The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1883. DAIRY FACTORY FOR WAITOHI.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1120, 12 July 1883, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1883. DAIRY FACTORY FOR WAITOHI.

The Temuka and the Geraldine Dairy Factories will in all probability be ready to commence operations next season. Both these places are too distant from Waitohi. The men who understand the dairy factory system thoroughly, assert that milk cannot bo brought to a factory advantageously a greater distance than five miles. We should therefore suggest to the Waitohi farmers the advisability of establishing one in their own district. There is any amount of room for it. It takes only ■4OO gallons of milk per day to keep a dairy factory going, and at three gallons per cow 133 cows can supply that quantity. There is more than one farmer in the Waitohi district who could graze that number of cows alone, so there could be no difficulty in that direction. We believe also that the land in that district is better for growing grass than crops. If so, the greater is the reason why the dairy factory should be establised. There can no longer be any doubt as to whether it would pay. That question has been settled by the result produced in Ashburton last season. The Ashburton Company was offered 7d per lb for the cheese, but decided to take it as they expect more. In fact they have expectations that they will y«it get lOd per lb for it, At 7d per lb they will make a clear profit of 20 per cent on their capita), and if they get lOd per lb they will have made 40 per cent. One man who has only 50 acres of land received for his milk from £22 19s to £BO per month during the season, and another who had only 20 cows milking received as much as £SO for their milk from the factory for one month. These are results produced during the first year of the Ashburton factory, and we think they are sufficient to induce farmers to take the matter up. The Waitohi farmers could easily raise amongst themselves about £3OOO, and that would be ample for their requirements. We trust that we shall soon hear of them starting a factory for themselves.