FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1916, Page 2

FARM AND DAIRY.

THE BUTTER-FAT TAX. One of the speakers at a recent conference of dairymen of the Manawatu and Oroua districts, was Mr. F. Greville, of Wellington, who said he had come from Wellington to speak in protest, but he informed the meeting that he had been placed in possession of certain information by the Minister, which had made him pause. He had now completely changed his views as to the attitude to be adopted. The tax would have to be paid. He. could not tell what the position was, but they could draw their own inferences when he said: *'Tf they had their hand in a bulldog's mouth, they would scarcely think it a favorable opportunity to kick the brute." The simile was very applicable just now. He would, however, take the opportunity of suggesting to dairymen in what manner they could recoup themselves for the levy: that was by putting the full amount of moisture and salt in the butter and cheese allowed by law. Mr. Murray, manager for Nathan and Co., said it was not practicable to carry out the suggestion of Mr. Greville in respect to increasing the moisture and salt in butter and cheese unless the suppliers provided a high uniform quality of milk or cream. Next to Roumania the European country which has attracted most attention recently is Norway, in consequence of the increasingly strained relations between it and Germany. In Norway there is to be found much interesting food for reflection on the part of the economist, who must lie impressed particularly by tiie remarkable progress which agricultural co-operation has made in recent years, in the face of great geographical and other disabiii-1 ties. In 1013 there were 1787 associations of -a co-operative character, including:—Dairies and cheese-makers, 6B0; collective butter sellers, 37; slaugh-ter-houses, 2; associations for joint purchases. 5; butter exports, Cd; sale of eggs, 31; sale of wood, 73; general colleetivo sales, 3; consumers' societies, 370; total, 11S7. There are societies handling one product alone; others on the contrary make all the typical produets of Norwegian agriculture the object of their activities. The five great associations for collective -purchases of the raw materials required for agriculture are formed by the union of 1344 societies, each of which constitutes an autonomous body in its own territory The business turnover of 900 co-opera-tive societies which .replied to enquiries, exceeded, during one year,£2o3,ooo, but to this figure there should bo added the by no means small sum handled by the societies which did not reply. In any event the amount mentioned is in itself very high, considering that the total populations of Norway in the year indicated did not exceed 2,500,000, and the rural population 1,700,000.