Premier Dairying District of the World

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 123, 25 May 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

Premier Dairying District of the World

WONDERFUL WAIKATO

Within the last throe years the dairy-1 ing industry in Xew Zealand has : advanced so rapidly that to-day this country takes pride of place as the pre- i niicr exporting country of dairy pro- j dnce in the world. Xew Zealand earns ■ this title by having attained the position of being able to supply the United King- I doni with one-third of its annual butter imports, and half of its annual iraporta- : tions of cheese. Denmark is still a big- , gcr exporter of butter than Xew Zea- j land, hut she contributes practically ! nothing in the way of cheese, so that , from the point of view of combined dairy produce Xew Zealand stands ' supreme as the biggest individual i exporter of dairy produce in the world. . This may well be taken as earning for her the title of " The Dairy Farm of the I Kmpire," and. in view of the strides that this country has made recently, and of I the possibility of further expansion in | the immediate future, there is hardly any doubt but that the title will be merited and maintained in the years to i come. For the benefit of those who like exact statistics it may he mentioned j that Xew Zealand's export of butter for j the season just ended-will approximate I 8.3.000 tons. Britain's normal importa- I tion of butter in any given twelve months is normally 200,000 tons. In cheese Britain's average yearly con-1 sumption is 130.000 to 140.0*00 tons, and I of this total Xew Zealand last year sent' forward 09,000 tons, this being in line j with the average of three preceding sea- j sons. Xew Zealand is definitely the I largest source of supply for the British market, as the Canadian export of cheese for the last three seasons lias been below that of Xew Zealand. Xo district in Xew Zealand has contributed so much to the swelling of the country's export figures as the South Auckland province. The expansion made in this district in the last two decades has been little short of marvellous, and marks it out as being destined to attain a degree of development in dairying production unrivalled elsewhere probably in the world. The intensive development of the dairying industry has led to the development of the largest dairying organisation in the

activities concentrated wholly upon dairying, and not diffused over a wider range of general farming. We see practically SOOO suppliers instead of the SOO of 20 years ago. V. o see tiie output of 1000 tons of butter transformed into a general output of .",0,000 tons of dairy produce, handled by the one company. We see the two factories multiplied to 13 big centralised factories, with a multitude of attending creameries, and a group of associated cheese factories, dried milk factories and casein plants. The general development of the. countryside has carried with it the rapid development of the town life of the district. To serve the needs of the thousands of fanners, there have sprung up throughout the South Auckland district a number of prosperous towns. The principal of these is Hamilton, where 10.000 people now dwell. Xo town in Xew Zealand has risen so rapidly or upon such a permanent foundation throughout the last 20 years as Hamilton. Its growth is still proceeding, and it is a safe prophecy to make that the day is not far distant when its present population will he doubled. This prophecy is based upon the fact that, great as the development of the district has been in the past, it has not yet reached its maximum. There are still large undeveloped areas awaiting development, extensive swamp areas requiring draining and consolidating; and districts of light land requiring only j cultivation and fertiliser to brin_ them into profitable production. With the subjection of the.se areas of untamed i land and tlie improvement of exUitin. | farms, the carrying of a better class of stock and more intensive concentration | upon the finer points of the industry, I the extent to which the industry can advance is raised almost inimitably. The aid of the scientist. For the manner in which he has carried forward the development of the country the Highest praise must he given to the farmer, lie lias worked hard and done well, and indisputably earned the title of 'the backbone of the country." But while giving him every credit for the development that has been made, it is fair to point out that he could

The real significance and value of New Zealand's achievements with the dairying world are yet hardly realised. The plain truth is that to-day New Zealand possesses the biggest exportable surplus of dairy produce in the world. She possesses the biggest individual dairying organisation in the world—the biggest co-operative butter factory and the largest milk powder factory in the world. It is the pride of the Waikato that it is the chief contributor to New Zealand's dairying fame. It is the fertile soil and favourable climate of the South Auckland Province which have thrown New Zealand into the forefront of the dairying world, and which to-day supports the world's biggest dairy exhibition and show. On this page is outlined the economic development of the industry and the commercial development of those companies who finally combined to form the New Zealand Co-oper-ative Dairy Co., Ltd.

