THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 29 January 1907, Page 4

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

One of the serious phases of the present drought and the acompanying extreme scarcity of fodder is the position in which, those engaged in the dairying industrj' have bden, placed. Bad and all as the position is it is liKcly to be even much worse. Mr W. J. Bolt, manager of the Taieri and Peninsula Company, regards the pos ition as very serious, and in the course of a conversation with a reporter yesterday, he stated that ever since Dec ember 1, and more particularly during the past three weeks, the dairying; industry had suffered considerably from the extrejne dryness of the season. Matters are growing worse daily, and the outlook is really a gloomy one. "in ordinary circumstances," said Mr lolt, "at this time of the year the mil put of but'ierj from our Dund.dii< and Oaniaru factories is about twelve tons per day. At the present time it is under eight tons per day. ami the conditions are becoming worse daily. As a matter of {act, unless rain coin's very shortly the great majority of our creameries north, of Dunedin wi.l have to be closed down. There is no move grass in the places round Oaniaru than there is on the floor of this room. At this time of the year dairymen round Dunedjn usually have a larger

supply of miik than i< required f.ir ordinary purposes, and it U customary for our company to buy in large qiian tities for manufacturing purposes. Just now. however, there is none to be had. whit' the dairymen themselves are in somewhat of a quandary a* to how they are to continue serving their customer* on the Peninsula. The quality of the milk is also very poor, for there is practically nothing on which to feed the herds, the' great heat causes them to drink an excessive quantity of water, thus lowering the standard of the milk considerably. 1 have not in all my 22 year's experience ever known the milk to have been poorer in quality than it is now. It is usual for the milk at this time of the year to become richer in quality, but this season it is distinctly the reverse." Mr Ilo't would not venture an opinion on the probability of a rise in the price of butter or in milk.