FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 364, 15 April 1910, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

ROBBING THE CALF. Messrs Pederson and Stevenson, of the Dairy Division of the Agricultural Department, are at present engaged at the Kaponga dairy factory carrying on .some practical experiments in separating whey to extract from it the butter-fat left there in the manufacture of cheese. It is said to be a payable scheme in Denmark and Canada, and it is asked: If so, why not in New: Zealand? So far as Denmark is concerned, there cannot be any analogy, because the wages and surroundings are so different as to render comparison impossible. Canada may be nearer our basis of calculation, but results must await the completion of the present experiments. The questions sought to be answered bv the experiments are ; "Will the value of the butter that is made from the whey; equal, or be better than, the present value of the whey for feeding purposes, anu will the process of separating the fat and manufacturing the butter pay, when the labor involved and cost of firewood, etc., are taken into account? It may be fairly taken for granted, that after the cheese has been taken out of the milk, and then the trifle of butter-fat which has escaped the manufacturer's claws is taken from the whey, that it will be about time to bury that commodity, and that there will be nothing left for calf or pig. As a rule, whey, as it is now, is not looked upon as being of very great feeding value, and when this second process is added, what can be left? The Hawera Star, referring to the profit and loss phase of the question, says: How much butter-fat goes away yro.rt a factory with the whey during the summer months, when a good deal of the milk is brought to the factory in an over-ripe condition, would be a very hard matter to approximately estimate. Everything depends on the adaptability of the manager. The loss owing to ''fast vats" made into commercial butter, there would, of course, be no loss. At this period of the year, delivery of over-ripe milk is almost unknown. But even at the present time, when the vats are worked under most favorable conditions. the first day's whey separated at the Kaponga factory yielded 25Ibs of butter. Produced as a commercial article under better conditions this would ■be worth over £l, and the scheme should thus be payable on this basis. But, with efficient facilities introduced, there .would naturally be more pronounced success met with. At Kaponga. as at most other cheese factories, tlie whey is run from the vats down a lengthy concrete channel, and then into the whey tanks. The introduction of facilities to provide for the whey going .straight to the separator from the vats "Vould most certainly proiiiote greater success.

''What are you going to feed your cows on during the winter?" a Wair.lr&pa Age reported asked a big dairy farmer from Cheltenham. "I am going to try the residue of the threshed peas," he said, "in addition to hay and mangolds. I believe the pea plants are very good eating for cows. The only thing against them is the cost of cultivation. Tliey are too expensive to cut. Beans are cheaper, because they can be cut with a machine, and dropped in the sheaf. I shall try beans next season."

The shipment of dairy produce by the Rimutaka included 20,369 boxes of butter and 17,527 crates of checs. Taranalci headed the list with 8454 boxes of butter and SOl3 crates of cheese. The next highest provincial shipment was that of Auckland—o32B boxes —and the next highest provincial shipment was that of Wellington—sl34 crates. The sale is reported of 203 acres on the Manaia road, owned bv Dr. Noonan and Mr. Franklin, to Mr. Wm. Dew, of Norraanby. The property was purchased .by the two first-named gentlemen in June last at £3l 10s per acre, and they have just disposed of it at £4l per acre, which works out at a profit of £1928 10§.

Practically feed for the winter is now assured over nearly every part of Australia (says the Pastoralists' Review). The wonderful monsoonal storm recently experienced reached almost every part of the Commonwealth wanting rain. Such « magnificent fall in the very driest parts is one that constitutes almost a record. In three days more rain fell in parts than, as a rule, falls during a whole vear. This means that the wool clip ne\'t. season should again he an excellent one in every wav, and points to another good harvest for the farmers. New Zealand had a very hot February; this badlv affected the erons in the south—that nart wanted rain badlv until quite recentlv. when a good general fall occurred, f.'ond rains are reported al=o in the Xorth Island. Taken all round, the prospects in this nart of tlie world ore -particularly bright both for prices and production.