BUTTER AND CHEESE.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1919, Page 3

BUTTER AND CHEESE.

THE PAST SEASON REVIEWED. In his presidential address to the Farmers' Union conference at Wellington on Tuesday, Sir James Wilson said:— In the case of butter and cheese there was every prospect of a record season as far as output was concerned, for in the dairying districts there was green grass in January; but what we in New Zealand call a drought intervened, and not only did the cows dry off, but the rain was ao long in coming that there was little growth for winter feed, and it is to be feared that cows have suffered considerably during the winter, and in general are coming into milk in* poor condition, thus affecting the yield. With all deference to the Ministerial statement, regarding the sale of butter to the Imperial Government, the butter producer has been hard hit by the purchase. The sale was satisfactory, but the fixing of the price for local sales had reduced that price by 12s per cwt. for that sum has been deducted and credited to a fund to meet the 3d difference between local sales and expiirt prices. Not only this, but the money so deducted the previous year was not distributed until nearly twelve moutiu, and dairy companies were forced to pay interest upon the money due to them, and had to lean upon the banks for assistance. It is difficult to see why the men who work the longest hours, for th» least money should be penalised to cheapen the cost of one article of diet—and that only to a small one—to those whose wage or salary compares more than favorably with that of the producer. The dairyman in general is merely working for wages, and it has been calculated that he is paia at the rate of 4id per hour, and when the pay.ments he receives, which are stated to be high, and that the dairyman is making <i mint of money, are compared with the rates paid in other industries, it will be seen that, instead of exploiting the public, the public is exploiting the butter producer. There is groat difficulty in pettiiw at the cobt of production of n pound of butter, but the Dairy Commissioner has given it as his opinion that it costs' Is 7.2 d, and if so it must be seen that it is not by any means so profitable as the public seem to imagine to make an article of diet costing over Is 7d to produce, and be forced to sell it at Is 5d per lb to tho merchant, who is allowed to sell it at an ineieiifv. oi Id to the retailer in pats, Retting about id profit, or a six per cent, return for tt month's credit. The retailer again is allowed to sell at 2d increase. The producer thus is the only man who does not make a profit, nnd is called an exploiter in addition, although his product is bought by men whose labor has had no fixed price put upon it. The only thing that entices people into this class of farming is that the dairy farmer is his own master, but as a* rule it is only with the assistance of his family, who draw no wages, that he is able ' to pay his way and rear his family. Even if his children do not all milk, his wife does as much work as the man in her endeavour to keep a home in the country for her children. What makes people think that there i« a great deal of money made by the dairy farmer is that he is tempted to pay too high a price for his land, and the speculator, who simply buys to pass on at a higher price, gets the profit, and the man who buys to milk and not to,sell carries the j burden.

Despite all warnings of the past, land is being bought to-day at a price based upon the present price of produce, and although it is likely that; our products will for some tftme fetch good prices, j they are not likely to remain at the present level, and the prudent man will 'wait and see' how things go before investing in land. This rise in values of dairying land has caused to be brought under that system a.good deal of land which was not hitherto conNidered suitable, and has generally raised the price to an unheard of level. Unfortunately, it has not indnced the farmer to make the most out of his cows, and there must be great numbers of cows in the Dominion which do not pay. 1 The testing of cows has been mostly confined to stud cattle, which, no doubt, helps to raise the standard; but in ordinery herds there seems to be even less testing done than there was. 'Cheese has been more satisfactorily dtalt with, and apart from the matters alluded to above and the very dry autumn, which materially shortened the season, the dairy farmer has done fairly well. The by-products are receiving more attention; casein is likely to continue in good demand, but sugar of milk has not been yet manufactured to any great extent, though several dairy companies have been making inquiries. The capital required is large, and a very large quantity of skim milk is also necessary before it can be economically manufactured. Dried milk is still receiving a. great deal of attention, especially in the Waikato. Representatives from Wellington and Taranaki have also gone to the United States to make inquiries."