to the factory througtiout the first season's operations, but nevertheless about 130 ions of butter was made. The succeeding year the output was trebled, and again in the next season a substantial increase was shown. This stifliecd t<put the borne separation movement on .1 sound footing, and the original proprietary basis or tiie partnership was j altered to a co-operative basis. | Two very Important economic unI provements were effected in the industry I at this stage, and materially affected (he development and prosperity of the dairvmg industry It -.vis fnund that [while pasteurisation improved the I , cream by checking the development of j deleterious flavours, it did not prevent the development. of acidity ii; the cream. With slow methods of .road transport and long distances tr ihe traversed considerable time elapsed I between the farm and the factory, thus ; allowing an undue degree of acidity toi .develop. A good flavoured butter could! | not be made until this superfluity of | ; acid was countered, and it was not until : j research work revealed the value of soda,! •as a neutralising agent that much ira-i | provemeut could be made. Following on' 'this discovery of neutralisation there, (was introduced a mechanical improve-; j ment in the form of a combined churn : ; and worker. This was the final step | | necessary to permit of the development I .of the modern butter factory. By it the | old arduous conditions of the factory ; worker were completely changed. It ; was no longer necessary for him to laboriously work (he butter up by hand. r Thai was all done for him by machinery, nnd with this last big stepforwurd the ! industry entered upon its more modern . i stage. It is this modern development , ! which has worked such wonders in the _ I last decade, more especially in the last , j three seasons, and placed New Zealand I j absolutely iv the forefront of tbe world in the business and technical side of . I dairying. ; ! This resume, or tr.c mechanical side of' • buttermaking is necessary to convey a, ' ; full idea of the factors bearing upon the ! I progress of the companies which ultim-1 ' ately combined lo form the Xew Zealand! i .Co-op. Dairy Co.. Ltd. By the time the; home separation movement came upon j 1 | tho scene the New Zealand Dairy Asso- j Ijcialion possessed three butter factories j and S2 creameries. Its output had j reached just 2000 tons nt the beginning | i of the l'fllO season, in which year the | Waikato Co-op. Dairy Co. returned its, initial output of L! 0 tons. In the same, . year the Thames Valley Dairy Company; I manufactured 501 tons. Keen warfare ' j waged between the home separation I J movement and the creamery system for j I several years, but the balance of convent-

world for a testimonial to Dr. B_!>eock. the financial response was very satis factory indeed. The next big forward step that was taken in the industry was made possible by Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, who discovered the effort of heat upon I tbe development of bacteria. Tiie appli- I cation of his idea to the industry came | by means of a pasteuriser, in which steam- I heated surfaces raise the temperature of j cream to at least ITO degrees iv order j to kill the injurious bacterial life 'which j found a ready home in milk or cream. I This machine was a necessity to permit of the prripel- development of thi' home I separation movement. In the cnrlv ! stages of the industry the creamery sys- j i tern had necessarily been followed be- i cause small domestic separators were ] not then available nor could they pro litably be applied to the conditions of j the time. It was therefore necessary fori the fanners to bring their whole milk ; to central creameries where separation' was effected. With the comparatively poor toad conditions of those days, particularly in isolated areas, this heavy haulage of milk constituted a very binding tie, so that as soon as it became feasible for farmers to separate their milk on their own farms and scud forward to the factories only one can of cream instead of nine or ten cans of milk, a very general desire sprang up to utilise this more economic method of dairying. HOME SEPARATION BEGINS. Tt was at this stage of the dairy industry's development that Mr. VV. t'ood fellow, the present managing-director of the Xew Zealand Co.-operative Dnirt Company, Limited, came into association with the business iv a rather dramatic fashion. Trained in the hardware business, he was operating several stores I throughout the Waikato, and in the I course of business disposed of a small j butter-making plant to a client. .Misfortune attended this sale, and to avoid I making a loss Mr. Ooodfellow was faced with the problem of either taking the plant back, and operating it himself, or returning it lo the makers at a financial sacrifice. The latter proposition did not appeal to him. and, fate throwing in his path a practical butter-maker, partnership arrangement was entered into, and the operation begun of a small factory, situated behind the Horse Bazaar in Hamilton, lo secure a supply for this factory Mr. Ooodfellow conducted a jiersonal canvass throughout the district. A great deal of difficulty was encountered in the search for supply, but. eventually farmers holding 700 row. promised to send in their cream. A lame man pushing a hand-cart sufficed to convey the cream cans from the station I

