CAPTAIN RUNCIMAN'S LECTURE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1600, 5 October 1882, Page 2

CAPTAIN RUNCIMAN'S LECTURE.

As vre' announced in last issmc, there was a very large attendance, chiefly of those interested iv agricultural pursuits, at the Public Hall, Hamilton, on Monday night, to hear from Captain Runcimau an account of his recent visit to America. The Chairman (Mr S. T. Seddon), in opening the proceedings, said they were aware that Captaiu Runciman had lately returned from the United States, which he visited on behalf of the two cheese and bacon factories lately .established in Waikato, Everyone must be aware of the enormous expense which this visit had entailed, for which reason the promoters of the companies thoughlr.it wise to invite subscriptions from all patriotic persons. He was happy to say that many subscribed who were not interested in the industry, or even in the Waikato itself. For this reason Captain Runciman thought it incumbent upon him to make whatever information he had collected as widely known as possible. He had, therefore, much pleasure in introducing Captain Runciman to the meeting. Captain Runciman commenced by saying that he felt it to be his duty to explain, as well as he could, the nature of the opinions he had formed of the great country through which he had recently travelled, and to impart, as best he could, any information he had gathered. He considered it best to meet them in public, because it would be impossible to tell each individual. He had condense^ his subject as much as possible, but there must necessarily be many things upon which he could only touch briefly, if at all. If he failed to make himself clear upon any point, he hoped they would question him, and he would be only too happy ttvo v explain. He then proceeded, as follows :—lt: — It affords me no small degree of pleasure to meet you here "this evening. Nothing can be much more gratifying to a man when he has been absent for some few months on a special mission than to meet those who are co-interested, and give them au account of what he has been entrusted with, or to- procure, more especially if he finds, or thinks he has been successful in his mission. I am very pleased to say I am in that happy position this evening — for I flatter myself I have got all I went for, and a good deal more — considering that my mission was not altogether of a private character, viz., for the establishment of only two dairies, but with a view of transplanting the American system of dairying into our country, or any other industrial manufactories. I have endeavoured to compile it in as concise a form as I can, together with a synopsis of my obseryations during my trip. As most of you are aware, I do not flatter myself with being able to write a good treatise on any subject, not from want of desire, but from inability. Therefore, I will crave your indulgence for any shortcomings which may "be noticeable. As you are fully aware, the principal object of my mission waa to look into, and fully acquaint myself with the best system at present employed in the production of cheese, butter and bacon best suited for the English, and, therefore, for other markets. Doubtless it is in the recollection of most of you that I made several statements previous to my going to America, setting forth the desirability of getting the American dairy factory system established amongst us as a means of makiug our fanning operations more profitable, thereby making our properties of more value. What I told you then was to a great extent based on theory. But it is now fully engrossed on my mind aa the right thing to do ; keeping in mind the very superior capabilities of this colony as a grazing couutry. I will now endeavour to point out the desirability of establishing the American dairy factory system by reading various report* and statistics which will show you more clearly than I can otherwise do, what other districts and countries far inferior to ours are doing in many respects — more particularly as a grazing country, keeping in mind the quality of any pastures I saw after travelling between SOOO and 9000 miles across and over their country, together with the climate they have to contend with. The statement I made 0 or 6 mouths ago, when advocating the American dairy system, was, that at th'j present prices for dairy produce, our dairy cows could be made to pay on an average £8 to £9 each per annum By some I was laughed to scorn, and by others I was called an enthusiast ; but now I am in a position to prove to you what other countries are doing with far inferior advantages to what wo in our country possc&s, viz., in climate, pasture and cattle. Our climate is admitted byall to be very superior, and I can assort positively that over the 9000 miles I travelled in the country, I did not see one acre of pasture equal our medium pasture. And as to the cattle m common use through the country they are decidedly inferior to ours. Their agricultural horses are