The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2476, 24 May 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1888.

K(|iial ami exact justicc to all men, 'Jl ot pcrsuriMoii, icl'gio.is or political.

Oxi: subject touched upon at the several meetings held last week by Mr tfprngg, of the Auckland freezing f'ompany, and the milk suppliers, at the several Waikato creameries, a I Iwrcls a matter for the serious consideration of our dairymen. The regularity of the supply and its continuance, have not received, said Mr iSpragg, proper attention at their hands, and the Company has suffered loss, inasmuch as the cost of the staff and appliances to treat the diminished supply have been as great as if the, full quantity of milk receivable had been kept up throughout. Unless this state of things is remedied the industry cannot be carried on in the future.

The dittieulty of keeping up the milk supply is one, lirstly of feed, and secondly of allowing the cows to conn: in all at the one season. Soon after the turn of the new year, as the dry season sets in, the milk supply begins to drop off, till by the middle of April it becomes actually too little to operate upon with profit. There is no reason that this should be so. AVith a proper succession of green crops the supply of succulent food might be kept up all the year round, and with proper management as to the time of calving, no such perceptible difference in the supply of cream should take place. Green food is as much needed for cows in the lato summer and autumn months as in winter, if the supply of milk is to be maintained. Cape bfti-ley and oats may be grown to provide the early summer feed, and oats sown on well tilled land in the first week in the year will come in for cutting from the end of March to well into the month of May, and succession crops of green oats, (Gape barley will not stand the frost) may be sown so as to keep up the supply all through the winter until the spring grass conies on. Lucerne, red clover, and other plants may bo grown for variety of feed to assist as they come in, while no dairy farm should be without its stock crops of carrots and mangold wurtzcls, or better still, sugar bec-t, for the main supply of winter feed to the milch cows. Every farmer can, if he choose to do so, lay himself out to provide some at least of these, or other green crops suitable to his soil, and if dairying is to be a success he must do so, and provide as well for the dry season as for the winter. It is only by attention to these two matters that a regular, supply of milk can bo kept up throughout the greater portion of the year. The crops thus grown will be an excellent preparation of the land for wheat.

Dairy produce, wheat, and wool arc the probable future staple industries of the Waikato, and not the least of these are butter and choose, and the fact that the product is fairly well divided between choose and butter is a considerable advantage. Every season's work will add to the facilities for the proper making of these articles. Every season will also prove the existence of. markets which at present are scarcely thought of, or even available. An additional mining population, of which there is at present some prospect, in any portion of this Southern Hemisphere would add largely to the normal demand ; and, besides this, there is really no reason why the English market, which is so iargely supplied from continental sources, should not be shared by New Zealand. A small shipment of butter was sent away by the Coptic, when last in Auckland from the Freezing Company's works, specially prepared for distribution at Itio, and through the various shipping ports in Great Britain. More samples were sent in every direction throughout the world a few weeks later, and we may look at any time now for the result of the experiments. Taranaki butter lias reached as high a price as one shilling per lb in the English market, and there is no reason why Auckland, or rather Waikato, butter should not emulate or surpass this. With regard to the quantity of butter that can be made from a given quantity of milk, it is satisfactory to learn that Waikato can hold its own. A recent report informed us that the Edendale creamory (Southland), obtained one pound of butter from :23 lbs of milk, and this was referred to as a surpassingly good result; but wc learn from the manager of Mr il. Reynolds' creamery at Pukeriinu, that in the past season he had been making a pound of butter from 22lbs 2oz. of milk, a feat to be only beaten by Jersey stock.

We have no fear for the ultimate success of the industry. What wb desire to see is that it should march steadily forward without obstruction from within or without, and that as few as possible should come to orief by the way. As regards the market, we may from one cause or another, have to play second tiddle for a time to some of the old established dairying communities of Europe, but with our mild climate and good pastures, wiien once our apprenticeship to the business has been got over, we ought to run any part of the world so closely as to push our competitors to their utmost, and we ought also to supply 111 such quantities as will make New Zealand a large factor in this industry, as she already is in the matter of wool, wheat, and meat.

But if we are to create an export trade in dairy produce for New Zealand, tho milk suppliers and the factory owners must work hand in hand, each doing their share in the work. Individual effort will not provide an article that will command the markets of the world. We

must, look to such efforts us those of i!it? Auckland freezing Oui.-ipany for that ; but they, in turn, cannot produce such an article at a profit unless the dairyman docs his part also. To the farmer the success of the dairy movement is all important. It is a source of ready money to him. I n the case of his wheat crop, he has to wait the season, often ten or twelve months, for his return, but the milk brings in a regular monthly

income to incut his daily requirement,s, and even to assist in the cropping uud manuring of his farm. It is, too, like a stolen crop between two crops in a rotation, an extra gain to the farmer, for the work of milking is done either by the family, or by the farm hands, before and after the regular work of the farm begins and ends for the day. It will be, therefore, to the interest of Waikato farmers to promote this industry in every possible way, by the selection of the most suitable grasses for their pastures, the provision of green feed when the pastures fail either in the heat of summer, or in winter, and by culling from their herds every animal that gives inferior milk, or that yields even good milk in unpayable quantity. This is their share of the work. Doubtless for their own sakes, the creameries will do their part in the matter.