LECTURE ON DAIRY FACTORIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1049, 30 December 1882, Page 3

LECTURE ON DAIRY FACTORIES.

Mr VV, Bowron delivered a lecture on dairy factories iu the Volunteer Hall last Wednesday evening. Tun lecture w»« delivered under the auspices of the Temuka Butter, Cheese and Bacon-curing Factory Co., and Mr James Guild, Chairman of tho Company, occupied the chair. There were not many present at the be ginning, but shortly afterwards the attendance was fair.

The Chairman on introducing the lecturer said lie was sorry the attendance was so small, but h. 6 understood there were other meetings on. There was an idea gone abroad that the Factory would oever start. He could assure theui it would. There was only one thing to prevent it, and that was the comet. Unless the comet, aa they had been told it would, came btok and destioyed everything, it would start. That was the only thing that could prevent it from starting. (Applause.) There was not a man in New Zealand., who had so much experienc : in this matter as Mr Bowron, and they were going lo hear a lecture from him that evening. He was soiry so few were present as ther* were more shares to bo sold. The Fac tory here would be a success, but there were various degrees of success, and if they could get a few more shares sold it would be an overflowing success. They knew very well that to start anything without sufficient capital would hamper it, and this was the way with the Factory, if more shares were taken up they could pet on better. He would now introduce Mr Bowron to them. . Mr Bowron said he waa sorry to see there were no ladies present, as he was ilways glad to see them. He was very | pleased to meet all present, and glad to j communicate to them any intelligence he j might possess. Tom Hood had suid that old men had nothing to do but to die, but a greater man than Tom Hood said that age should speak. He had betm now 73 years in this world and ought to have collected a little wisdom in all that time, and if he had any it would afford him greater pleasure to bequeath it to the people thau to take it down to the dust with him. At a lecture he had not lw>.(£-since delivered he had heard such remark s& 'Who is he V * Ah, ho is making a fine thing QUtQf >V He could assure them ho was not. th«.t an idea had obtained a hold in New £e*land that i persons must be paid for everything they did, and that whether the lecture was wisdom or foolishness there was money attached to it. He could set their minds at rest about that. He had a farmei in England, owning as much aa 1000 acres, And had been connected with a London business. He had been 44 years connected with the cheese trade in London. Jsow they knew who and what he was. During that time he had gained some experience, and that ha would impart to them that night. It appeared to him that the object of the meeting was to ascertain the best way to acquire wealth. He had seen the district, and could say that untold wealth could be got from it. He saw in the lanes, and highways, and bye-ways the roads to pyramids of gold, and tho question was the best way of getting at it. He beli3ved the cow to be the best way of acquiring wealth. They might fatten their bullocks, and have their sheep, but he would take the cow before anything else. The next question was, Which was the best cows to get ? Some people preferred the Jersey and Guernsey cowb ; they gave the richest milk, but when they were done they were not much good tor anything else. They were the worst beef in the market. Then there were the Ayrshires, a pretty cow and a good milker, but when fattened her beef sold at a low price. He bad experience of all kinds of cows, but had never found any to answer his purpose as well as the shorthorn cow. She was a good milker, and good beef, and her calf could be sold at a high price. He noticed that that was the class of cow that was chiefly in this district. The cows he had seeu in this district were equal, if not superior, ti any he had in Eugland ; they wero much larger owing to the abundance of feed, and no country en earth could produce better if proper care had been taken of them. They had everything in their favor in this district and it remained with themselves to take advantage of it or not. The next question was whether cheese could not be made at home without going to a factory at all with the milk. Of courie it could, but the factory system was superior. The supeiiority lay in this. If 20 farmers had 500 cows between them, and making cheese each of them would have to get a plant, and keep a man who understood thoroughly how to make cheese, lo the Factory one man with two assistants would do the work of these 20 men ; the cheese would be of the same size color and quality. This would put £5 additional on every ton of cheese in the market. The next point was the quality of the milk. If it were in the slightest degree tainted it would spoil the cheese. One thimble full of milk left in the pail at night and mixed with the next morning's milk would destroy the whole lot. It was, therefore, absolutely necessary that the greatest cleanliness should be observed. Every vessel should he thoroughly cleaned. Tho next was the head piece that managed the factory. Without a man who thoroughly understood making cheese, and on whom reliance could be placed, it would not be a success. The next was what will a cow be able to produce in the year. He had gone through 4 da carefully at Home on his own j faftttj aa£ he cows nev»r failed to make