ence and economic administration, from the farmers' point of view, was with the home separation system, and consequently its development was rapid. The Dairy Association was forced to accept home separated cream—-so much so indeed that in the year 1915 it manufactured 14 IS tons from home separated cream out of a total " make '" uf 481(1 tons. AMALGAMATION CONSUMMATED. Suppliers of both companies throughout these years of competition could sen that it was the farmer who was paying i for duplication of service, high manufacturing costs, and inefficient and com-; petitive marketing. The desirability of amalgamation was mentioned even before the War. and meetings were held between the directors of ail tic- prin.i-! pal companies in the South Auckland province, with a view to co-ordination ;of method and unification of control. I For one reason or another, however. I these preliminary attempts proved : abortive until 1010. when a workable i basis of amalgamation was asrreed to, j and in that year the New Zealand Dairy ' Association. Ltd.. and the Waikato Coop. Dairy Co. and the Waikato Coop. ! ( 'heese Co. amalgamated. Jn the follow. : ing year the Thames Valley Dairy Com- ' pan} joined the amalgamation, and by its addition of 1200 suppliers carried the total number of suppliers fo the New Zealand Co-op. Hairy Co.. Ltd., to its present massive total 'of 7500. This amalgamation has been ?oiisoliditi:ig its res, urces ill the past three seasons, improving ils organisation, ii_ system of ' manufacture, and its system of marketing A very great deal of valuable pioieering work and ."•one?ntt*ai.ion of clli rt has been accomplished, until 10----ilay the organisation us . whole lias reached a state of efficiency never hitherto approached in this province. The principal alms of the amalgama- ■ lion were: ( I ) Economy of manufacture, . (2) improvement of quality. (3) improvement in marketing efforts. Jn all three fields the desired object has been j attained. The maim -•'•luring cost has j been reduced to the lowest level now : obtaining in New Zealand. Tbe average j (Trade has been so far improved that this season almost 00 per cent of the total manufacture of the company has j graded superfine, with an average grade Approximating 03 points. The marketj inpr of the company's produce has been put upon a belter basis than ever before by the establishment of a European I manager in London with an overseeing 'control of the marketing efforts of the I four principal consigning asents : through whom the 30,00(1 tons of the | company's produce are marketed.

ART OF MAKING BUTTER. A glance through one of the company's big centralised factories—there are l.'i in operation, each with a manufacture of approximately 2000 tons a year—shows the high pitcn or efficiency which has been attained oy the adoption of methods of mass production. In the Hush of the season about 45 to 50 tons of cream a day arrive a', any one of the tig central factories in anything up to 1000 cans. These cans come from near and far—in some cases travelling 25 and 30 miles by wagon and lorry, and then 15 to 25 miles by rail before reaching their destination. Over 200 cartage services i are administered by the company, and it j is a tribute to the efficiency of this organisation that day in and day out, I through good weather and bad, these carts, wagons, and lorries deliver their I unceasing stream of butterfat to the factories. On reaching the factory stage each can of cream is weighed, graded and sampled. The weight is recorded in a very elaborate recording book, by which, thiough a system of carbon sheets, each supplier receives a daily record of his deliveries. 'Ihe grading system divides the cream into tl-iee classes —superfine, first gra_-. and second grade. The aim of this" is to induce suppliers lo send forward the very best quality of raw product, and so permit the manufacture of a perfect article. It is at once a tribute to the response made by the 7500 suppliers, and tlie efforts of the field instructors working amongst them to sa_- that 00 per cent of the cream supplied—in spite of the difficulties of distance and delayed transport—grade superfine, about 6 per cent to 7 per cent first grade, and 3 petcent to 4 per cent second grade. In the process of manufacture the cream passes from the special vats into which it is first tipped through pasteurisers, which lift it in two stages to a temperature of about 200deg F., and then through coolers which reduce it in two or three stages to a temperature of about 40deg. Thence into holding tanks, the cream passes on its way to the big churns, each capable of manufacturing 11 ton of butter at a churning. Every stage of the process of manufacture is standardised iv each and every one of the company's factories. The same ingredients are used and the same tests employed. The net. result of this system is that tens of thousands of boxes of butter of a given high quality can be supplied as required." With an output of 22,000 tons of butter this season, no fewer than SSO.OOO boxes are required. and it is a colossal performance to have standardised manufacture that 00 per cent of this total will grade superfine quality and be uniform in texture and flavour throughout. This definitely establishes a world's record for the largest, quantity of butter sent forward to market under one brand. CHEESE. While butter is the principal mainstay of the company's business, cheese is nut unimportant. The company manufactures from 4,000 to 5000 tons of cheese a year, but this represents a comparatively small proportion of New Zealand's total export of cheese. Whereas in the field of butler the company dominates the position to the extent of supplying onethird of the country's exportable surplus, in cheese less than one-twelfth is j contributed. Curiously enough, the dairyin • nlustry in the Auckland province w_„ .i.-tually begun by the establishment of c. eese factories as far back as 1882, but tiiese ventures all failed, as they were before their time, and tlie business facilities were not available then for definite progress. It was not until the War established an unprecedented demand for cheese at high I figures that cheese manufacture on a considerable scale was revived in the South Auckland piovince. In 11115 the Thames Valley Dairy Company, the N.Z. Dairy Association, and the Waikato Co-op. Cheese Company all established factories, which have been incorporated in the amalgamated company, and now total Hi. The process of manufacture of cheese is not so spectacular or interesting as butter, but nevertheless the company has some very complete and modern plants. Two special improvements that are being I fully developed in the method of manufacturing cheese are a special press designed to eliminate 'Tims'' on cheese and a special cooling ciiamber for the cool curing of cheese. These improvements. together with the extension of the grading system, to cheese as well a= to butter, have made ! such an advance in the quality of the ; cheese being sent forward to the London i market that very favourable comment. indeed, has been passed upon it by in-

