The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1833. THE GERALDINE DAIRY COMPANY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1114, 28 June 1883, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1833. THE GERALDINE DAIRY COMPANY.

The people of Geraldine ought to feel satisfied with, if not proud of, their local paper. There is no community in New Zealand that has so good a right. The Geraldine Guardian was only five weeks old when it supplied sufficient data to enable the people to see the advantage of starting a most important industry ia their midst. That this is a fact no one can gainsay. At the public meeting recently held for the purpose of establishing a Dairy Factory in Geraldine not a single fact or scrap of ■ information did the promoters submit, \ to show how the project would pay, I

except what they got out of the Guardian, and it proved sufficient. We think right-minded people will pardon us if we feel a little pride in this. We shall always feel proud of hiving done good, and that we have done so time will attest. Has the great organ of public opinion in South Canterbury done anything like this ? The Timaru Herald has been twenty years in existence but it oaiiJiot iay claim to having done so much, and it never will while ft continues to watch French politics, the Shah of Persia, and the Polar bear, instead of the interests of this district. The Provisional Directors, however, did not believe everything we stated, and a deputation sf them was despatched to Ashburton to investigate matters. The deputation returned full up of information whicl they 1 proved the inaccuracy ofour statements. That the information tiq supplied was inaeurate seemed to be the most important bit of news they collected, for it spread like wildfir?. It really appeared as if they felt a pleasure in showing that our statements were noi correct. Since the deputation returned however, it has cogitated over what it bjw and heard, and it has ceased to accuse us of inaccuracy. In fact, #o believe they have admitted they found, after having put two and two together, that every word we stated was exactly the truth. If there is still any doubt on their minds we will prove to them, according to their own figures, that we were right. We have been able to get, no matter how, the exact information the deputation got in Ashburton, and we now undertake to prove our statements from that basis. The deputation was told in Ashburton, aa we told it before it went, that 50 tons of cheese had been manufactured in seven months ; that every gallon of milk produced more than one pound of cheese, and that the Company had an offer of 7d per lb for the cheese. Now let us see what the result of 1 his is. Fifty tons of cheese at7d per Ibis L 3,266 13s 4d. That has been the gross receipts of the Company, from which must be deducted the cost of manufacturing, as follows:—In 50 tons there are 112,090 lbs and putting down a gallon of milk to every pound, the qiianiitp of mi'li= whtcti tne Company paid for must therefore be 112,000 gallons. This, at 4d per gallon, viill be found to make Ll,B6j> 13s 4d which is the amount the Company paid for milk. The most experienced men hold that the profit from pigs, fed on the whey, gives more than is necessary to cover the expenses of making the cheese; but this, being the Ashburton Company's first attempt, they derived very little from that source, and mo it cost |ot a penny per lb to make the cheese. Seven-eights of a penny per lb cornea to £4OO for the 50 tons, which must be added to £1,866 13s 4d, the cost of the milk making ft total cost of £2,266 13s 4d. Substract the total cost L 2,266 13s -Id from the gross value of 50 tons of cheese at, 7d per lb, that is L 3,266 13s id, and the result will be LI,OOO or 20 per cent on L 5,000, which is the actual, not nominal, capital of the Ashburton Company, This is exactly what we stated in our article of the 15th of May last, but the deputation returned from Ashburton impressed with the idea that the Company made only 8 per cent and it was in this respect they held we were inaccurate. They have since found out, after making calculations, that we were right, and they said as much at the meeting of Directors held last Monday evening. We trust this will give them confidence in the statements of the Guardian in future, and as it has proved itself a real "guardian " of their interests so far, that they will extend to it such support as will enable us fo guard thpir interests henceforth.

There were other statements made, which were questioned also. We stated that one man who had only 50 acres of land, received during the season between L2O and L3C per month. The man's name is Dnna'dson ; the lowest gum he got was L 22 19s, and the highest L3O for one month. A Mr Anderson alro received from L3O to LSO per month from the milk of 20 cows. Surely fthen names and figures are supplied by the Secretary of the Company no one in his right senses will be stupid enough to doubt them. We are not paid for puffins: «n these things, we do it for the good of the public to show that such institutions ara to yield immense profits to shareholder, as well as to those who supply them with milk. And we also weigh our statement carefully before making them. Tast year people laughed at us for saying that 5d per gallon could be given for milk, but the rebult of the working of the

Ashburton Factory now proves our statement to be correct. The Ashburton factory is no criterion yet. The first year is always one of difficulties and mistakes, and blunders, and if it paid 20 per cent, after paying 4d per gallon for milk, there can be no doubt but that it will pay better when everything is in full working order, and pigs are got as an auxiliary to it. Under these circumstances we think we have not overrated the prospects at all, and we feel confident the immediate future will prove the correctness of our statements.

THE ROYAL FLOURING MILLS, In another column will be found the Prospectus of the Company which proposes to purchase the Royal Flouring and Oatmeal Mills, recently erected by Messrs James Bruce and Co. in Timaru. It is scarcely necessary for us to speak , approvingly of this concern, as it is well known to the great majority of our readers. It consists, as the Prospectus points out, of a largo six-storey building, fitted up with the best and most improved machinery that could be purchased for money, and which is now in full working order, There is also a grain elevator in course of erection, which, when finished, will grade, dry ? and clean grain fit for milling or shipment, and must prove of great advantage. This elevator is on the most improved American principle, and will store upwards of 500,000 bushels of grain and 200 tons of flour or oatmeal, In connection with the Mill there are mai»y valuable properties to be acquired, but it is the Mill building and machinery which it contains that give the value to the property. It is no exaggeration at all to say that there is nothing equal to it south of the line, and those who used the flour manufactured in it say that it was superior to anything of that kind they had ever met with. We have been > assured by a Temuka baker that it was immensely superior to the best Adelaide flour, and that there was no Nsw Zealand flour which could in any way compare with it. Under these circumstances there can be no doubt of the ultimate success of the Mill. Its character for producing the best article in the market has already been established, and as the best article is always bound tu £vivv Us way Into public; furvv, its success is assured. It is in no problematical speculation, therefore, that the promoters of the proposed Company invite persons to invest their money ; it is no bogus affair calculated to catch the unwary, but a genuine, substantial, solid industry that has beon proved a success, If additional testimony as to its genuineness as a speculation were necessary, we would need only to name a cjrtain gentleman who was once deeply interested in it, and the fact that he had invested some £30,000 in it wouldj we are sure, be accepted as a guarantee of its soundness by the majority of our readers. He was not likely to put his money except where he could get it back. We therefore commend the proposed venture to the attention of farmers, for we feel convinced that it would be of immense benefit to them to have it working again, and we trust they will not hesitate to take a few shares in it. We understand that Mr Sando has been commissioned to sell shares in this district, and as it is in very good hands white in his, we feel assured ot its success.

'IHE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Sir George Grey has gained a victory over the Government. Last Tuesday evening he moved for leave to bring in a a Bill to abolish the Upper House, and all hough the motion was opposed by the Ministry and held to be illegal by the Speaker, it was carried. Whether the second and third readings will be carried remains to be seen.