The Daily News. TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1903. AS OTHERS SEE US.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 204, 30 June 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1903. AS OTHERS SEE US.

Our readers will doubtless rcmsmbpr the visit of Mr Robert Caldwell, Minister of Education and Agriculture fo> South Australia, who visited New Zaaland to s-:e tha working of agriculture and dairying in this colony who spent some time in New Plymouth. Since his return he has publishad a pamphlet in the course of «hich ho has given a lot of valuable information on the subject, and hia views on the dairying iudus'ry will ba read with interest by our readers. Mr Oaldwsll says Judging by results, it is not nt all unlikely that New Zealand may ; et prove one of the best countries in the world, if not the very best, for the establishment of the dairy industry. Few Continental countries can lay claim | to the advantages of soil and climate | that are enjoyed by our relatives in (those grrnd islands. And the dairy I industry is not the only industry that is likely to succeed under tha genii! conditions that obtain over there, At one tims it was feared that the experimental legislation which found place in the Statute-books of this " Britain in the Southern Hemisphere " would Lave a detrimental effect on the pioduiing and manufacturing interests; but so fsr no barm seems to have been done, particularly to the prodm-irg interests, So far as manufactures are concerned, until New Zcalanp comes into competition with other countries in outside markets, we will not bs able to make a correct estimate of the effect of the legislation referred to. That time ia not far distant, for already agents are moving about collecting information with the view of extending their busi ness relations. In addition a strong Parliamentary Committee, known f.s "the Extension of Commerce GWmittee," has been set up to watch the interests of manufacturers and producers. But to the producing interests, and » succession of favourable seasons and conditions on tfie islands, and un favourable seasons and conditions elsewhero, the success of New Zealand has been mainly due. The frozen meat , trade has been a very prcfitable one for mvny years. In mining steady piogress (barring a few local fluctuations)

Las been muatained. The grain in* dustry his been on (he whole profit-, able, while there can bs no doubt respecting the satisfactory character and I progressive nature of the dairy industry, And let it be noted tha l ; the progress of th's indtts'ry bas not been affected by thi experimental legisV tion, and it is not in any Way due to the necessities of the Australian Stated as business cannectiorS had betn established with the Mother Country that Were capable of absorbing the whole of the prod ace, even if h were

much grea'er than it is. What ifus-, tralia has taken simply means that so J much less has been sect to Great Britain, where the requirements of ths people are said to call for th-> inopo'taction of 386,000,0001b, or 172,500 tons lof butter. Out of the gross produce of j New Zealand for (he year ending i March, 1902, Australia is credited, with receiving for a variety t.f purposes 2198 tons of butter and abmt

1104 tons of cheese, representing a money value of about .£260,000. t)uriog the a ■hie time South Africa only TeCiiVcd from the pitiiotic colony direct 175 tons of butter, valued at £15,750. The only other shipment was to the South Sea Is'ands, amounting to a few tons, aud valued at .£877 The New fay, however, that the large amount of bub'er procured by Australia is nob retain; d for Home consumption, bub is reshipped to Great. Britain as Australian produce, to thu datiiment of (he island producer. Aprb from Great Britain and Au? k rali», the business done by Nsw Z -alicd with foreign countries during the year ending March, 1902, did nob reach a total value of £17,000.

But notwithstanding this fact, New Zealand is able to report very substantial progress during the last ten years. Prior to 1892 the total V ilila of buttet and cheese produced did not exceed £240,000, and the average annutl valu3 between 1883 and 1891 only amounted to £158,274. Since then the industry has been advancing by leaps and bounds, and the year ended March