world, and in a publication designed to | record the activities associated with the district fostering the Waikato Winter Show it is timely that a description should be given of the widespread activity of this mammoth organisation, which embraces within its folds the latest and most modern developments of dairying activity. With its production this year of 22,000 tons of butter, 4000 tons of cheese, 3500 tons of separated milk powder, and 800 tons of casein, the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd., establishes a record of annual dairy production which places it far ahead o? any other individual dairying organisation in the world. The approximate value of this output ranges from £4,500.000 to £5.000.000, so that it can well be urged that this cooperative organisation, embracing 7500 supplier-farmers, is contributing very handsomely to the maintenance of the economic life of the community. Without the steady flow of money earned by this and other dairying companies, the Auckland Province as a whole —in fact the whole of New Zealand—would have suffered from the world's slump in prices in the last fewyears very much more than has been the case. TWENTY YEARS AGO. The dairy industry has grown up in our midst so quietly that the real extent of its operations and the romance associated with its development have not yet been appreciated. From the economic point of view it is romantic indeed to look back only a siiort 20 years and realise that when the New Zealand Dairy Association entered upon its cooperative existence in 1001 there were then in the South Auckland Province only two central butter factories, with a combined output of just on 1000 tons. The number of suppliers was about 800. Tho district was undeveloped, uncultivated, and unpromising in the extreme. Areas of ti-tree country and sodden swamp spread on every hand. The pasture, was thin and unproductive.! Dairy herds were limited in extent and of medium quality. Dairying itself was a sideline attended to only in the interval of general farm work. Conditions were rough, hard, and unprofitable. From the unpromising atmosphere ol those days the industry has steadily forged ahead until to-day we can take a. comprehensive survey of a entire district extending roughly for 150 miles in length by 00 miles" in" width and see in every nook and corner of it rich pastoe, •weU-tOled fields and cosy homes. _»«._!__ se . i -- ar « c ami well tended herds &_*£ rtoc 1 _ a \v nCrea6 ' mS to peaisre. stock. We can 6ec the farmers*

