The Press. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1888.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7139, 29 August 1888, Page 4

The Press. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1888.

The Agent-General's " Notes, on the Dairy Industry," laid on the table of the House the other day, contain a large amount of extremely interesting and instructive information to our agricultural readers. Sir Diixqn Bell commerces with explaining that the information at hjs disposal has been collected from a variety of sources, and his great dimculty has been to condense it within reasonable limits. In his dilemma he applied to Professor Long, and that gentleman, he is pleased %o say, has promised to write him % paper with special reference to the wants and capabilities of New Zealand, In his letter to the Agent-General, Professor Long says—" Cheese is now being " made in New Zealand at some of " the Companies' factories under my «■ advice, and I also went fully into the " condensed milk question with them, " visiting Switzerland and Italy to see " factories there, most of which are " familiar to mc. I am quite sure if "only the colonists knew it, they " could compete in our markets against ! " the world; and I say this with an " intimate knowledge of the countries " which, now hold these markets." Coming from such an authority this assurance is certainly most encouraging. As Professor Arsolix (Cornell University) says, " Grass is the basis of food for the dairy, and no system of feeding yet devised" can equal grass feeding for the production of butter. A country, therefore, which can grow English grasses as New Zealand :' doejj, and a country where cattle can

hnve in the open air all tne year Quad may well rival England and lurope in producing the finest butter ,nd cheese in the world, as well as ;ain the top price for it" in the Engish market. All this ie no doubt true, md in a sense ft is known already by he majority of our readers. Till ecently, however, our farmers have >een disinclined to give practical effect o the conviction. We have gone on n the old-fashioned way making butter md cheese, a large per centage of which was unfit for human food, and it has inly been the pinch of hard times that ias brought us face to face with the lecessity of taking prompt measures ;o effect a change. We are beginning 0 realise at last that in the dairy ndustry a large source of wealth lies jasily within the reach of the colony if raly our farmers had the scientific paowledge necessary to develop the ndustry. The extent and importance >f the Home market may be realised rom the following statement of the ralue of the import of dairy produce luring the year 1887:— Butter ...£8,016,769 Butterine • 3,860,943 Cheese , ... 4,508,957 At present Great Britain is dependent 'or the supply upon the United States, Canada, France, Scandinavia, Holland, md Belgium. Owing to the rapid increase in the population of the United States, the competition neither }f that country nor of Canada need be teared. They will have in a year or two enough to do to eupply their own wants, and they may before long ictually become importers. It is different, of course, aa regards cheese. This commodity is still largely exported from both countries, and will, to all appearance, continue to be exported Eor years to come; so that in this respect New Zealand may look for a formidable competitor. In order, however, to secure a proper Footing in the English market, it is not enough to be satisfied that there is a demand there for dairy produce. We must learn how to meet the requirements of the purchasers, and this :an only be done by making use of the experience of others. Normandy butter, the Agent-General informs ua, is most in fashion at present in England. That butter, he tells us, ifj made For the most part at the farms " with " an unrivalled exactness and minute"hess of attention to every detail, « a4ded to a remarkably good quality "of milk." The result is. that butter of "exactly tb,|. same coiqur, flavour 't and texture is turned out in great "quantities, and can be depended " upqn for ever-consianl; uniformity aU «f the year round." This uniformity as much as the good quality Has. given the P?enchproduction a firm hold upon the English market, and if New Zealand, is to secure the advantage? which nature has conferred upon her, "unifofrnity -' in flavour, colour and texture, combined with good quality must be insisted on. The information as tp the causes of success in Denmark and Sweden point to a similar conclusion as that arrived at regarding Normandy. The success of the dairy industry in Denmark, says the AgentGeneral, "is attributed by all the best •' authorities here to the excellence of ■ 'f the technical education given in that *l country, and to. the way in which i fc "is carried to the farmers' doors, *« every pupil being taught on the " same lines." Denmark, we are told, is permeated with agricultural and dairy farming sphpols, and its superiority as a dairy farming State has been achieved "by the. constant cooperation of science arid practice." In Sweden, we are told, there are " Many Government travelling teachers. If a dairymaid wants to improve herself the travelling teacher goes to the farm and tells her what to dp, and shows the farmer how to prqdμce the richest milk." In Germany there are a dozen agricultural colleges, with grants each of from £3QOQ_ to 45000 a year; sixteen schools, aided up to #1200 a year; thirty-two fawn schools with small grants. In France there are four colleges and more thap fifty schools. It will thus he seen that the principal dairy countries in Europe secured success by painstaking industry and science; and if New Zealand is to be successful too, must be prepared to pursue a similar course. It is now agreed that the only chance this colony has of succeeding is by the establishment of factories. But separate factories, each managed on a different principle, and each turning out a difiepent quality; of butter, would be fatal to success. A better price, no doubt, would be obtained than is nftw the case. In the London market, says the Agent-. General, the " one golden rule is to have uniformity of color, taste, and texture," and in order to secure thes ; e objects our makers must be taught on one principle. In other words, if we are to succeed it must be by the "constant co-operation of science and practice." But success is worth aiming at, th.c consequence would be the addition of a new industry to our list of national enterprises, an industry which might easily be made to rival that of wool in value, and far exceed it in importance to the laboring population.