist, and into his keeping nature has committed the secrets which will yet make him fortunate and prosperous to a degree not now foerseen.