LECTURE ON DAIRY FARMING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1122, 17 July 1883, Page 2

LECTURE ON DAIRY FARMING.

On Friday evening last Mr W. Bowron, delivered a most interesting lecture on ‘ Dairy Farming,’'ip the Oddfellows’ Hall, Gejaldine. There was a good attendance of the public, but it was noticed that there were very few farmers present. On the platform were Messrs W. (J. Slack, R. H. Postlethwaite, Dr Fish, Dr Foster, Ml Shiers, and J. Y. Mr Ward, (Secretary to the GerablinoDairy, and Bacon-curing Company, Limited.) Mr W, U. Slack, took the chair, and in doing so remarked that it was a pleasure to him, for they would not only hear an instructive lecture, but it would be of the utmost importance to the district. Only a short while ago, a meeting was held in that hall, when Mr Fostlelliwaite said he would try and get Mr Bowron to give a lectuie. He was now before them to do so, and the thanks of the mooting were due to Mr Postlethwaite for bis exertions. Many farmers w. re dubious about, joining the Geraldine Dairy ami Bacon-curing Company, and be hopfed that the lecture to be delivered by Mr Bowron would have a beneficial effect in inducing them to take shares in the Company. He was sorry to see so few farmer* present. The inhabitants of the Geraldine district were getting sleepy, and if something were not done they would all go to sleep. Trade might be dull, but they should do something to make it .batter. He had much pleasure in introducing Mr Bowron to the meeting. • Mr Bowron in commencing the lecture spoke in a highly eulogistic manner of the exertions made by Mr Postletbwnite in Wellington to get him to to deliver a lecture in Geraldine. He would be greatly disappointed if they did not all come forward and join the great movement that was going on amongst the people of Geraldine. During the past five months he had been travelling about this colony, and tha mors be did so, the more he noticed tbs richness t f the soil in the various districts lie visited. He had no idea when lie came to this country of enter-

ing. into mining pursuits and seeking for h.dden treasurers, for when he looked at the beautiful Helds and groeri pasture**

he saw there was nothing but what could be turned into gold. No one could do better than make his land his banker. Dairy farming was his choice, and he had travelled through every county in the old country, where butter and cheese were made. He travelled about for the purpose of purchasing for the London market. He had travelled also through many countries in Europe, and also in America, but in all of them he had not seen any place so well adapted for obtaining dairy produce as this island. Here they could safely calculate on grass during nine months of the ■year. In England they could only have it six months. They could see the advantage the farmers in New Zealand possessed. The

question had frequently been asked, ‘ Will cheese-making pay? He said it would. Two and a-half years

ago he saw some cheese that had

been made in this island, but it was very poor, and he asked the maker how that was. He found in one dairy only two good cheeses out of five, and he said ‘if two good cheeses were made why could not all be made good/ It was the "fault of the maker, not of the land or milk. It was in the manufacture of cheese that the great secret laid. He had gone through several dairies in New

Zealand, but had never seen such good ones as in Somersetshire. All they wanted was the head to manage it. He had a deal to do with the starting of the Ashburton Factory, and he felt greatly interested in its future welfare. He had mec a merchant from Sydney,

who said he had never seen better cheese than that which came from Ash burton, and others had told him the same. He sent two cheeses to Auckland, and one person had sent down for a quantity. There could be as good Cheddar cheese made in New Zealand

88 in England. All that was required was proper appliances, and when they obtained they could make as good cheeso as in America or England, It rested of course with the directors of the factories themselves whether they made American or English cheese, and he would not desire to bias their nv'nds either one way or the other, but he would s«y that both paid exceedingly well. They had got the land and the grass, and it was for them to find which paid them the best. Sometime ago he met a gentleman in the North Island who had 1100 cows, and he asked him how he managed to milk them, and he replied that .the calves were the milkers, and he got 20s to 25s each for them when they were 12 mouths old. He

