THE BUTTER INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 204, 5 February 1915, Page 6

THE BUTTER INDUSTRY.

To tlio Editor. j Sir,—ln the News of January 21) ap- ! pears ii report of Messrs -Mill* and Spur- J row, butler merchants, and it will lie j noticed that amongst other comments appear the words, ■•consequently Danish, which seems to lie always available every week in the year, has' further advanced, etc., etc." Now Sir, the colonial dairy farmer lias always been advised to follow the example of the Danes in butter production. Experts of all sorts treat the. fanners to every kind of advice; factory directors in a lukewarm manner advise their suppliers to do this or the other for the improvement of conditions regarding the raw material, and in very many cases are dilatory in carrying out the suggested improvements themselves; factory managers are often at tlieir wits ends to know what to do with refractory suppliers' milk, suppliers are only too willing to damn the manager who is unfortunate to make second grade and thereby lessen the profits of their company; the State through its olliccrs and its publications mouths and howls about what should be and what can he done, but only goes so iar as to put it on paper; newspaper editors make numerous comments, reprint clippings of what other places and farmers are'doing; farmers are exploited by different rings of cattle fanciers—first the Holstein is best, then the Jersey ring gets a "go"; then the Ayrshire' is as good, with the Shorthorn combination gradually making a forge ahead. And one could go on wi I owt end as to the. divers methods employed in the so-called "fostering" of the greatest industry on earth, but (and it may be one voice crying in the wilderness) I say again that the only hope the farmers of Xew Zealand have of getting on equal terms with the Danes or any other butter suppliers of the world's market who have the advantage, of closer residence is by adoption of a big scheme of concentration in manufacture. I have had your indulgence, .Mr. Kditor, on a former occasion when I dealt with the matter largely, and letters I received in | praise and support of the scheme makes I me ask that much prominence be | given the sulfjcct. Why do the rank and file of the dairymen simply follow blind- [ ly the opinions of the old timers? Can ' they not recognise that in these times we must go on progressing if we wish to taste the benefits of our work and thai) the old timer who in the first instance was simply dragged almost against his will into co-operation, now fancies we are at the limit of what that system can do, and yet holds up for an example, the methods, etc., of the Danes? If Denmark is to be held up as the ideal for the dairy farmer, let us all know how it is they in that country (which has not the same favorable cli- • matic conditions as we of New Zealand) ' can put good butter on the market '■> "every week in the year." Let our big-wigs in the butter business tell *..io P dairy farmer how the Danes control the •• make, regulate the supply and exercise a u beneficent care in the production, and then ask themselves if it is ever going " to be possible N undcr the system we in J this country, and especially Taranaki, J adopt? No, fellow dairy farmer, no II matter what part you reside in, you are y not going to get the full benefit of your 11 toil until you adopt co-operation on '• progressive lines, and you have, to con- \ centrate the manufacture at a deep ,f water port. You will in doing so turn a many a factory into creameries, and - thereby lessen expenses and also "enable ° many more skimming stations to be ', established, which would be a saving in s many ways to the producers as a whole. « By the manufacture under one roof the « cost of production must come to the s minimum and the strength of the com'l bination of all butter factories into one t big manufacturing concern should ree suit in better advantages in business '' dealings, a more uniform article, cons trolling the price and the output—all n factors tending to give the men who 0 produce more value for the outlay of '■ cash and labor. Cream could be sent 1 from those cheseries who at times make ° butter and a dual plant (bar the sept arator) need not be kept! "Oh, it's the i. millcnium the. fellow's talking about." ■r has been said at times, and if it is so 3 then I can say that the millcnium is in 1' your grasp if you wish to take it. Those « who recognise the importance of con- - centrating the manufacture of butter as ''■ a progressive move of benefit to the in- <•' dustry and to the producer should not r cease in their efforts to bring about an u amalgamation of butter factories to the 0 end. desired, for by that means only c will we be able, to produce and place '■ on the market "every day in the week" a real good uniform article. What's the of looking sideways at margarine and other stuflV and shivering at the advance in use"? We have to hold our own and in doing so cut down the cost of production and produce a good article, j I have pointed out the only means]' deny it, who can,—l am, etc., JOE B. SIMPSON. ! Durham Road.