The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, JAN. 28, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2426, 28 January 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, JAN. 28, 1888.

Equal and exact justicc to all men. Ot whatsoever state or persuasion, reliffious or political.

The long agricultural depression which has been so poignantly felt in Great Britain lias given rise to far more serious attention being given to the various branches of the farming industry and to the investigation of the causes operating so heavily against them. John Bull has been compelled by the force, of circumstances to shake himself together and has been waking up to the disagreeable fact that, whilst he has been content to move along managing his landed estate, as a general rule, on time-honoured principles so dear to him, his neighbours, stimulated by a strong spirit of commercial rivalry, have been adopting more perfect methods to assist them in their industries and have been pushing him hard in his position ho has so fondly considered unapproachable. The agricultural interests of Great Britain are destined to be completely revolutionised by the pressure of modern progress and the exigencies of universal trade. We have previously shown in these columns, how the dairy industry of the Old Country has been allowed to fall behind that of other countries, until she is dependent to a vast extent on foreign imports for articles to supply her home consumption. This is explained by the fact that in Great Britain the proportion of cows to the population is very small and wholly inadequate, and far below the proportion on the Continent and in the United States. Of all foreign countries Denmark takes the lead in her dairy productions, and is a large exporter. Agriculture has long been treated in Enrope as an art, and agricultural education in all its departments, has been aided by different governments with grants of public money and the establishment of schools and colleges. So it has been with the dairying industry. In England the industry lias continued until lately to be pursued in a slipshod sort of fashion without increased knowledge being diffused on any recognised principle or system ; that will account for the backward state of British dairying and the hold obtained by foreigners in British markets. Dairying is now occupying a prominent position, at Home; it is being treated as a science, and schools are being promoted under State aid. Co-oper-ative associations and creameries have sprung up in almost every agricultural district in the Kingdoms. livery attention is being paid to, and the best scientific improvements are being adopted for, the management of dairies: knowledge of the chemistry of milk and cream, of the best milk-producing foods for cows and their most successful treatment, is being spread by means of the agricultural press, lectures, and association meetings. It is evident that the future of the British farmers will rest in no small degree 011 the dairy department of his yearly operations. The movement has spread to the colonies and within the past year greater interest has been bestowed upon the dairy in this country than was ever given before, and we may safely assume that this industry will pi y a most important part in the future producing power of New Zealand. In proof of this we need only point to the number of dairy factories and creameries which have been established in many of the pastoral districts of the colony. In our own immediate centre the enterprise of the New Zealand Frozen Meat and Storage Company in adding to their large business a Butter Department has already b'jrno good fruits in infusing greater life and hope to the prospects of our farmers. A visit to the Company's works in Auckland will con-

vince the beholder tlrnt tlu're is bofun; liiiu tin; beginning of a valuable industry, out; that will bear a momentous influence 011 the country's wealth. The cream taken from the milk of cows, depisturing perhaps a hundred miles awav, is conveyed from country establishments and is concentrated in their main works in Auckland where it is turned into immense vats to be manipulated by menus of tin? latest mechanical proe;'s-; iiiio (he finest market,able butter. At thi! present time over six tons of cream reaches the Company's works daily from the country, bein<» the produce ofabout two thousand live- hundred cows, and the daily output of butter is about 2000Ibs. If in so short a space of time the industry has assumed these dimensions, it ne.'ds little prophetic gift to foretell the extent of its future growth. The well-known "Shell" iirand of the Company has a complete command of the market in Auckland. The manufacturing power of the Company can however, meet an almost unlimited demand ; all they require are remunerative markets. \Ve have demonstrated that the exhaustless consumption of butter in Givat Britain, at present met by imports from abroad, should afford ample and profitable markets for New Zealand dairy produce. We should endeavour to wrest the trade from the foreigner and enjoy it amongst our own people and we are pleased to see that the company has, during the last three months, shipped as much as fifty-three tons of their butter to the English market. New Zealand can also enter into competition with this commodity in the markets of South America witii whose ports the existing facilities of direct steam communication otter excellent inducements for colonial commercial enterprise.