also inferior to ours. The request I made of Mr Waters, the chairman of the Bloomh'eld Factory, was to give me the returns of 2 or 3 medium dairies which would show the aggregate amount' from each, and, if possible, what was being realized from each cow. The following- is what he gave me : — Robert .Sellers, Orwell, Ohio, 16 cows, commenced sending milk to factory on 20th April and continued to 30th November, realised the amount of £139 8s; Frank Squibb, another dairy, with 10 cows, same dates, realized £S1 0s Gd ; John Runciman, another dairy, 12 cows, same date, realized £124 9s ; this is exclusive of the value of the calf, which is usually kept 4 or 5 weeks and sold for veal, about £2. The following is the report of the transactions of the Orwell Cheese and Butter Factory for the year 1881 : — No. of lbs. of milk received, 1,1 11,3081bs ; do. cheese made, 00,6941bs ; do. butter, 7,1641bs ; do. milk for lib. cheese, lllbs ; do. with lib. of butter estimated, as 21bs of cheese, 91ba : net price per gallon to patrons for milk, 8f cent? ; amount of cash received for cheese and butter, £'2271 2s ; working expenses (everything included), £371 8s; average number of lbs of milk per cow', 4.">oolbs. This shows as near as may be 2.51bs of milk por day for each cow for the 7 months. The next are the returns of the county of Ashtubula for the year ISSI. This will tend to give you a slight idea of the enormous number of cheese and butter factories that are being worked on a comparatively small section of the country, the county of Ashtubula is situated in the north east corner of the State of Ohio, and its area ia somewhat about the size of Waipai-v In cheese its produce is 4, 1 37,0631b5, whicbj^ computed at 3d per 1b amounts Js^S\ £86,184 3s; and in butter it prodti'eW 1,110,G951b5, computed at 9d per lb, amounts to £41,651 Is 3d. Those together for dairy produce alone over' that small tract of country amount to the enormous sum of £127,835 4s 3d. I had the pleasure of seeing ovef the greater portion of this county, and being in and out through a good (leal of the numerous indHstries all energetically at work, and saw the manner of the working of about 20 of its cheese and butter factories, *nd a great number of other factories pertaining. thereto, such as cheese-box- factories, butter-tub and scale-board r factories, o£ which I have here, some samples. Their system the milk. into cheese is not very much different fronV the ordinary way in practice here, but it is the very duperiol' arid improved' artpfr*

atus that simplifies the making, and also makes the cheese of a uniform quality with about one-fifth the labor required by the old home system. To go into more minute details here would be wearisome, suffice it to say I will go into the most minute details with anyone who wish to make a practical use of them. The system oi butter-making is entirely revolutionised. The old system of setting in milk pans as in use here has become quite obsolete. Several of the new vats t£ for setting the milk in claim to yet the t whole of the cream out of the milk in 12 hours, or between milking times ; (woodcuts of many are on the table before me. ) They are of great variety, and great diversity of opinion exists regarding them, those using the different kinds each claim for them superiority over the others. Seeing them only at separate times and separate places and under different circumstances I could not well decide, but this much I will say, they are a very great improvement, both as regards economy of room and cleanliness over the old system ; they are altogether indispensable where the artificial" butter and cheese arc made. I saw the whole process of making artificial cream gone through, and I say it is next thing to impossible to tell it from the genuine article, although side by side. But that is an industry that time need not be wasted on at present. As yon are aware, our ambition was practically confined to the establishment of two cheese factories, but we must not slack our traces till we see scores established amongst us. There ought to be a factory every 5 or 6 miles over the thickly settled portions of Waikato. Then again, all down round Pokeno, and right away to Waiuku. The Americans have now proved conclusively that they can do far better under the factory system than they ever did privately, consequently the farms pay better. Notwithstanding the predictions and prophecies of some that our farmers are too indolent (in other words lazy) to milk their cows, I say I know, and am known by nine tenths of our farming community, and fearlessly assert that they will milk their cows, and attend to their duties in that respect as soon as it is shown that there is a market for the produce at remunerative prices, which there is no doubt about when a good article of uniform quality is produced, so that merchants can handle it with credit to themselves and their country. But as it is here at present, and was in America some years ago, a merchant