FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 224, 20 March 1912, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY.

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY. ADDRESS BY THE DAIRY COMMISSIONER. Some interesting remarks on the progress of the dairy industry were made by Mr. D. Cuddie, chief of the' Dairy Division of the Agricultural Department, during,the course of an address at Nireaha last week. Owing to the quantity and quality of New Zealand «heese, how manufactured, said Mr. Cuddie, as per the Eket'ahuna Express report, this product had a great influence on the London market and while its manufacture showed signs of a large increase there was no indication that the extra production was likely to swamp the market. The consignments of cheese sent from the Dominion reflected the greatest credit on those responsible for its manufacture and those who supplied the milk. However, there were still faults in the products and it was important that suppliers should 'do their best to obviate these. The flavor of some cheese was not what it should be, and the responsibility for this rested largely with dairymen who supplied impure milk. As time went on, no doubt, improved sanitary conditions would prevail in sheds, the value of which could not be too highly estimated. It was important that dairymen should introduce facilities for cooling milk if the quality of cheese were to be maintained. The cheese manufactured this year was better than that of last year, due to the cooler night experienced. It was the average quality which regulated th» price of a product in the Home market. The pasteurisation of skim milk and whey was an important innovation, as it not only had a bearing on the product manufactured, but on the live stock on the farm, by preventing the spread of disease. Pasteurising prevented the return of undesirable taints to the factory and those factories that had introduced it coald be commended on their enterprise.

THE COW-TESTING MOVEMENT. Of all the developments the most important was the initiation of cow-test-ing, and if it became general much larger profits would .be made out of the busineis than at present. Testing was developing as was shown by the fact that when associations were first introduced four years ago, only about -800 cows were treated, wherease this year fully 20,000 cows were being tested by the different associations. The average upkeep of a cow for the season, including labor, interest, depreciation, etc., was put down at £B, and if no taore than, this was produced it followed the dairyman was making nothing. Last year the average cow in the best herd tested by an association produced 3201b of butter-fat, which, after charging £8 against the cow, with butter-fat at Is, showed a profit of 6d per lb. The average cow in the worst herd produced" only 1601b of butter-fat, which absolutely left no margin of profit. The best cow for a 30-day period left the owner a profit of £4 15s 9d for the' period. The worst cow's product was worth only 2s 3d. It was now generally lecognised that it was impossible to gauge the true value of • a cow, unless by the process adopted by the testing associations. Mr. Cuddie referred to a member of an association who was in the habit of patronising saleyards for his cdws, who, up till the middle of February this year, had culled out 28 per cent, of his herd and was fattening them for the butcher. The benefits of testing associations were further elaborated on by "the speaker quoting one herd, the owner of which, by finding out the duffers and culling, had reduced his average of 41b below the association's figures last year to y 2 lb this season. Mr. Cuddie emphasised the necessity of purchasing purebred'bulls and retaining the heifer calves frdm the best cows. He instanced twd members of an association to demonstrate ''iis point. Both were good breeders and treated their cows kindly, rearing the calves from their herds. One used a purebred bull and the other a mongrel. Last year the average yield of the cows was 2931b and 2101b of butter-fat respectively, a difference of •851b a cow, or £4 ss, at Is per lb for butter-fat, With a herd of forty cows the man using the purebred bull would have made in a year £l6B more than the other man. There seemed a general inclination among breeders to go in for pedigree bulls, which was a good sign. He hoped to see testing extending, especially among breeders of pedigree stock. In concluding, Mr. Cuddie contended that for every shilling expended in testing the dairyman got £1 in return.