THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 373, 29 November 1898, Page 3

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

VniATA"WHATA. Mr Wesley Sprago, manager of the New Zealand Dairy Association, met the Whatawhata milk suppliers by app intment at the creamery at 9.30 a.m. on Friday morning, about twenty suppliers being present. In bis address Mr Spragg went over much the same ground as at other centres, and in which he has been fully reported, In reply to Mr Blackett re peicentages, Mr" Spragg said these were now averaging at Whatawhata about 3"6, and, adding the value of the skim milk returned at jd per gallon, the suppliers were not doing badly with their milk, the returns comparing favourably with those beins received by Tarnnaki da:rymen. Mr Spragg further stated that the Waikato district was the most expensive to work in the eoleny, owing to the nnmher of small establishments and the distance to cart the cream, and he also referred to the high railway charges. As an instance of the latter, Mr Spragg mentioned that during last winter he ran out of butter and had to send to Taranaki for it, getting it delivered ft) Auckland at a less freight per cwt. than if it had come from Waikato. Mr Laxon moved a vole of thanks to Mr Spragg and confidence in the Dairy Association. This was seconded pro forma by Mr Blackett aud declared to be carried unanimously. Mr Higginson, the Whatawhata delegate, was not present at the meeting. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr Spragg on Saturday last by the suppliers to the Ngaruawahia Factory, accompanied with a request that he will deal direct with the suppliers in order to avoid friction. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln Saturday's article in your paper referring to the milk question,' you state Mr Spraeg has paid suppliers *7id per lb for butter ; Mr Hunt offers them B£d, or a difference calculated on last year's output of £SOOO. But this appear too good to be true, as it would be fully Ad per gallon more for milk than they have received. Mr Spragg paid suppliers 6£d per lb for butter last year, or milk at 2fd per gallon. lam writing this solely in the suppliers, as anything that might mislead them now will cause disappointment later on if the Union's proposals are carried out.—l am, etc., T. C. Blackett. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-In your issue of Saturday last you give a history of events in connection with the dairying industry, but have omitted to say that, after the Milk Suppliers' Union wis formed, and before any other steps were taken, the Manager of the N.Z. Dairy Association was invited to come to Waikato and meet the suppliers, all and sundry (not as Unionists), without result. This is the more to be regretted, because the trouble that has subsequently arisen might, at that stage, have been easily prevented. My main obj-ct in writing is to point out an error in your article in the matter of terms. An extract reads thus: "We fiud that the Diiry Association paid suppliers last season equal to 7id per lb. for butter. Mr Hunt's offer is to give B;jd, which means that suppliers would receive about £5,000 more than they have done." Mr Hunt's proposal is to guarantee 8-J-d per lb for butter manufactured, cased, aud put free on board at Wellington (or at Auckland, if shipping offers). The Dairy Association price last year being more nearly 7d for butter fat in cream, and to convert this into butter and send it to port would probably cost ljd per lb, and this—assuming these figures to be correct—would leave a margin of one firthing per lb only iu favour of Mr Hunt's offer. which, on the turnover, represents large

figures.—l am, etc., Joseph Gane. to the editor. Sir,—The late full reports of meetings of milk suppliers at the various centres, together with your resume of the facts in Saturday's issue, has placed the whole matter fairly before the public. It must be admitted that the action of milk suppiers—in so generally passing votes_ of confidence in Mr Spragg and the Dairy Association, almost immediately afterforming a Union and appointing delegates —for the e.\press purpose of obtaining better prices and terms from the same people, is not calculated to add to their dignity as a class or inspire more respect for the milk suppliers' calling in thefuture. In fact, never since the inauguration of the dairy business in Waikato have such bitter remarks been made by one section of the milk suppliers about the_ other. But there must be some justification for this seemiDgly contradictory action, and a few notes thereon may not be out of place. It has been made abundantly clear- as a result of the recent meetings —that the milk suppliers, when appointing delegates to meet Mr Spragg, never contemplated in the event of their fnilure to obtain satisfactory concessions, that they were immediately to undertake heavy'co-operative responsibilities, involving the borrowing ol a large amount of money. This ciine as a surprise to most suppliers, and it is not unreasonable to rind that many took alarm at the prospect and practically receded from their first position ; particularly, as by a —now celebrated —term in the proposed ngreement, each supplier was to become jointly and severally responsible for the due repayment of the whole loan with intertst. This was enough to frighten a bolder man than the avtr-rge Waikato milk supplier ; who has, perhaps, a nice

little property, acquired by hard work, and is not prepared co run any risks with it in the above manner—eveu for the prospect of gettiu? a higher price for milk. 1 veuture to say, at once, that if entering into co-operative dairying in Waikato is dependent upon milk suppliers becoming individually responsible for the whole amount of the money required to carry on the business, theu its introduc-tion-may be regarded as as a very remote contingency indeed. But why should this be necessary at all ? Let as take the Whatawhata district as a small example. Here the settlers own the creamery premises and plant, a'so the land and cows which produce the milk. By what process of reasoning then is it argued that these people should enter into bonds for the repayment of thousands of pounds borrowed for the purpose of having their milk dealt with at their own premises and the product sold in the open market ? Why the old simile of netting a steam hammer to break an egg shell is not in it compared with this proposal. Divested of its sophistical surroundings, the suggestion to purchase the Dairy Association's Waika'o business at their own price means that all the bnngleS, all the failures, all the expensive buildings hitherto put up. representing on paper about double the amount for which thev could now be replaced, are to lie taken over en globo by the unfortunate milk suppliers. However, though it may be in a dim andjk-ourrdabout way, the latter can see thaßthey are going to be had again an* would metaphorically only step from iine frying pan into the lbe. I ask again, why should the Waikato milk suppliers when entering into cooperative dairyiug be obliged to purchase Mr Spragg's or anybody else's business ; the land is theirs, the cows are the'us, many districts have already creameries of their own, and the balance cnu'd erect them almost without an effort, and the cost of a central depot could'be met by a trifling charge on all the butter produced. Why theu should milk suppliers incur heavy responsibilities merely to effect the purchase of what is their own business at a ruinous price, fixed 83 usual by somebody else, and the unuual charge upon which wou.d niosv

certainly absorb much of the benefits of co-operation. It seems to be the curse of all public undertakings in this part of the colony that they cannot be started without a heavy initial expenditure, which pretty well cripples the tiling before it is even fairly Parted. The Auok land Freezing Company and Waikato Co-operative Association were striking, though by no means solitary, instances of th?s, and now we propose to repeat it with the milk business. I respectfully contend, with all due deference to the opinions of others, that any attempt to start co-operitive dairying in Waikato by borrowing a large amount of money will not succeed, even if it were cone into, and that in our case such a ttep is absolutely and entirely unnecessary.—l am, etc., E. 0. SumiERD.