not have made this progress had he not been liandsomelv served by various scientific inventions and commercial improvements. When Ihe industry began in the earlj- eighties the surplus butter of the farmer was collected by the country storekeeper, salted and packed in kegs and sent Forward to cities and towns for market. Tbe supply speedily began to exceed the market an lit became necessary to look overseas for disposal. For several years in the nineties Australia offered a profitable market, for NewZealand's small surplus, particularly in I drought years, but that avenue cotl'd j not he relied upon and consequently |eyes had to be turned to the L'nited I i Kingdom. Jn the early days of pioneer- I ing work on this market considerable difficulties were encountered in the satis- i factor}- carriage of our butter, and it was not until the refrigerator was adopted j I and its use properly developed that shipI ment* could be made with reasonable 'safety to Great Britain. It was not. | however, until about Iflir, that New Zealand's total export reached to even 50.0 | tons, but within a few years of that I date it had grown lo the neighbourhood lof 10.000 to 20.000 tons and continued on that level until after Cue war. when there started that wave of dniiyin_ expansion I which has carried New Zealand forward Ito its present jio.-ition of dairying preeminence. Before this pn.i-.lon could lie reached, however, a great many stages had to be I passed the Bnbcock tester, the pasteuriser, the "'combined .churn and worker," the home separation movement, the rlireet expansion cooler, had all to be introduced and play their part in the processes of manufacture and factory organisation. Thcßabcock tester was the first great invention which had a stabilising effect upon the commercial development of the industry. It afforded for the first time an accurate and scientific method of measuring the btttterfat content of milk. Without its aid it is safe to say that the industry simply could not have advanced to its present stage of development. In inventing this little instruI ment Dr. Babcock made one of the finest contributions to human progress that has ever been made, and he deserves the greatest credit in that, with a rare nobility of mind, he presented bis idea to the world without restriction of patent rights. Jn this way he threw away a fortune, for a comparative small royalty upon every machine likely to be used throughout the world would have amounted to a very handsome figure. It is some satisfaction to know that when a. few years ago an appeal was made tc I the dairying interests throughout the

Provides World's Biggest Dairy Company, Butter Factory and Milk Powder Plant.

dependent authorities, and the opinion expressed that competition with Canada in quality and price need not be feared. The cheese suppliers of the company number nearly 500. MILK POWDER. The most modern development in connection with the dairy industry is the establishment of three large factories for the manufacture of separated milk powder. These factories have now been running for two lull seasons, and will this year make 3,500 tons. One of the factories—that at Waitoa —is the largest individual dried milk factory in the world, containing 5 units of the Gray-Jensen spray process, which enables the factory to comfortably deal with 150 tons of milk a day, or a little over .''oo,ooolb. This industry is very important because it utilises what would otherwise be a waste product. The raw milk is delivered to the factory, separated, and the cream sent forward for manufacture into butter. The skim milk is then put through a process which drives off all the moisture in the milk and leaves behind the whole of the valuable solids in milk, namely ash, protein and sugar of milk. These solids represent valuable flesh and bone forming foods, and the powder is consequentlybecoming very widely used by bakers for bread making purposes, by manufacturers of milk chocolate, and by manufacturers of ice cream. The medical authorities in Britain and America welcome the use of milk powder in the manufacture of bread, as it produces an article which is definitely more nutritious than -.vater-mixed bread, because of the addition of the actual milk solids. From the bakers' point of view the use of milk powder has the peculiar advantage that it enables him to get a sufficiently large extra yield of loaves from a given quantity of flour to pay for the powder and leave an extra profit. From the consumers' point of view, milk bread is better than ordinary bread, and, therefore, both parties secure an advantage by the use of this byproduct. Large quantities of the powder are also used by the chocolate and ice

cream manufacturers, but an even more important and romantic use lies in the possibility—in fact, the certainty—that as time goes on it will he possible by the aid of milk powder for New Zealand to supply Lonrton with its daily milk supply. 'Ihe spray process of'manufacturing milk powder ensures perfect solubility, so that it is possible by the mere addition of water to reconstitute. with perfect solubility, skim milk. By the addition of unsalted butter, and the use of an enmlsifier—a simple little machine—perfect full cream, undetectable from ordinary fresh milk, can be made. Steamships, cities in tropical countries, and towns in isolated parts where milk is not procurable, can, even at the present day. ensure a supply of milk by this process, but the time is coining when a slight improvement in chemical discovery will enable full-cream powder to bo made, which will require the addition merely of cold water to make a perfect milk. Under present conditions a. full-cream powder can be made, but there is a tendency for rancidity lo devlop after exposure to the air tor a certain period of time. Further chemical advance is. therefore, neee-sarv before the final development in this procsss of manufacture can be made In the meantime the industry is developing upon very sound lines, and a definite! v profitable market is developing for the powder, particularly _h the Continent th ] !"'° pPj m Am erica, and throughout CASEIN. Casein is another by-product of skim 2__. ... c whole u,ilk ,ms •*-<--- ---separated at creameries, a curd is precipitated from the remaining skim milk shipped ,nto the central casein factor, at -rankton, and there manufactured into high-class lactic casein. Over 800 tons ot this product have l,een made in the past season, and the bulk of it exported to the Cited States where it is very largely used in the paper-making trade, dye works, imitation ivory, and in numerous other indnstrics. A o-'reat deal ot research work has been doneln connection with casein, and very profitable results secured. The most notable discovery so tar made has been a casein glue, the adhesive qualities of which are most remarkable. The glue is marketed in the lorm of a fine white powder, and requires only to be mixed with definite quantities of cold water to be ready for use. Tests that have been made "with it in connection with timber show that the join has been so strong that on it hem- subjected to a breaking strain, a Iresh break instead of the old mend ha. occurred. Already this glue is being very extensively used in connection with nigh-class piano veneering and cabinetmaking'. By means of this hv-product an extra payment is returned to Slip-