(Mr Bowron) told him it would never pay, ami said ‘ Why not have a cheese factory, and make every cow pay you Ll2 to LI4 every year ?’ That gentleman has since thought the matter over, and he was now building a large factory. The next thing to be considered was, how many gallons of milk can a cow give in 40 weeks ? fie knew one gentleman who kept 120 cows, and sent his milk to Loudon, and they averaged 730 gallons in 12 months, A statement is being printed by Go vernment, which the people would soon be able to read for themselves, and think over. If a cow gave two gallons a day for 40 weeks, it represented scwt of cheese. In America they calculated on 6c.vt for each cow for the some period, On his dairy farm in England he did not obtain so much, as he had several high pedigree cows, and he allowed the calves to take the milk for two months, yet he got about scwt. He had known a farmer who possessed inferior cows, but they had averaged the same quantity, and he got 70s per cwt for it. He would ask them was that too much ? He knew of a gentleman in this colony who bad sent telegrams to six parties for cheese in New Zealand, but they were all sold out. He bad asked a storekeeper what price he had given for some very poor cheese, and was informed that he wag •bilged to pay 7£d. If he (the lecturer) could sell scwt cheese at 6|d, the cow

that it was produced from would bring him in fl 5 per year. If the Geraldine people erected a factory it was for them

to agree as to what they would pay for milk, If farmers who were shareholders ip the Company would sell their milk at 3d per gallon they would get their profit in another way. Now in regard to butter. He had asked a gentleman how much he got for his butter during the last year, and he said from Id to fid, and he replied) how much better it would be to get Is. He came across a farmer who sold bis milk to the Ashburton Factory, and he asked him how much he had received for his two months milk, and be told him L6O. That party went and paid something for hia farm, and bought many things for the use of his family with that

amount. Theyrmust not go away wiih a false impression that the obtaining 560 gallons of milk in forty weeks was the product of two-year-old heifers ; no, but from five or six-year-old cows. That was better than an oil well or a gold mine, Then again there was the rearing of pigs in connection with the factory. If they had a factory of 600 cows, every pig would realise 30s profit. Id England they fattened two pigs with the whey from one cow. If they purchased a young pig for 8s or 10s, and fed it on whey, and finished up with barley meal, it would realise L2. In Wellington, before he left it, two members of the Assembly asked him to take back some Canterbury bacon, as they could not get any good where they were. If they had a factory of 600 cows and 600 pigs, they could fatten one lot out, and keep on supplying their places. They could get 30s at the lowest for some, and 45s each for others, It was for them to think whether it was not a profitable matter to go into. Then one might ask, where would they get the profit from ? A gentleman from Sydney told him that in Australia there was only a little time during the year they could make cheese ; the popularity of the New Zealand cheese in Australia was increasing. Ashburton had sent some cheese to Sydney, which had realised 8d and 9d per lb, and a telegram 4 had been sent for more, and the cheese would realise a better price, up to lOd, if the cheeses were smaller. His advice to all factories was : that for the first six weeks of their beginning work they should make small cheeses, Say that the weather was cold when they began, they should have a small room heated artificially wherein to place the cheese, and in two months they could forward it to the Home market and thus get rid easily of their first lot § They should never allow the milk from a newly-calved cow to be used in making cheese, until the seventh or eighth day from calving, especially that of young heifers. With old cows they could use the milk somewhat sooner. It would appear clear that a cheese factory en the English or American principle would pay better than fattening bullocks. A gentleman he knew in Wanganui possessed 100 fine bullocks, costing him L 4 15a each. He kept them for twelve months and then tried to sell them, but could not do so till August next. He was very downcast, over this. It would have been better bad he started a dairy factory instead. Then in regard to sheep. In England, there was a general discussion at the close of the various agricultural meetings as to what paid the best, and the unanimous decision in favor of sheep, was and they said that sheep walk on golden feet. In Yorkshire he had paid 10s apiece for sheep, and when ready for the butcher he had obtained 50s each for them. He hold an auction sale on his farm once a year, and cleared everything out except his wife and children, He had a large farm fourteen miles from London, and cleared LIOOO a year therefrom through buying and selling. But he was talking of cheese and bacon, now. What did they think of butter. Would it pay ? Some persons bad said that if they ill went in for cheese what would they do for butter and rearing of calves ? There was no difficulty with regard to the latter. He reared them for two months, until then got them to eat oilcake and oatmeal. If they had a dairy of forty cows, and wanted to keep good ones, say from fourteen to fifteen, they should always keep their calves from them, and they would be sure to have their scwt of cheese from each. If they went in for making butter, what would a cow ba worth ? They had calculated that 500 gallons of milk would make scwt of cheese, and the same quantity would make 2001bs of butter, and he would say that Is per lb was not too much for it. The cow would therefore realise LlO in butter. Then they had the calf and a good fat pig, which would bring in of ilself L 4. He did not see much difference in a factory which made butter and that which went in for making cheese. He used to make L3O a year from the produce from each of his cows, and it wag the fault of a bad manager if they did not do the same. But he had to grow hay, and employ men to mow it, etc., which took L.B off of the L3O. In New Zealand they an advantage, for they had a beautiful climate and they need only grow a little hay, give the cows a nice place to sleep in and good food, and they would be amply repaid when they calved.

