FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 August 1918, Page 2

FARM AND DAIRY.

DAIRYING IN AUSTRALIA. Mr I<\ J. Nathan, who went to Australia on a business tour in March last, returned to Palmerston last week. Mr Nathan gave an interview to a Mana-wa-tu Daily Times reporter on this impressions of the trip, touching on dairy" ing business and other topics. "I visited the western dairying district," said Mr Nathan, "passing through Colac, Camperdown and Warnambool. The season was not as good as one could have wished. What J strikes one in passing through is the scarcity of factories. In a vast scope !of country, where there would be from 10 to 20 factories with us, there is only one. The industry is not carried on to the same extent there as it is here. In certain of the districts mixed farming has the greater hold. Larrd. is very dear, and leases can only be had for three years and in some cases at as high as £3 per acre, so that there is no centivc for a man to build tip a herd. Cows are very scarce and very dear. The biggest factory, Nestles, takes in 42,000 gallons of milk a day and has a radius of sixteen miles. lam told that they will not accept milk from machine-milked herds." They do not pay out on each individual test, but on the average factory test for the whole district, so that there is no incentive for Uia individual to work up a butter-fat herd. I went through one dried milk factory, the "True Food Company of Australia." They are drying under a different process from ours and are turning out quite a nice product. They seem to have a good supply of milk, but the factory is some distance from a railroad. Nearly all the factories are badly situated in this respect. From what I could see of the (butter factories there was nothing I wanted to copy for the factories out here. The casein industry is just as far advanced as ours. Where there is butter and cheese in one co-operative factory, the man who supplies for butter has no advantage over the man who supplies for cheese. Tho payment is equalised, a thing- that would not be tolerated here. In connection with most of the co-operative factories stores are run. Eggs are collected and some of the factories grind up calf food. One factory grinds flour. There has been good rain there lately and there is every prospect of a very fine season.

"Coming through Sydney on the way home we encountered the butter famine. There is a great scarcity owing to the past dry season and there is very little frozen butter even left. It-was awful stuff.