him £2O p •.•;■ cow per annum. That was taking them logcther with the pigs, for the piVs must be kept in connection with the cows, one could not he well worked without the other. Things worn different in this country. In England they could make cheese for only si* months of the year, here they could make it for nine months of the yaar, and thus they had the advantage. For the moat of six months of the- year England was covered with frost and snow ; here grass «rew for nme months of the year. They had fine land and good weather here, and there waa not a better country on the face of the earth for making cheese. As to how much milk would ones cow yield, his cow averaged two gall ins a day for six months of the year, and he would maintain that a cow in this country would average two gallons a day. at the lowest calculation, for nine months of the year. A cow giving two gallons a day for nine months would give 558 gallons in nine months, which would give scwt. of cheese. Supposing there were 500 of these cows supplying milk to a I'actory, they would produce 125 tons of Cheese, which at 6§d per lb, or £6O per ton, would represent £7500, or anjaverage of £ls per cow. With the whey the factory could fatten 1000 pis;s, as two pigs ware always fattened by the milk of one cow, and the 1000 p'g* would give at the lowest calculation £SOO, which, if added to £7500, would give £BOOO as the gross profit of the 500 cows. Supposing the factory gave the farmer 3£d per gallon for the milk, it would in this way pay £4OOO to the owners of the cows, or £8 3s 4d per cow, and there would be £4OOO left to pay expenses and dividend. The pigs would do more than pay the expenses of working the factory. Ha had received a letter that day in which it was stated that bacon was from Is to Is 4d in the London market. He had gone through the most of the world—America, Sweden. France and Germany—and he had no hesitation in saying this was the finest country on the face of the earth for pigs. The breed of pigs which were now •n vogue had very little hair on them, and thev could not stand the cold sea* aWis..;, they were subject to many diseases, and they died. They were dyiugr now in f England. The case was different here. The climate was beautiful, and there was not in the world a country so ' well adapted for rearing and fattening pigs. He hoped they would open their eyes to this fact, and if they di t he felt sure that pigs would yet be the source of untold wealth to them. They need not calculate the distance they were away from London! in fact, distance was now annihilated, they could s-md produce Home in 45 days. It would be a grand day for New Zealand when they turned their attention to bacon-curing, for they could do it, as in Wiltshire, in the hottest day in the year. As regards making che«se, there were difficulties to contend against. Thirty years ago he had a retail Bhop, as well as hia wholesale warehouses, in London. It was about that time that cheese began to come for the first time from America, and ho knew 100 tons to have been sold for manure. This did not discourage the Americans ; they still persevered, and went on improving, till at Inst they turned out very good cheese. They had 2000 factories in America, and the quantity of cheese they sent overs' year to England was enormous. He now came to the class of cheese which it was avisable to make. There was the Gloucester, the Cheshire, the Cheddar, and the American cheese. Of all these he preferred tho Cheddar cheese, although he understood it was the intention to make cheese on the American principle in the factory here. Was lie right in saying that they had fixed on the American ? The Chairman : Not quite Mr Bowron : 1 do not know whether I am right in discussing the subject ? The Chairman : Yes, by all means. Mr Bowron continued to say that they could see he was in tavor of the Cheddar cheese, and tha reason was because it would bring 2d per lb more than the American in the London market. They had adopted the Ameiican principle at Edendale, and it would do right enough

for home consumption, but if they wished to go to the London market with their cheesg he would'advise them to adopt the Cheddar. It would be a good plan to go in for both, and test which was the best. For use io tho Colony he would recommend the American, for sending to the London market he would recommend the Cheddar, If they went to the London market with American cheese they would have the product of 2000 factories to compete with, while with the Cheddar system they would have only Somersetshire to ceinpeto with, as that was the only place ivhere it was made. He knew how to make both as well as any man, and when the factory here begau operations he would be glad to come to give any assistance he could. He would then make Americau and Cheddar cheese for them—they could let them ripen side, by aide and test which was the best. (Applause.) He would stake his reputation on the Cheddar. He apprehended that the cheese which paid best was the one they wanted, and as the Cheddar brought about 2d per lb more than the American, he recommended it* They had the finest district in the world for agricultural purposes, and it would be their own fault if they did not take advaDtage of it. lie had ueY«r awn—and h« had trarclled a

