The Temuka Leader. SATUARDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1888. DAIRY FACTORIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1805, 20 October 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATUARDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1888. DAIRY FACTORIES.

W-E tope that, though it hap been decided to wind up the Geraldine Dairy Company, it will not result in shutting up, the ; factory,- At the present time practical men are urging the people to develope -the butter-and cheese industries. They go,so far, as to riay that nothing else can yield' so much,.profit—in. fact,, that- it,is on these industries our salvation depends :—but, unfQrtunately, so far the experience has been that, it is not a promising enterprise. In the face of all that has been said in favor of dairy factories, anfi the glorious prospects experts out about them, it is very discouraging to. .see , them coming to grief. The ~they; a re.is: a; most extraordinary; anomaly. The demand ->for icheese - is practically ■without limib; s this district is ,one of the best in . the world for ; milkproducing ; it is not an industry which employs much labor, and consequently ,high wages.cannot have:much to do with its failure—and why it should not fcucbebd here; whefr it succeeds in other places, is a matter which cannot easily be‘explained. There cannot be a doubt* but the cause of the failure is idue“to the milk-producers themselves more than to anything" else. ‘ i-THey j want a great deal 'for very little, and hence failure. The factories were specially and entirely erected in i the interests of the milk-pfoducCrs. Merchants, business men, and others, who! had not the slightest interest in dairying, beyond.that which prompted a, desire on their part to see the colony prosperous,, took up shares very readily, but it was very difficult to get many of the milk-producers to: . take Up shares until they were forced ■into it after, the factory had started and they had been supplying it with milk. Now, we do' not wish to say anything unpleasant, but at the same time we cannot help saying that the milk producers are a very difficult class to deal with. For instance, we received recently, about two , dozen copies of a pamphlet : on dairying from the Government, and we announced that anyone who wished to read them could get them for nothing at our office by applying for them. These pamphlets have been compiled specially by experts. for the benefit of the people engaged in the dairy industry,.and they contain, we believe, many useful hints—and yet only one man has ever asked us for any of them. The Secretary of the Temuka Dairy Factory has received a larger number of them, and we have been informed that, the only \vay in which, he could get rid of .them was by throw? ing them into the milk-cans at" the factory. ; Now, is it not sad to think that people are so extraordinarily apathetic as this ? They' would not take the trouble of securing these pamphlets, which had beeh specially written for their benefit, believing no doubt they knew enough and did not want to learn any more.. There is no class in the world that would not be extremely glad to get a bint—and yet we believe few want it more. When it was first suggested to establish dairy factories the price of milk was set down at fourpehce per gallon, but there was not a milk-producer in the countiy who did not scout the bare mention of such a thing. They would no more admit that fourpence per gallon would pay than they .would think of flying to the moon—yet they have found out since" that they were able to supply milk at much less ! Now, it appears to us that a class who has not a better idea of the value of their product than this ought to be very glad to get hints, and one of the first things they ought to learn is that if they allow all the profits to go into the coffers of the bank in the

shape of interest they cannot receive them. They cannot eat the cake and yet have it. That is just what has been at the bottom of the failure of dairy factories. Those most interested have not subscribed the necessary capital as freely and liberally as they ought to have donej and the result is that the profits which ought to have gone to pay dividends have been swallowed up in interest. The dairy factories are languishing from the -same, complaint that almost all industries in this colony suffer from, viz., want of capital, and we believe that if they were once made independent of banks, and managed prudently, they ftould be exceedingly useful At present their prospects are brightening up, for, in harmony with better prices all round, there ’has been a better demand for cheese, and consequently we think it a pity that any of them should be shut up. It is, we believe, the intention to try to float a new company in Geraldine to carry on the dairy factory, and if those interested do not assist the promoters they will make a great mistake.