AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, AUG. 30, 18S8. — «.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2518, 30 August 1888, Page 2

AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, AUG. 30, 18S8. — «.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

It was unfortunate that illness prevented Mr McCallum, the Dairy Inspector, from making a more prolonged stay in the Waikato. When Mr McCallum was on the West Coast he visited the dairy factories and came in contact with the settlers in that part of the colony. The dairy industry is making great progress in the Hawera, Paten, and Normanby districts, which contain splendid pastoral country and possess unequalled advantages for the production of every description of farm products. Tho best-appointed factory Mr McCallum came across in the western district, in fact in any part of the North Island, was the one Eltham, near Hawera, which is the property of a very enterprising Chinaman, who has spent a considerable sum of money in adapting the latest improvements to his establishment, and is fortunate enough to havo in his service a very competent manager. Though the visit of the Government inspector has been productive of no results to the Waikato settlers so far as gaining any useful information from him, we have been confirmed by his expressed opinions in the views we have taken as regards the promotion of dairying in the Waikato. It appears we are here behind most other districts in the advancement of this important industry, though it is admitted that Waikato has many serious difficulties to contend against which do not affect other localities favoured with greater natural advantages. Farmers who have to artificially fertilize the soil to the extent that is done here, and have besides a railway tariff that presses heavily on the fruits of their labour, cannot be placed on an equal footing with those who have settled in districts where there are none of these discouragements. . Nevertheless there are excellent prospects for the future of the industry even in the Waikato. It i has obtained a footing here, and the attention of farmers has been fixed upon the value : of its importance to their own success. That is a preliminary advantage gained. Many of the iniiial difficulties which are always encountered in the prosecution of new movements have also been met and overcome. We have only to look back at the , past performances of the New Zealand Frozen Meat and Storage Company, to whose enterprise we owe the introduction of modern principles of scientific dairying in . the Waikato, to satisfy ourselves i that a great work has been per- ' formed by the Company, although they have secured no other profit beyond acquiring the necessary I knowledge and experience for car- ' rying on operations with more substantial results. The Freezing Com- , pany endeavoured to secure from the Government some reasonable concessions in railway charges in the carriage of cream, but the Premier declined to grant their request, or afford them any facilities in that direction. The Company, has, however, abandoned the butter industry; but it has been taken up by a new company, the Dairy Association, with which our old friend Mr Spragg " is intimately conneded, and he is ■ engaged in making arrangements for 1 renewing operations during the pre--1 sent season. Mr McCallum bears " us out in the statement that farmers . cannot anywhere do better with » their cows than to supply the facto- ' ries with the milk, on tho terms : offered. Factory - made butter t has everywhere the command f of the markets, consumers will not ' take the product of private dairies at

anything like the same price as that paid for the former. Then, ag tin we havn thecorroborationof theassertion that the true key to sucjoss in the dairy industry ia co-operation amongst the fanners in this as in all other pursuits. Whilst farmers must take a personal pride in promoting the growth of dairying, whicli will pre long occupy a very prominent position amongst our national staples, they must also use all their individual energies to build it up, joining together to enjoy its successes and share in its losses. Judicious care and management will succeed in placing our products in English or other foreign markets in a manner that will reach consumers more directly and free from middlemen's agency and charges which hitherto produced failure. In order to make success more assured, and tide over the difficulty of excessive railway charges,such as the Freezing Company had to battle against, the plan adopted by Mr Reynolds should become general; that is, in place of conveying the cream to Auckland from long distances, the butter should be made on the spot and despatched to the central establishment ia town. In this way there would be less bulk to pay freight upon, and no empty cans to be returned. Mr McCallum lays it down as of primary importance to pay great attention to the quality and breed of cows, and to their maintenance on the best foods and pastures all the year round. We have often impressed this upon our readers, quoting the best authorities on the subject. At the present time we have only referredto the manufacture of butter, but the production of cheese, the other raluable article of dairy industry, is also of importance, and should not be neglected. Tho latter part of the subject must, however, be written on separately.