MAKETAWA DAIRY COMPANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1918, Page 3

MAKETAWA DAIRY COMPANY.

TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. The twenty-third aiuiual meeting of the Makctawa Dairy Company was held at the factory, Makctawa, yesterday afternoon, Mr. J. Brown (chairman of directors) presiding over a good attendance of suppliers. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. In moving the adoption of the annua! report and balance-sheet (already published), tiie chairman stated that owing lo the number of men taken from the farms, he expected there would be a considerable decrease in the output, bot, m--6tead, tiiere had been an increase of 14 tons. The Government, however, were beginning to recognise that by taking the last man off the farm there would be reduced output, and it would bo diiHcult to understand where taxation would come from, because it \v,v only i.cisonaUle to suppose that the bulk of it would have to come off'the land. The. Government should have recognised this long ago. If the worst came to the worst, and it was necessary to send every man, that should be done, and they eouid look forward to paying the ex'tra taxation after the war by getting more out oi the land than at present. The directors, he continued, .wornmended that £ljo be set aside towards payment for the extra shares in the freezing works. It was recognised tiuic storage accommodation must be provided, otherwise it would be no use milking cows. Last year it had beeu necessary to store 18,000 boxes of butter in the Smart Road works, and this had enabled the butter people to get through the season. Practically all the butter had now been «ot away. The cheese people, however, had had considerable trouble. The freezing eoiipany had provided additional accommodation for cheese at Moturoa, and had also made arrangements with the .Smart Road works to accommodate 100,000 boxes of butter. This should be sufficient for next season's butter and also for the cheese, provided the 54,000 crates now in store were shipped before the" hulk of next season's cheese came in. The directors, therefore, proposed to deduct 14 d per ■pound for butter-fat to pay for these additional shares., and also to provide £4OO to replace the cottage that had been burnt down. Some might ask why the present suppliers should bear the whole cost whilst those who oa.na in later got off scot free. He, however, could not see any other way of financing it. It .was «o use going to the banks! The freezing works was a good naying proposition.' He estimated that the y 4 d deduction would pay off the liability in i three years, unless before that additional accommodation was required, in i which case they would hare to face the music. Maketawa had cleared out all its butter and would start the season with a clean sheet. It was intended to pay out one penny that day, and the balance in the course of a few days. Continuing, Mr. Brown "said that the over-run was about the same as last year, and the average test was still going up and was as good as any "he had seen. It would be noticed that the cost of fuel had increased. This was due to the increased output. Wages at the factory and creamery had increased by £72, due mainly to the longer time that casein had been manufactured. Insurance had increased enormously, due to the length of time tile butter iiad to be held in store. The cost of production this year had been as follows (the figures for last year being given in parentheses) .—Per pound for butter-fat, 2.34 (1.94); per pound butter, i.9yd (1.64), and with interest and depreciation, per pound butter-fat, 2.5rl (2.13 d); per pound butter, 2.12 d (1.82 d). The cost of production must go up. Take boxes. A few years ago they were )0d; to-day they were Is 9d, and next year would be more. Cheese erates were now 2s 6d... Referring to the shortage of white pine, he said that something would have to be done or some substitute provided The Box Company might be able to supply for 10 or 12 years. The BoxCompany was faced with the labor difficulty, men being very difficult to obtain and having to be paid verv high wages. Salt and other requisites had also gone up. He considered that coal was cheaper than wood. At the creamery there was only a slight increase in butter-fat, and yet the consumption of fuel had increased from 5S§ cords to 79 cords. The cost at the creamery, including interest and depreciation, was Os 5d per 1001b of butter-fat, as compared with 5s 3d two years ago. The increased supply at the factory was 13,0001b of butter-fat and 4001b at the | creamery. Their assets had been writ- | ten down, and now appeared very low. I He touched on the dried milk ques- | tion at length on lines already reported I on, and considered that before it could I be undertaken in that district it would I be necessary to amalgamate some ol the I factories.

