H.—3.0.

object of these regulations is to give factory-managers the status to which they are entitled and to ensure that only competent managers shall be employed by dairy factories. On the introduction of the regulations all existing managers were registered, and provision was made for the registration of assistants and others who in the opinion of the Registration Board were competent to be managers. The difficulty likely to be experienced by the Board is the determination of qualifications. It is suggested that detailed qualifications should be set out in the regulations so that the standard of efficiency of those to whom registration is given in future can be maintained. It is also pointed out that in view of the reconstitution of the Dairy-produce Control Board the personnel of the Dairy Factory Managers Registration Board should be altered to provide for the inclusion of a representative of the instructional staff of the proposed Dairy-produce Control Board. 229. Instruction in the Manufacture of Butter and Cheese : The managers and staffs of butter and cheese factories have received valuable instruction and assistance in their manufacturing operations from the butter and cheese instructors, who in the past have been officers of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture. It is recommended that this work should now be carried out under the direction of the Dairy-produce Control Board. 230. Courses of Instruction for Factory-managers : At the present time an annual course of a week's duration is organized at the Dairy Research Institute, for factory-managers. It is recommended that dairy companies should allow their managers to attend these courses and should defray their expenses, because by this means the results of research work can be most easily communicated. 231. Courses of Instruction for Assistants in the Manufacture of Dairy-produce : The Massey Agricultural College provides two separate courses of instruction in the manufacture of dairy-produce. One course of four years leads to the Degree of B.Agr.Sc. in Dairying, and embraces a detailed study of both the highly technical and the practical aspects of the manufacture of dairyproduce. It is intended to train men for either laboratory or dairy-factory work, and is specially valuable for the training of those who should, in later years, take leading parts in the dairy manufacturing industry. The other course is specially designed to provide dairy-factory workers with an understanding of the technical part of their work. This course is a general one, embracing an elementary study of the sciences fundamental to dairying and a complete study of manufacturing practices. It covers thirty-three weeks of instruction divided into three terms of eleven weeks, each extending from the middle of May to the end of July in three successive years. Students are required to work in dairy factories in the intervals between successive years' study, and if they pass written and practical examinations and have had at least five years' experience in dairy-factory work they are granted a diploma. These courses are fairly well patronized by students, and they are becoming increasingly more popular. It is recommended that the Dairy-produce Control Board should make available scholarships to enable men working in factories to take full advantage of this course. By so doing the most promising boys entering the industry could be selected by factory-managers with a view to giving them special opportunities to qualify as factory-managers. Similar schemes are in operation in Denmark, Holland, Irish Free State, and many other countries. 232. Demonstration Factories : On account of working-conditions in factories it is extremely difficult to provide practical instruction in all types of factory work for the most promising youths. In our large factories men have to be allotted special duties, and, as changes in personnel seldom take place, juniors do not have an opportunity of quickly learning all sections of the manufacture of produce. Apprenticeships cannot be arranged for. It has been pointed out that the Dairy Research Institute can carry out experiments only on a small scale, and has no facilities for making investigations of localized problems. It is desirable that facilities should exist for carrying out on a larger scale those experiments which prove to be satisfactory at the Institute, so that practices can be thoroughly tested before they are widely applied in factory practice. It is also desirable that there should be available in different districts factories where local problems can be adequately dealt with. _ It is suggested, therefore, that the Dairy-produce Control Board could take over one or two factories in each of the chief dairying districts, which they could use for the dual purpose of training promising young workers and as experimental factories for these districts. It is recommended that these factories should be run as commercial units, so that the trainees would become accustomed to ordinary factory work and so that any promising experiments could be applied on a commercial scale. The only additional expense attached to these factories would be the employment of a specially skilled manager and a well-skilled first assistant, both of whom would act as instructors. 233. Labour Conditions and Labour-supply : The Commission gave attention to matters affecting the supply of labour for dairy factories and investigated the conditions of labour therein. It visited a number of factories in order to become acquainted with the nature of the work and the conditions under which it was performed and made inquiries of a number of witnesses. . . In some parts of the Dominion awards of the Court of Arbitration are no longer m force m the butter and cheese making industry. In many cases the rates of wages and conditions of employment prescribed by the expired awards are still accepted as standards ; but in other cases, especially m small cheese-factories, less favourable conditions have been reverted to.

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