THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8793, 14 May 1894, Page 5

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

ADDRESS BY MR VALENTINE. Oα Saturday afternoon an address was given at the A. and P. Association's rooms by Mr Valentine, the Government dairy expert. There was a good attendance of farmers and others interested in the dairy industry, and Mr A. Kaye was voted to the chair. At the outset of his address Mi* Valentine congratulated his hearers upon the rapid strides that had been made in the establishment of the dairy industry. He had visited all the dairy countries of the world and he had come to the conclusion that New Zealand stood alone as the best. They had this advantage in that they could produce grass fed butter in the depth of the English winter. In developing the dairy industry there were three great elements to be studied. They must ensure good quality, they must see that the produce was conveyed as near as possible in its normal state from the producers to the consumers, and they must ensure that there was a proper distribution of the produce on its at rival in the Old Country. Wheu it reached London their produce should not be left in the hands of disinterested intermediaries or middle-men. They had been too much at the mercy of the middle-men in the past, and they must do away with some of them. They must look to the future, and in order that the colony's produce shall have a fair test a better system of distribution must be adopted, and one that was more in sympathy with the producers. From the reports received from the Old Country, it would appear to those who lived in the colony that London was the only distributing centre for their produce. London was, he admitted, an important market, and one that must not be forgotten, b tt they must have othpr markets as we.il. In London- there was a population of some five millions, but in the North of England there was a population of about ten millions, and of a better paid class. In his report, which would shortly be presented to the Government, he would deal very fully with the question, of the distribution of their produce. It was one of the drawbacks of their trade that the large towns of the North and central part of England were only supplied ex London. He had visited most of those towns, but he had never seen a fair representation of what the colony could produce in the way of butter or cheese in Liverpool, Manchester, or other centres. It was either first class butter that had been overkept or second class produce. The finest butter to be seen there was from Denmark and Sweden and the cheese irom Canada and the United States. The sending of this second class produce there had done a large amount of harm. Mr Valentine dealt at some length with the question of distribution of produce in the Northern part of England, supporting his arguments on the basis of population, and holding that if the colony wished to gain a proper footing there for its produce, the shipments muat be made direct, not through London, the same as was done by Denmark and Sweden, and Canada and the United States. He then dealt with the subject of grading butter, pointing out the absolute necessity for uniformity in quality being maintained, and said that while butter could be made in the dairy equal to the best factory product, there w»s no question but that the factory system was tne best for the colony, as it would ensure uniformity of quality and price. He pointed out, however, that the quality of the butter did not rest with the separator, but in the milk sent to the factory. He spoke of the manufacture of margarine and margarine mixture, which had done injury to the colonial butter trade, and he pointed out that the various Acts of Parliament dealing with the matter were of I little effect. He next referred to the breeding of cows, and recommended running two or three Jersey cows with each seven or eight shorthorns or cows of the shorthorn and Ayrshire cross, as the Jerseys added richness to the butter. He also touched upon the handling, sheltering and feeding of cows and recommended that ensilage be used as a food., He touched upon the importance of the bacon and pork industry, and said that I nothing would stimulate the colony to auoh an extent as would tbe proper development/ of their productions. Mr Valentine resumed hie seat amid applause. In reply to questions, Mr Valentine said that in view of the risks in sending Home butter, the temperature should be kept at from 30deg to 32deg. He hoped that a fortnightly shipping service would be arranged for by next season, and better arrangements made for receiving produce at Home. There was no danger of a glut in the Home market, at any rate for some years to come. They were now fiading in England that it was more profitable to sell the milk produced there as milk, instead of making itinto butter and cheese, *nd in a few years 150,000 tons more of butter would be required annually in England. Compared with this the whole output of the Australasian colonies was a mere flea bite. If great cate was exercised in its manufacture and m the transit Victorian and New Zealand butter was quite equal, if not superior, to the finest Danish. Pure grass fed batter must be superior to stall fed. New Zealand cheese was superior to the finest imported into England, because the grass of the colony more nearly resembled thai of the English pastures. Mr M. Mukphy moved a hearty vote of t r hft"fcrn for bis address. Mr Jakins seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. A similar compliment to the Chairman terminated the meeting.