The lecturer then read extrncls from several letters, showing the value that the Home merchants set-on New Zealand cheese, and enquiring why no ship-

merit had come to hand by the ‘ Briti?h King/ and then continued. They must all recollect that our winter is their summer, and that was the great advantage they had. The cheese they were making at Home now would come out in September, and the second lot in February, and the Now Zealand factories should send their produce so as to reach the Horae markets in May or June. The American prd s duce could not arrive till near the end of June. He hoped they would have 50 tons ready to reach the market in May next. They need never fear what quantity of cheese or butter they sent, for the London market could take it all. He had the plans for a factory of 800 cows on the table before him, prepared by an architect in Wellington, but they could of course go in for a smaller size, from 100 cows upwards. According to this plan it would cost at the rats of LB per cow. The plan was a very elaborate one, and they might get one erected at the iate of L2 10s per cow, but this depended greatly on the locality, aad whether of brick, wood, or concrete. The lecturer then invited anyone so disposed to ask him questions. In reply to Mr Coltman, Mr Bowron said he had visited three factories in New Zealand in which the machinery had been made in the Colony, but it was of an inferior nature. He preferred it being made in the Old Country. He had visited the Ashburton Factory (where the machinery had been imported) since it had commenced work and, he would say that the vats and presses could not not be of better make. In regard to a manager— It was no use opening a factory without they had a competent manager, and if he wore in their place he would send to England for one. They should have several young men and women engaged in the factory, which should serve the purposes of a school. If they went in on the American principle they should got a manager from America, and if on the English then one from England. In reply to another question Mr Bowron said he preferred a wooden building to any other as it would always be dry and airy.

In reply to a question as to what effect distance would have in carting milk to the factory he said they should not go beyond four miles to collect milk. If they could not get their milk twice a day they should never begin working.

In reply to a question put by Mr Mundell, the lecturer said a running stream of water was not required on the land on which a factory was built. A well was much better because it would always be cold, whereas in summer a stream of water would always be warm, and the dairy required the water to be as cold as possible for cooling the milk, As to how many cows they should start with, that would all depend on circumstances, If they begin with 300 this year, they could have 500 next year, In approximating the cost of a building L2 10s or L 3 per cow, that would include the building and plant complete but not the land. He would, in concluding, advise them to go in for making small cheeses for the first six weeks, first 61bs, then 121bs and after that 201bs. They would then be got quickly into the colonial market and they would the sooner get their returns.

Mr Coltman, in moving a vote of thanks to the lecturer, remarked he hoped it would bring practical results. He would say to the working men that if they could afford to only take one share, Come and do so. All should take some shares, for it would benefit the district at large, and in more ways than one. Mr Maslin in seconding the resolution stated that he was prepared to take the names of shareholders that evening. The vote was carried by acclamation.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated one of the most instructive lectures ever given in Geraldine.