31 hat gave a produc ion of nearly 11,000 tons of butter and 4325 tons of once *O, estimated to ba worth £1,173,215, or only about X 150,000 less in value than the wholo of the butter exported from Oaoada—one of ihe most! formidable competitors thit Sew Zealand is likely ti have in the London market. Now, th : s progress is due to several cause', principally those reftrred to by the Dairy Ooiiitnissionfr (Mr Kinsella), in hb l;st report, in fhich be rokarks— "Taking the peoplr! who are engagtd exclusively in laitying for a living in New Zialiod, the possibili'ies of increastd we-Uh from that source are perhaps greater chat io any otlur c:untry in th 9 world. Possibly no country is superior to New foaland as a homi for the diiry cow

and for the production of milk from nitural grasses and fodders the jeir rouud, . . Although in some new districts the sutlers are wo king at a disadvantage, owing totha fiet that roading and dealing take some ye*ra to complete, the prospsii y of the farmers in the dairying districts, where little or no mixed farming is carrie I on, is, generally speaking, unquestionable, It is hardly cecessiry to look at { statigfc'cs to gauge the progress nude." The above is in the man correct, but' in all fairness it should be explains 1 ((o Australians at any ra 1 *) that thorn « natural grasses and fodders "jreferr. d to by the Oommis ion r are no"; tho indigenous gras es and plants tf Naw Zealand, bui the many splendid grasses and plants that have been introduced, and sown broadcast on every bu-h j

clearing, until the sown surface of m adovr etc., now aggregates veiy nearly 20,000,000 acres, or abouS ten times the extent of surface that is under wheat in our own State. Hence these islands, in addition to the number of l dairy cattle kt-pf, sustain at the present time rmre than 20,000,000 sheep. But there is no getting away from the fdCt.tfcat the Ne.v Zealanders have 1 arned how to take advantage of natural conditions, and are de'eruiined to keep up wiih the times. N i expense is spjred to put even the remote settlers iu the backwoods in posse -sion of information that experience has shown can be used to advantjg". The Commissioner, in h ; s report states emphatically " that any appointments made by the Department of Agriculture to my staff since I was given charge of the dairying division, were made solely on the ability and fi .ne.'s of the m e n for such work." The producer, therefore, his tbe advantage of the services of men who know what they ere about. Mr Kinsella is a thoroughly qualified educationist, and remarks with pride—" I have had the confidence of my man, which mpant that I had evary possible support in carrying out my scheme of ' coat off' instructions, and the careful inspection of produce from the various factories." [t is not, therefore, a m itter of surprise to learn that thay are etiil working oq up-grade, justifying the Commissioner's remarks in his report: —"Prom all my investigations throughout the colony, acd from a general examination of the butter from time to timiatthe grading ports, I have to r.port a further improvi ment over the previous year. This improvement applies more pirticularly to factories of the second rauk. Each year the standard of su.h brands i-i being raised. These second-rank factories owe tbeir Buccess hrg, ]y to •he adoption of a uniform system of ripening the cream with a good fer-mentation-starter and to more ecient'li j methods of manufacture. The improvements that have been made in tbe appliances used have a'so contributed towards success, and this is especially noticeable iu reg-trd to *ln better app'ication of refrigerating power." The "coat-off" system that obtains in New Zealand is certainly responsible for the improvement in quality that is taking pleci in the butter intended for export. When anything goes wrong at a factory the department is consulted, and an instructor is sent out, who takes his coat off, and begins receiving milk, making butter and cheese, aud doing fverythirg necessary, until the cause of the trouble has been discovered. Sometimes the icstiuctor will remain in charge for five days at a time. Granted competence on the part of the instiuccor satisfaction is bound to result. Much importance is attec'ied to the US9 of "cultures and starter?," an.d under this head Mr Kicsulla remarks Three years ago whan I took up the work of ins'ruction at factories under Mr Ruddick it was almost impossible to find a fcuitermaker in the colony using a properly prepared starter scion'ificaliy in tbe proctsa of cream ripacing. At the present time it would be difficult to find a man who could be termed a good butter-maker ■vho is noli using some kind of homemade starter. It is also a fact worthy of notice thnt the butter-makeis who are gradually coming to the front as Gret-claes men are those who have t'uiiog the pasb two years given the elos6 study to the careful preparations

