The Bacon Industry.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7752, 2 March 1905, Page 2

The Bacon Industry.

It is very gratifying to learn that iho efforts which have been made to ia - establish the bacon factory at I i 'it/.roy have at length resulted in c success. The advantage of having c such a valuable adjunct to the d dairying industry is apparent to a everyone. At the same time, to en- i sure permanent success, it was no- ;t cess-ary to enlist tho supijort of the « dairy farmers in this district in such , t a way as not only to provide the i necessary capital, but also to secure 1 a reliable supply of pigs in .quantities < sufficient to keep the iuctory con- t stantly employed up to its capn- i city. This is the more essential by i reason of Ihe price both for the raw 1 and finished article fluctuating by . fractions of a penny per pound, so that though the profit on turning 1 each pig into bacon may, at times, be small, the large number UeuH i with will tell up to a good margin i on the right side at the end of tho year. It will, therefore, be readily ' seen that there was but one course to pursue, namely, to float a co- ] operative company, chiefly consist- li ing of suppliers whose interest it j would be to rear the right class of |i " baconers " and keep the factory i always going. The benefit accruing | to the suppliers is thus 'twofold. In the first place, they can rely on gelting a payable price for their pigs, | inasmuch as there need be no cut- j ting of prices, and then they sharo in the profits earned by the lactory. I This, of course, has been well-known , to the settlers all along, but for some unaccountable reason they have let valuable time slip away without taking advantage of the opportunity which presented itself when the proprietor of the Fit/.roy factory closed down. For some considerable time the valuable premises and plant at Fitzroy have been standing idle, and the settlers have lost considerably by a delay which is partly attributable to the advocacy of rival sites. The terms on which the new co-oper-ative company has secured the Fitaroy factory, piggeries, and land attached, are so exceptionally favourable that Ihe initial capital required is comparatively small. That of itself is an immense advantage, and should operate as an appreciable factor in the future success of the concern. The nominal capital of the company is £">000, being represented by 1000 shares of £5 each. Already half the shares have been applied lor., and though this provides sutl'.cient funds for making a sliart, it i« anticipated that, ere long, the greater part of the shares will be taken up. We are pleased to learn that no -time is to be lost in taking over the property and putting the plant, etc., into' first rate order. Considering the time thut has elapsed since the factory was closed down it was thought that posstbly n good round sum would be required for restoration work, but a thorough inspection of the buildings and machinery last week revealed the pleusing fact that very little depreciation has taken place, and the outlay needed will be very lnoderate. We understand that a S|>eclal feature of the new manage ment will be the development of the "small goods" business, from which considerable profit is derived. Another important point, so fur as the shareholders are concerned, is that there is not, as is the. case in other 1 similar companies, any joint and several guarantee required, so that the lisiMility of shareholders is confined 1 to the amount of their shares. When i. it is roulised that the factory will 1 dual with the output of guttlers from Oaonui to Urenui it will readily be understood that there should be an ample supply of the raw material. ' The good name which the factory ■ acquired 'for its produce when Mr ' Drake was proprietor should stiiuu--1 late the new company to place on ' the market nothing but whut is of the best, and so | obtain top prie«s 1 The first genoral meeting will l»e held in abou't a month, meanwhile the provisional directors —Messrs C. Andrews and W, 1). Linn (Okuto), li. i Gilbert (Omata), C. Warren (Kent i road), F. Salway (Bell Block), A. , Colson (Egmont road), G. Colson i (Fitzroy). a™ l the secretary pro. tem ' (Mr R. Pcpperell)—arc doing all that is possible to further the intores-ts of s an industry which is a great boon to • the district. All interested in this • important matter ara to bo congrnt- • ulated on having made a start in i the right direction ami no effort should bo wanting to make the cooperative bacon factory a complete ■ success.