good Heat—a town in tlie heart of a good agricultural district but went ahsa'i, It was bound to go ahead, and he would tell the shopkeepers now that they were an deeply interested in this matter aR the farmers, for any ihing that would advance the farmer would advance them He had been told in Ashburton that the shopkeepers were now getcing in money which had been due to them for two years, ovring to the farmers getting ready cash for the milk sold to the factory. He had heard that there were 200 or 300 shares to bf taken up yet in the factory. He would remind them that it was a patriotic movemeat, and that it would brine: millions of pounds to the Colony. The London market could not be supplied by America any longer. The population ot that country was increasing enormously, and consuming its products. The people of New Zealand could step in and fill the. place of America on the London market, When in London recently a merchant wanted him to get up a Company to ntart a tinned meat trade. He told him to buy j i the plant in America, and he (the merchant) would find the money (£30,000) if necessary. He had declined the offer because he had no desire to enter business again, but it showed that there was room on the English market for the produce they could obtain from the colony. This district was superior to any he knew, and if they studied their own interests they would take advantage of it, (Applause.) In reply to questions, Mr Bowron then described the difference between the Amerioan and the Cheddnr system of making cheese. Both were the same up to a certain point. Ttie Americans put the curd in hot, and in the Cheddar system it was put in cold. He would say they ft/ore wrong, and he would prove it. When the heat remained in the cheese it fermented and swelled up at the top, and ia course of time would get rank. The Cheddar cheese, no matter what heat it was exposed to would not riae, but would always remain the same. As re- j gards the difference in the labor, a mau would do it in half an hour a day, with the assistance of steam.

In reply to Mr S mdo, Mr Bowron said he had never guaranteed that 8d per lb | could 'do g«t for cheese in the London market. The price ww regulated by I supply and demand. Still, the wholesale price of Cheddar cheese might be put down at 8d per lb, In reply to Mr Twomey, Mr Bovrron said it wns difficult to say what the Factory could give for milk when cheese could be sold at 8d per lb. In one pi »ce in America the factory made cheese of the milk for £d a gallon. The cheese was sold, and the money divided among the farmers in proportion to th e number of gallons each had contributed In another pUce the milk was regulated by the prices obtainel at the three principal markets of the year would be averaged, and the owner of the factory would pay the farmer accord ing to that after deducting l<l per lb for conv«rting tha milk into cheese, He had visited another factory where skimmed milk was mode into cheeac. The butter was taken off first, 41bs of butter being taken off every 100 gallons of milk, and beef fat was put with the milk instead. This made excellent cheese. When this was made known in England it created great alarm, an a noble lord brought in a bill to compel every one who sold American cheese to write in legible charac era over his door, words to that effect so that no one could be deceivei. He had found it excellent c'leese, and the manufacturer made a profit of £7 10s a week out of it. Mr Guild said th* Cheddar and American systems were the stme. The American was an iiHprovement upon the Cheddar, and there was no difference between them. In reply to questions, Mr Bowron said ho did not think it would do f»r th* Factory to send a cart around to collect the milk. Supposing a farmer wa3 three miles distance from the factory, time would be lost in going to it in the morning, and all the milk should be in about seven or eight o'clock in the morning. The way was for every one to milk his own cows, and,take the milk to the Factory, Mr San do pointed out that a few farmers might club together, and ono of them could take the milk of the whole. Mr Bowron agreed that this would be the best system. Mr K. F. Gray moved a vote of thanks to Mr Bowron for tiie excellent leeturo ho had given them. He felt sure that if they were to be forever reading books they could not glean half so much information from them as they had got from Mr Bowron that ©veuing, The thanks of farmers and of all present were duo to him for his excellent lecture. (Applause ) ' He would, therefore, move a vote of thanks to him. Mr John Hayhutst, senior, seconded the motion, and it was carried by acclamation. Mr Bowron in responding said that it afforded him great pleasure to do anything for advancing agriculture. The future historian of the colony would make honorable mention of those who were taking steps now to advance such j things. Ho again urged them to go heartily to work, as they had on« of the I finest districts in the »vorld. A vote of thanks to tho Chairman terminated the proceedings