atid the pript 1 applications of s'aitera to cream ripaning." Ooe o ! the instructors bears sibdilar testimony. Ha says t— " The use of good starters continues to gain favour n-i'h our most of whom ere nov employing them throughout .the entire and consider their d »iiy use a part of the regular systjm of cream-ripening. More care is now exercised in tht-ir propagation, and good 'starters are to ba fjU'id in nearly ev.>ty fec'ory; visited." 01ean'ine=s all aloeg the line j ! is being pressad with greater emphasis' —oleic milk and cleanliness in everything eonnected with its manipulation; ahd ttunu c actur<\ Mr Kinsella is evidently of opinion thab the use of soap should not b3 tolerated in cleanjicg vessels intended to bold mik dr jCreim, or otherwisa ttwd ih the ilaanu'factUra of butter or cheese; As his remarks this head ara wor-hy of attention they tii yb3 quoted in full: —t regret to sue that soap is still biicg us:d at some fiotories for the wasbiog of churns and cream cans, although not to so large an extent as formerly, Thi?, in my opinion, is a very dangerous practice. I; must ba admitted chit soip is an excellent thing for the cleansing cf wooiwjrit in dairy fac'o-ies, such as wf.sh'ng wal s, etc., but its use for the inside of duty utensils must be strongly condemned> List ■ season I again noticed at a fefac-

Tories whara the cream cans from skim- j ming st it iocs were washed at the' central factory, that soap was used in! lai'gt) quintnks, and the gigs were nob' properly scalded afterwards, with thej result tbab even after the cans hadi been exposed to tha air I c uld detect a s'.rong odor of soip. This is a point that should receive the closest superVision from the m in who is re- ponsible for the manigement of either tho creamery or the fa- tory | ia fac«, this is a matter worthy of the a'tsntion of the directors or proprietors, sxing that the use of soap in the manoer dafcribed is almost sura to contaminate the whole output cf the factory 1 Ii is a Very Eimple flutter to a churn poifoctly sweet and clean without Iho us i of soip It is of course of the utnrsb import itce thit the sUp-

plier should use evety care to wash thoroughly the erearti and milk u'ensils which he has in use. The proper method is to rinsa th m in tepid watery then thoroughly scour with hot water, or, it a firatll boilet is in the on the farm, to B'e»m with a direct steam je\ The (xposure of all tinware on a farm. to sunlight is an <-xc. llent pr< caution. | If the cans c to be exp is?d to i h i strong sunlight in a clean p'aoe where there j is no dust blowing about, there ia no feetter method < f destroying b -cteria j and all daug?rjui orginicms. The us-)' of cloths ot any kind for wssViing daiiy i u'tnsils should be etrorgly condemned, the tinware shou'd be sulK;i»ntly | scildtd or heated, so thxt it will dry \ without the usi cf t ha cloth." Asitj is New Z-'alind exp'rience, «nd not: South Australia, tint is row being I considered, the obs'. rva'i'ins of two J ins ructors are worthy of attention. . One eays : - " I have notic d on nearly | every occasion tbat whsro a fac'ory , manager keeps his f-o o-y clean (bith' (inside and out), and is hitnsdf a tidy . maD, little or no difficulty is exper- J 1 ienced wiih the quality of the milk; dtlivered. Oa the other h'tnd managers j who are careless and untidy invariably reteive milk of inferior quali y." The] tes'imony of the other is to tha follow-j ing edict: —" Duing the m ; lk eeison I have found far two mmy milk cans: impropuly washed. Sjme of these

have been ia a filthy condition, and I have become firmly convinced that the cm with the straight side and full rpsn top is much more conductive to cleanliness than the small can wi h tha narrow nsck. In my inspection work I have found very few of tin lirge s yle dirty, as they may be more eisily cloiflod, and dirt is more readily seen."