requiring 2 or 3 tons gets 5 or 6 sorts, some good, some middling, some inferior, and when put together these only make a very indifferent lot. Now by the factory system a merchant can get 5, 10, or 20 tons all of one quality, so that he can have confidence in what he is dealing with. It is not the establishment of these institutions, but the requisites required for their establishment will create other industries, and they in their turn will create others. For in the future there will not be the slightest need to send to America for the requisite apparatus, but (as the Americans say) make them right here. But in the first instance, after carefully considering the possibility of getting the apparatus made here without a proper model, I deemed it best to puehase two complete sets, one for Hamilton the other for Te Awamutu, (and I also have little hesitation in saying that it will be to our advantage to import an expert in the manufacture of cheese and butter, but I could not meet with one just when then, but one man very highly recommended will be prepared to come at the end of this season, viz., the end of November, if desired). I tell yon, gentlemen, all my power of explanation would scarcely convey to you an idea of the amount of study given to this industry and its requirements by thousands to bring it to the efficiency they have now attained. I will refrain from saying much more about the dairy till I reach Canada, but will give you a sort of panoramic idea of the country I passed over. It would be quite impossible to do more than merely give a very cursory glance at the country in oncsluut address, but I kept my diary as lucidly written up as I could under the circumstances, so that I will be able to refer to it at any future time for any information ie the country I had the pleasure of passing over. I left San Francisco on the 19th June and reached Chicago during the small hours of the morning of the 26th. Stayed there two days and a-half and visited many of the agricultural machine works, the magnitude of many of which is astonishing. McCormick'a Reaper and Binder Works cover 7 acres of land and employ 1,600 hands. They turned out 10,000 machines this season, and then could not fill their orders by over 1000. The owners speak of increasing their premises. I was also all through Furst, Bradley and Company's Plough Factory, which is also an enormous place, employing aboVe- 1000 hands. I next went to the public sale and slaughter-yards, and saw through them. They were not killing pigs, nor would be for some days, but I saw the whole establishment and how they managed when they slaughtered 9000 per day. They were slaughtering cattle while I was there ; I saw 30 on their backs being skinned at one time, and the foreman told me that was repeated every hour while they Mere working. Hundreds of men were employed cutting up, packing, canning, &c. There is one ice store said to contain 21 ,000 tons. The salt comes in bulk in the trucks and is shovelled into the stores. From 10,000 to 12,000 cattle change hands every market day — but not in the slipshod way wo do. Everything, both beef and store cattle, are all sold by weight, at so many cents per lb, from 3i to 6^ cents per lb. live weight. I got an opportunity of getting the weights of two lots. First, 17 medium-sized steers, and not well fatted, weighed 16,2001b. Their price was 6 cents per lb. The other lot, 50 small store cattle, weighed 38,0301b5., and their price was 4A cents per lb. I found that to be the" universal system all over America, working most satisfactorily to both butcher and farmer, and I am quite of opinion the same should be adopted here. The people there laugh at the idea of our selling our cattlo in the way we do. Chicago and New York were the only places that I saw a class of horses equal to ours. The part of the country I was over was not a sheep country, and consequently I had no opportunity of seeing very many, but what I did see were no credit to either owner or country. We reached Ohio on the 29th, that being our first point of destination. The State of Ohio has the reputation of being one of the States which is furthest advanced in dairy science. Another inducement was, I have a cousin who has lived there over 36 years. I had about 2000 miles to go by rail to reach that point. Except the desert part, which takes about two days and two nights' the country is both beautiful and good in many re- J spects. After leaving San Francisco we pass up through a very fine, fertile district, the Sacramento Valley, which was covered with wheat ami barley, as far as the eye could reach, just in the middle of harvest. The crops were not heary ; I saw nothing that would pass 20 bushels, and some, lam sure, would not exceed sor 6. The country there is as level as it is possible for anything to be, beginning to be very much dried up ; scarcely any catfclJf to be'Ueen far or near*. (To be eontinu-d.)

Messrs,, Beauohamp Bros., Hamiltou, invite tender* for chaffing oaten hay.'