MAKETAWA DAIRY CO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 73, 15 August 1914, Page 3

MAKETAWA DAIRY CO.

) AN'.NI'AL .UEKTIXG. 'i .0 ..nmwl meeting ol' tlie Makcta'wa Dairy Oonipaiu una held at the factory y•.-,.r.'da., .til! :n,,dii, when Mr ~'. Brown jjj . .-.iJi:J over about -id shareholders. The nineteenth report and balancesheet showed that the quanliiy of butter (made wa-s I l,s tons- 2 cwt lib. Out lof the surplus uf £7OB lis 4d, the du-cc-lors proposed u, make a further payment to snpj.-lii-r.s totalling £ti!th Is !)d. and to carry the balance fovvvi.ru. After adjusting '.he .retuiiery working account, this amount would ail jw of a jayiiient. to factory supplie- i at tin' rate of o.Bd, and to the creamery sup- j pliers of 0.7 d per lb of butterfat sup- | plied during the season, aaiiouriitug to j £379 16s 3d an.l £3IS 5s Od respectively The followi"',' statistics were given: Lbs of milk r-Waived, s : r>SS,t>3l.; lbs of butterfat. 224,2)0; lbs of butter made, 204.545; lbs of milk to lib of butter, 21.12; lbs of butter to lib of la., 1.179; average test, 4.01; overrun, 17.9 per cent. Advances paid c-.iual to 11.22 d per lb of butterfat (total payments, including "bonus"): Factory suppliers, •12.02 per lb of butterfat; creamery suppliers, 11.92 per lb of butterfat; average over all, 11.97 per lb of butterfat. °fn moving the adoption, of the bal-ance-sheet, the" Chairman said that the payment for butterfat was a record in the hdstoTy of the company. In spite of a decrease in the limuuer of suppliers, they had maintained practically the same output as last year, showing that individual suppliers- had increased their output. During last 'year over 118 tons of butter had been manufactured, as against 110 for the 10 months I of the previous year. But for the increased cost -of manufacture, due mainly to the cost of fuel, the payment would have been greater.. Fuel was i each year becoming more and more ex pensive, and it was questionable whether coal would not he cheaper than wood. He intended to have experiments made in this direction during the coming season. Last year the cost of manufacturing butter had been (including depreciation) 1.47 d per lb, as against I.2Sd per lb the previous year. Fuel had cost 37s 8d per ton of butter, as against 33s last year. Referring to the disposal -of last year's butter, he stated that the directors had decided'to sell half the output at Is and to consign the other. Accordingly 2009 boxes had been ssold and 1942 coxes had been consigned. The latter, unfortunatelv. only realised ll'/ 4 d, the low price being, he thought, primarily due to the strike causing several shipments to lie dumped on the London market at once. The average test had increased from 3.94 to 4.01, and the overrun had also increased to 17.9. Referring to the prospects for the present j season, he stated tlmt these were none I too bright. From enquiries that he had ] made, he had ascertained that the produce people had instructions to do, nothing. He could get no information . as to what the banks were prepared to ido in fee way of advances. He sup- . posed that the bank was prepared to meet all reasonable liabilities. the Freezing Company had enquired from the, shipping company and also from the as to when produce would be likely to foe- shipped. The shipping company had replied that shipping was tinder the control of tire Government at present, and no guarantee J could be 'given as to when produce | would go through. If the produce I could not get away it would be a serf- t mis thing, as the freezing storage cap- I acity in the Dominion was Hmi.cd, and In the flush would not last many weeks. Even if the produce could be sent forward, it appeared that they would be unable to get anv advance, or, at the 'best, but a small advance, or, at the vi ached London and was sold. He did not want them to think that the directors were stared, but lie wished to impress on them that thev need only expect small advances. He did not know what schemes would be put forward 'or the dispr-sal of their produce. He had read Mr Hine's g|ikorattgi) scheme, and quite narced that the New Zealand producer did not want to take advantage of the crisis to '-;et boom prices. Indeed, if thev did, t .<• -Home Oovernment would probably do what the New Zealand Oovernment was doing at present, viz.. take charge of the nrodiico and dfs-ribute it at reasonab'e prices. (Applause.) The'- were, he ; said, bound to sacrifice a little. All) thought that this was a just war, and I that thev must uphold the action of the Tiritish Oovernment. and so must take a share, of the burden. The war might not actually touch the Dominion, but it would be keenly felt here , financially and otherwise. The report was seconded iiy Mr R. ■Stevens, and adopted. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. I Messrs J. Brown and .T. Rickard, the retiring directors, were re-elected unopposed. Mr E. Olson, of Inglewood. was appointed auditor, at a fee of £4 4s. The directors were given a hearty yore of thanks for their services during the year, and the chairman was voted an honorarium of £ls. Mr Brown, in returning thanks, saiid that he had intended retiring this year, ■but in view of the crisis that had arisen he had decided to again what assistance he could. The manager was accorded a vote of thanks. HERD-TESTING. -Air A. W. Ogle waited on the meeting and addressed shareholders on the benefits to be derived from cow-test-ing, and stated that if lie I :.d a, guarantee of 500 cows he would be prepared to start at Makotawa. It was pointed out that the factory manager was at present prepared to do any testing required, and no action was taken. c MARKETING PUODIU 'fi. The chairman referred at length I"• the prospects for improving th.- marketing condition on the London .market, as initiated by the dairy factories at .he meetings at Hawera and Paknei-ston North, and also the Fanners' Co-opera-tive Association scheme. —No action i was talien. GENERAL. Tbt> chairman warned suppliers l against using preservative m their milk. America was to-tim, against this, and America was like' to be a good market.