pliers -who contribute to its manufacture, amounting to 3d per lb butterfat. CHEMICAL CONTROL. One very special advantage that has followed the amalgamation of the three competing companies has been the possibility of engaging a highly-qualified chemical staff to undertake research work in connection with dairying problems. Most valuable results have already been secured by this enterprise. Xot only is the ordinary process of manufacturing butter and cheese subjected to constant supervision, but as indicated in connection with casein and milk powder, most valuable results have been secured by the investigations carried out. The future of the dairy industry, as of all other important primary industries when brought into line with modern requirements, depends upon the proper utilisation of by-products, and this co-operative company is to be conpratulated upon the foresight of their directors in entering upon this valuable research work. It is only tlie possession of a big output, making it profitable to seek tha small savings in the business that warranted the initial expense involved in this department. That this department, however, is directly reproductive in tbe savings it makes is shown by the fact that a loss of only .3 per cent in the annual turnover of butter alone would amount to £10,S00. CONTAINERS AXD FUEL. With its output obtaining the huge dimensions of the last few years, it became advisable for the directors of the company to enter several secondary lines of business in order to effect economies in the manufacture and handling charges of their primary products. A box-making plant was therefore installed at Frankton at a cost of £34,000. and, subsidiary to it, a tin-making plant. These two factories have effected very substantial savings indeed in the manufacture of the company's containers, the savings amounting to approximately £30,000

within a space of two years. Tlie boxmaking plant is the largest and most perfectly equipped plant of its kind south of the Line. Its largest individual day's output of butter boxes has been ILOOO in a nine-hour day. The machinery throughout is perfectly designed and amazingly efficient. The very sawdust, shavings, and scraps are sucked up in an overhead flume and conveyed to the I power house, where tlp?y are fed into i the furnaces to generate the electricity Ito drive the saws to make more saw- ! dust! In this way a saving equivalent jto six tons of coal per day is effected. I The company's consumption of coal ■ throughout the fifty-five factories of all I sorts and descriptions owned by it is I naturally extensive, and to reduce costs lin this direction a coal field containing an estimated quantity of 10.000.000 tons was purchased, and has been developed !at a cost of approximately £100,000. j This coal mine is just coming into proj duction, and will henceforth supply the company's factories. Very definite savings arc expected to be secured from this I venture. I The head office of the company in I situated at Hamilton, but there is also a branch office at I'aeroa, another in j Auckland and, equally important, tho I marketing office in London. One of tho : show features of tiie head office in ! Hamilton is the department concerned | with the issue of cheques to supplier.. I I*his department operates a modern batI t.ry of twelve electrically-driven calculating and adding machines. Into this | department come monthly over 20,000 ' dockets recording the individual daily I supplies of cream or milk. Each of these ' dockets is handled live times in the pro- : cess of making the various computations preliminary to the issuing of the cheque.. Over 7500 cheques arc issued monthly, i and the actual signing of the names of ! the executive officers to these cheques ii j sufficient to occupy two men for two I whole days. Cheques arc issued on the :20th of every month, but when bonus I are made at the conclusion of la season's operations a great deal of : extra work is involved. As a finale to j last season's operations bonus payments | were made throughout three successive months, and this fact, together with the carrying on of current work, led to the issue of just on 30.000 cheques, involving the payment of over £1,250.000 in a little over eight weeks. It may be mentioned, as showing tho volume of the ! company's business, that the advance payments only for the four peak months jof'the past, season averaged just "ii i 1400.000 each month. The actual amount of cash t i he distributed throiiL'h this season's operations is expected In be very little under £5,000,000 sterling.