FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1916, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

DAIRY HERD COMPETITION. The following are-the results of the dairy herd competition conducted under the auspices of the Egmont A. and P. Association:—o, T. l'erry, Manaia, 40 cows, 300,8811bs milk, 13,440.91bs butterfat, averaging £l7 14s 5d per cow; 11. Hodge, Alton, 441 cows, 314.1951bs milk, 13,;j] fl.Slbs butter-fat, averaging £l7 9s 3d pei cow; J. M. Clague, Manaia, 2(!0,9771bs milk, in,054.81bs butter-fat. averaging* £l7 Is lOd; Clague Bros.. Manaia, 70 cows, !i4(i.33ftlbs milk, 22 : G4fi.71bs fat, averaging £ll! Ills !)d per cow; 0. C. Marx, Te Roti, 03 cows, 4f)1,0141bs milk, 18.873.9411)5 fat, averaging £ls 15s 9d per cow; 0, McPhillips, Manaia, 5S cows, 423,4051bs milk, 17,032.11bs fat, averaging £ls 8s Id per cow; W. Biadshaw, Auroa, SO cows, 552,0(!71b? fat, '23.18D.01bs fat, averaging £ls 5s per cow; Orr Bros., Ngaere, 40 cows, 278,0121b* milk, 10,»9°4.911bs fat, averaging £l3 19s 4d per COW; F. Stanbrhlgc. Meremere, 43 cows, 287,97911)5 milk, 11,3(i0.171bs fat, averaging £l3 lis per cow. (The calculations were made on the basis of Is per lb for butter-fat and one farthing for each lOlbs of milk). Messrs Clague Bros, win the special prize for the herd of over 50 cows yielding the best returns. They also won this special last year. Mr. H. Hodge, who was placed second in the main competition this year, was last year's winner.— Star.

PIONEER FACTORY OP TAKANAKI. Writes Mr. Geo. J, Mackie:— Although in the past it has been said that Mr. Chew Chong's at Eltham held this p( tion, and that Tikorangi was second, 1 am able to prove that Waitara Road was first, the others being second and third in the order named. It was in January, ISSS, the first started work-' ing, Eltham in September, and Tikorangi in November of the same year. My authority for this assertion is Mr. G. G. Andrews, who was the first manager at Waitara Road, and Mr. H. M Purdie assistant, as they went to see the starting of the separators at tho other places. The late Mr. Thomas Bayly was the original proprietor, he then owning farms on both sides of the Waitara river comprising 2000 acres more or less, and considered it a profitable way of utilising the boy labor of his own family and others, and also of testing the Home markets with our butter, which at that time was only worth locally 5d to Gd per lb. At his death in 1891 the Crown Dairy Co. took over the business, and continued it until August 1, 1898, when the suppliers of the company decided co co-operate and bought their property and plant, nine acres land, two dwelling houses, factory building, and plant for £SOO. Values of land, etc., have changed since then. A resume of some of the evolutions in dairying operations during these years might be' interesting to your readers. Receiving and weighing of milk. —In these early days tho milk was hoisted on the stage by a hand winch, and as some of the cans were 25 gallons, it was a good heavy lift. They were then weighed separately on a platform scale, the manager having to note the weight of each empty can in order to get the nctt weight.- Now a patent milk hoist, operated by machinery, takes it up, and it is tipped'into the weighing tank, which holds and weighs up to 10001b, the dial registering the weight so that the supplier can see whether the operator's statement is correct. The '■'Burmcistor and Wain" was the standard separator ; then, and did good'work, although it is ] scrapped now. The advantages it had j before the days of heating milk was that j having a large open bowl it could skim ; milk even at freezing point or that had gone thick with souring. In the hands of a man who knew how to use it the skimming was done well, but was dangerous in a new chum's hands, as soine have proved. The "De Laval," or some offshoot from that well known firm, now does the work, and with the heating of milk and cooling and pasteurising of cream the inside of a factory is now an interesting sight. In the butter room the square churn and cutter worker as separate units have given place to the combined chum and butter worker, a great labor saving machine. Were the old conditions prevailing now, labor conld not be got tp do the work, as it was a 'hard day's work for a strong man to work and box one ton (40 boxes) a day, trying the arms and the back severely. The old butter kegs are replaced by boxes much handier for packing anywhere. Perhaps the greatest evolution has taken place in the slam milk delivery, which often was a source of trouble. The first mode was by bucket, the manager telling each supplier how many buckctfuls were his share. This was set aside by the adoption of a measure stick marked with the number of Gallons 011 two sides for two sizes of cans This worked fairly well, except when the milk got frothy in hot weather. This again gave place to a tank on platform scales, when each one weighed his neighbor's milk. When the new factory was built on the gravitation principle the skim milk ran into a concrete tank on a low level, and had to be pumped into the cans by a patent P un M' worked bv notched checks in a slot. It was hard'work for the boys who had a large quantity of milk to pump. It was a <;ood dav w'hen it broke down and could not be repaired; ever since the weighing has been controlled by the manager or assistant on the receiving platforms and very few mistakes occur now. Another useful machine is the Babcoek tester, for without it hundreds of robber cows would be milking to-day who are now sent to freezing works. It was unknown in the earlv years of factory work and no doubt the'owners of the early proprietary factories suffered in consequence To show its value, the average test at Waitara Road has risen in 17 years from 3..) to 4.0, where it stood 12 months ago, and it has occupied the premier position in the Dominion all these years. Our tests last week, August 11, ranged from 4.0 to 0.1. In this connection in a good many factories the' test sheets, do not show names but numbers which only the supplier owning is supposed to know. J. Ms, I think, is a mistake, as '..'hen the name is oiven and others can see where you stand it may be at the bottom where you do not wish to be. It is an incentive to individual testing in order to get up in the ranks, if not top. To show our growth since starting coop. (I was then secretary), on looking up the old pass book. f° r °" r month's pay out (August), I find the total pay out to twelve suppliers to be £O3 fis 8d For the same month of this year it will be over £IOOO, the suppliers now numbering over 80. The price paid ' out for butterfiit in the first year wa", 7.820 pence. This year it will be more than twice that ainmm:. On looking back we have to thank the early pioneers of the industry for their work. They took the risks m those days, and wo of to-day are reaping the benefits.