THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 1, 2 June 1913, Page 6

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

REVIEWED BY MB. J. G. WILSON. In the address delivered by Mr. J. G. Wilson, as president of the Wellington Provisional .District .of the New Zealand Farmers' Union at the .inmr.il Conferenee held at Maslerton on TuesdaysDairy farmers in the Wellington i'rovinee lime had a good season. .Much better than some other"districts in the north of Auckland, where they have had a set buck owing to the drought: but with us the season has been a lengthy ones and prices though-not quite up to the 1dv«1 of last .year (except in the case of those who sold in the Dominion), have been very remunerative. If anyone had predicted when Sir Walter Buchanan and others started the first cheese factory at Grey town, that companies) would, have been able to pay out Is for butter-fat it would, have been thought they had taken leave of their senae3. The increased number oE cream pasteurising' plants lias improved the quality of the butter, but the cheese of the Dominion has not given entire satisfaction. It has arrived in England somewhat '.indifferent in flavour, land sometimes too immature, and greater care will require to be taken if the good name of our cheese is to be maintained. I often wonder why in a district like i Taranaki tluy do not put up a central ripening roo-n available for all the factories in the neighborhood, as they do in Canada. There is still far too little attention paid to summer and winter feeding .amongst farmers, and with all .tijowance for Hie present stage of development there is yet much to be done in this direction.

Cow testing associations have in the more progressive districts made a good start, and now that the dairy industry is on a satisfactory and sound basis and ■profitable,' and with the excellent example .before them of the improvement made in herds by systematic weighing of milk and testing each cow, notably at the Weraroa Experimental Farm, I ■hope to see this system carried out more and more each year. Dairy fanners seem to have forgotten that a wise expenditure of money is often a very profitable investment, and I am sure that 3s a cow, which will cover expenses, will be the most paying investment any ■group of farmers can make.

A note of warning has been given by Mr. McConneil, of Ruakura Farm of Instruction, that even when advantage is taken of the tabulated yield, to cull the unprofitable,.cows, farmers must remember, that constitution has also to be considered, for some cows are highlv strung! nervous animals and if milk onlv is to be the test, breeders may fall into the mistake Lincoln sheep-breeders made when they bred for wool alone and constitution was not kept up; or the Shorthorn breeders in Great Britain, who bred for fashionable blood alone, much to the detriment of the breed. PASTEURISATION.

Pasteurising of skim milk is not carried out as much as it should be, for the health of our stock, but a simple inexpensive machine has yet to be found.

The casein industry has made a good start in Wanganui, and several large factories have entered into a contract to supply their milk for .conversion. Companies are thus able to pay ovt about Is 4d per lb for butter-fat, though the miJk is robbed of part of its feeding qualities. It is stated, however, that by the addition of a small quantity of phosphate of lime that the whev is of equal value to skim milk and that in the process of conversion the whey, heated to 130 degrees for about an hour and a half, is then sterilised. WHICH BREED? The battle of the breeds still goes on; this I look upon as an excellent thing, for those who have one breed, are thus induced to pay greater attention to their cows and seek for the best dairying blood elsewhere. Recent importations have increased the number of Holateins, and the Jersey breeders have imported some very highclass cattle. I have never understood why the shorthorn did not reecive more attention. The Jersey, Holstein and Ayrshire have all their, advocates; but they are not ideal cattle for fattening purposes, and bullocks of these breeds are not run after. The shorthorn in England has shown itself to be a fine milker, and tneir progeny if not retained for breeding, make excellent ibeef. As much as £SOO was recently paid in Middlesex for a dairy shorthorn cow. I was glad to see some very good dairy cows of this breed at Ruakura and to hear that the bull calves by the imported bull, out of these cows found a readv sale in the Waikato.

It is also very pleasing to note that by the enterprise of Mr. •Gould, of Christchurch we have still another of the dairy breeds in the Dominion, viz., the Guernsey. EXPORT OF DAIRY PRODUCE.

It is significant to note that the value of dairy produce exported has reached such a high total, nearly four millions, oxceedinw frozen meat for the first time by over half a million, and it is extremely gratifying- that notwithstanding this, and though the dairy cows have considerably increased in number during the year the number of sheep still remains about the same, and this in spite of the fact that we export over a fifth of our sheep every year. It means that as land becomes settled, and brought into use we shall be able to still further increase the output of dairy produce, bemv*t the land which still remains to be improved is mostly in districts which are eminently suited for dairying, having an ample rainfall. SCARCITY OF LABOR.

Scarcity of labor is more and more restricting agricultural (work, (and I should not wonder to see that before next harvest wo shall have to supplement our crop by importing flour from Australia. The cheaper land there, and the warmer and drier climate, enable farmers to harvest their crops at mucii less expense than we can here. In one operation, with the improved harvester they can cut, thresh, and h;v the grain, whereas here we have to go through the regular and more expensive process of cutting, stooking, stacking and threshing the grain. If the growth of wheat is restricted, it will mean that the land will be used for dairyim* or for fattening lambs. If the price o? lambs keeps up, there is little to choose between the two systems, as there is loss labor connected with fattening lambs than in milking cows. True the machines have been brought to a high state of perfection and are a wonderful saving of labor and they are coram" into general use; difficulty has been expenenced in keeping the tubes clean, and in some eases the quality of the cheese has been affected because of unclean tubes. No doubt some material other than India rubber will be found which will ,be easier cleaned. CO-OPERATION, lam very glad to say that the companies winch have arisen out of the Karmers' Union hare this year been completely successful. The Distributing Company has had a very successful year has now got over its initial stages, will shortly be paying a dividend, and is in Smi V W position of - havin s mon °y to lend We are now seeking to extend and if any of the members have the' opportunity we will be o-lad of their help to further the trade." Mr Hebenton is our agent here. We work the company on completely co-operative lines and do not seek to make much

profit; but rather to give our customers and clients the benefit of careful purchase. To this end both purchasers and sellers get a bonus at the end of the year on the coupons issued to each, and by this means we hope to be able to do 'business in which buyers, sellers and shareholders will all benefit. WEST COAST SETTLEMENT irESEBVES. We are promised consideration lor the tenants on the West Coast Selliimcnl Reserves, during the coming .session, bill the large)' question of the settlement of the unused Maori lands is still, I am afraid, some disriuee ol\ i nil unless the public make an el fort 10 place this question in the forefront, it mi\\ remain untouched like the iand J. ion speaking of.