DAIRYING IN NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1922, Page 8

DAIRYING IN NEW ZEALAND.

EVOLUTION OF THE INDUSTRY. (H. Belshaw, 8.A., in the Lyttelton Times.) The first recorded purchase of land in New Zealand was made by the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who bought 200 acres for twelve axes. He also introduced the dairying industry to New Zealand by landing a batch of Shorthorn cattle with a view to encouraging the Natives to turn from the parts of war into pastoral pursuits. In 1830 he established the first farm at Keri-Keri. Darwin visited this in 1835 and was much impressed with the range of crops and fruit. From then on farming developed apace, but in spite of highly favorable natural conditions, - dairying made but a languid growth. The dairying industry as we know it to-day had its birth in 1882 when the first cargo of frozen meat from New Zealand was landed in London. At the time the country was suffering from an acute depression, following on the borrowing policy of Sir Julius Vogel and the land boom of the ’seventies. Before that date the export trade in meat did not e'xidt and sheep were raised almost entirely for their wool. Vast areas were abandoned to rabbits. Cheese achieved an early reputation on the English market, but even this was variable in quality and deteriorated in transport. Butter could not be exported further than Australia and was “liable to develop all manner of obnoxious flavors in the short voyage across the Tasman Sea.” Even this market was limited and uncertain so that the mam demand came from the “not very discriminating neighboring town” or to replenish the larder of outgoing vessels. In the main, each farmer made his own butter on his own premises to suit himself. Even as early as 184(1 a small but definite trade was established with small coastal settlements and visiting vessels. Trade was mainly carried on by barter and the half-pound pat was the most popular and was usually stamped with the name of its farm of origin. The winter demand was astisfied by supplies of salted butter in kegs from the inland districts, As is often the case where a market is limited, fluctuations in price were violent, ranging from 4d to 2s 6d per lb. Before the success of the experiment of 1882 had made it possible to exploit European markets, methods of marketing were crude and inefficient. In Taranaki, for example, which now boasts of scores of miles of wonderful macadamised highways, were old bullock roads, axle-deep in mud. Along these the weekly supply of butter was taken to the nearest railway station, thence to be taken to the neighboring town and bartered to the storekeeper for groceries. “On Saturdays especially,” .writes an old settler, “it was a very hard job to get a seat in a second-class carriage on account of the number of women with their baskets of butter, or who were returning home with their weekly supplies. This butter was packed in 561 b kegs, from which, often enough, were emitted strange odors anything but pleasant.

The expansion of the market after ■lBB2 was rapid, and the demand became stabilised. In 1879 the value of exports of dairy produce was £2259; in 1884, two years after the first shipment of frozen butter, the value had increased to £92,000. During the period of rising prices commencing about 1895 the development was even more rapid, until in 1918 the value of exports of dairy produce had reached £7.489,000. Even if allowance is made for increased prices, there has been a considerable increase in export quantities. With the stabilising of demand it became profitable to invest capital in factories, and the increase in the number of factories bears similar evidence of the rapid growth. In 1870 only one factory was in operation; by 1890 the number had increased to twenty-five, and by 1920 to 573. This growth was accompanied by the development of the co-operative spirit, and it is probable that in no country, except Denmark, has the cooperative organisation developed to such an extent. At the present time there are 461 factories co-operatively owned and seventy-two privately owned. Before 1880 the advantage possessed by the factory over the farm dairy was not remarkably great. It is true that some economies might be gained by handling in bulk; but the process of separating cream was the same in both factory and dairy—by setting in shallow pans or by other devices depending on the action of gravity; but in 1879 the principle of centrifugal force was applied to separating cream, through the invention of the modern separator.

This revolutionised the manufacture of butter, for it made possible the manufacture of a uniform product, while refrigeration made a new market for this product available. In 1890 Babcock invented his machine for testing butter-fat content, and this marked the final step in the evolution of the modern dairy factory. Within thirty years of its inception into New Zealand all the essentials of the modern factory system had been developed. Not only did the perfecting of the separator and the establishment of butter and cheese factories enormously increase the output of dairy produce, but also they made possible the widespread development of the industry for export in countries of dear labor such as New Zealand, where otherwise extensive development would have been unprofitable. Further, the development of a product of stable and uniform quality made it possible to utilise all the advantages of the modern highly specialised market, thus stabilising price and directing supplies to satisfy particular demands with a minimum of economic loss. With the establishment of a highly efficient grading system the marketing organisation was further improved. As in all exporting countries of any importance, butter at first held chief place, mainly owing to the advent of the cream separator, which soon proved especially valuable in districts where transport was bad. Later, with the gradual falling off in exports from Canada, the export trade in cheese gradually developed until in 1920 New Zealand became the chief source of supply for the United Kingdom. The tendency to specialisation will probably increase in the future, both as regards the various exporting nations and within the country itself. Already the manufacture of butter, cheese, dried milk, etc., tends to be localised in the various provinces. The industry has displayed a phenomenal development. Possibilities of development in the future appear equally great. When once the present depression has passed away the outlook is indeed rosy.