Regarding the shipping, he considered that the prospects this season were not as promising as they were last season. He did not know whether the Imperial Government would purchase their butter or whether the companies would have to hold it. He hoped tho Government would purchase it, because if it were not for the Imperial Government makin.r advances the directors would not nave been able to make them such bi" advances as they had each month. He favored paying out to the utmost limit, provided it did not put too big a strain on tne company's finances. They were trying to make arrangements to sell their butter to the Imperial authorities at a n-gher price than last year, and the cheese people were also asking a bVher price, the same as Canada and other | places received. Some people wonoer, ed Why we did nqt receive the same price as Denmark, from whom the Imperial Government purchased butter at 4s 4d, but that was done to prevent the butter going to Germany. He stated that from the share of profits received from last year's sale it was hoped to pay out an additional 2d per pound on butter-fat. Without the advance from the Imperial Government it was impossible for the | banks to finance in the case of cheese, butter, meat, hides," etc. He referred at length to the question of apportioning the extra profits between the factories that exported and those that sold locally. The Government fixed the price of local butter at the factory at Is 3d. which was an advantage of id as compared with the export victories. When the question was fcfKriit up, it was suggested that this sh«s} fe pooled, but as the prospects of t« "reporting factories obtaining any a&a profits did not appear to be very hi'vfy, some of the factories would not p*?. Now that there were extra profits, sejf had been asked to agree to share tlfl»p

profits with the local factories. The Government stated that the consent of every factory must be obtained before the profits were divided, and, so far, some were hanging out. He then formally moved the aaoution of the report. Mr. W. Haslett seconded.

Mr. J. B. Simpson stated that he was very interested in the chairman's remarks regarding amalgamation, as he had advocated this in the paper yeara ago, and the same remarks applied today. Had the heads of the industry carried this out, they would not have had the same difficulties regarding nuance, shipping, etc. If the dairy fanners wanted to get all that was in the industry, they must do away with 'the present division and antagonism and have true co-operation, of which at present many did not know tlie meaning. I'rue co-operation meant amalgamation.

The report was then adoptel ELECTION OP DIRECTORS. For 1 lie two vacancies on the directorate caused by the retirement of Mr. W. Corney "by rotation, and also by the death of Mr. R. Kilpatriek, Messrs W. Corney and D. A. Brown were re-elected unopposed. Mr. T. E. Hamerton was re-elected auditor. OASETN. The chairman submitted alternative proposals from the Waiigamii Casein Company. The first provided that the Casein Company advanced 2d pe«- pound for butter-fat and pay an extra Id in July, conditionally upon all suppliers leaving a portion of tkeir skim milk by November \ and after the. end of November the whole of it. The alternative proposal was that the company advance £35 per ton casein, with a further advance when the casein was shipped, and a still further advance when it was realised upon. This might make it equal to 8s 3%d per pound.

Some discussion ensued,, several of the suppliers expressing their unwillingness to guarantee to leave all their milk, though it was admitted that ihe former scheme appeared the better proposition.

■ On a vote being taken, there were 15 in favor of each scheme, and the chairman gave his vote in favor of the second, which is practically the lines the company is working on, pointing out that though he favored the first proposal, it could not be given effect to unless all were agreeable. GENERAL. It was resolved to deduct ] / t d per pound for butter-fat, in order to meet the cost of the extra freezing woiks shares and cost of ro-building cottage. A supplier suggested that the factory 'should pay interest on the shares, as it was not fair that present suppliers should provide this accommodation and get no benefit when they ceaseu tv.pplying.

The chairman stated that a, previous resolution would have to be rescinded before interest could be paid. Personaly, he had always opposed the payment of interest.

Mr. T. Corney moved that, »s tne Inglewood Borough Council were going in for an enlarged electric scheme, the directors should be recommended to endeavor to make arrangements with them for the supply of electric power. Mr. Davidson seconded.

The chairman stated that the directors had not lost sight of tlie matter. He regretted very much that the company had not gone in for it when it was discussed years ago.

The motion was carried. Tlie chairman read a letter from tne National Dairy Association suggesting that the information re dried milk should be obtained for the members of the association, who should equally bear the expense.—Referred to the director?, with power to act. to act;

It was resolved to increase the chair man's honorarium to £25.

Hearty votes of thanks were accorded the secretary, the manager, and the staff, also the retiring directors and the press.