ALLEGED BREACH OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY ACT.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11103, 23 October 1901, Page 4

ALLEGED BREACH OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY ACT.

:' JUDGMENT DEFERRED. ;

A,t the Magistrate's . Court yesterday, Alexander Mcßberson, Government Inspector of Dairies in the'district surrounding Qhrist- ',. church, charged George Gould, for whom Mr Lane appeared, with gelling milk other than that'obtained from a registered' dairy. Tihe. case Was laid under, a Government regula- : tiotrmade in accordance with the Dairy Eα- : dustry Act, which regulation defines a dairy as "a milk-house,'milk-shop, dairy factory, and any other place where dairy produce is. . collected, deposited, treated, separated, pre- . pared, or manufactured, or is sold or offered . for sale," and;as including "a farm, stock-, yard, miliing-yard, paddock, shed, stable, stall, and any other place where cows from which the.milk supply of a dairy is-ob-tained, are- depastured, or kept;" A, McPhereon stated that, hearing milk was sold there, be visited Mr Gould's farm at Halsweli on the 11th of April last, left a copy of the regulations, together with a form of application -for "registration,, and made verbal requisition to the manager for improvements which be considered necessary before the place could be registered./ On the 12th April he received a note fronn Mr Gould, saying that the manager had informed him of the direction not to sell milk until registration. On.the Bth of October.witness .heard that milk was still beinrr sold from the premises, though in the meantime registration had not been effected. - Mr H. W, Bishop, S.M., who said that he had not presided before in a prosecution under that Act, asked if Mr Lane thought that the simple fact of -milk being sold at • any place was sufficient to necessitate registration. Mr Lane replied that he would strongly submit that it was not. * • Cross-examined by Mr Lane, McPherson stated that the sanitary condition of Mr Gould's place had not been as good as he considered that of a dairy should be. Henry Trott gave evidence that he had got milk from Mr Gould's manager on the 7th October, and on previous dates. He had never been asked for money, and had never paid anything. Annie Clark said that it was three weeks since she -had received any milk from there. From the timt- that she commenced getting it from the farm until she ceased doing so she had not received any bill. George Gould deposed that lie had a farm at Halsweli, and kept cattle there, and by arrangements which they made with his manager people were supplied with small quantities of milk. The manager informed him that the inspector had made certain requisitions, which witness thought were quite unnecessary, but he instructed him not to supply milk in future. Witness did I not think that the Act was meant to apply to dairies like hie. After the laying of the present information, he had applied for registration. Dr. Levinge, Superintendent of the Sunnyside Asylum, said;that he bad had considerable experience of dairying, and had inspected Mr Gould's farm because of this case. The milking yard was open on three sides to the sun and wind ; there was a good natural fall of the ground ; there were no manure heaps or auytniug which could contaminate, and witness had no hesitation whatever in saying that the place was perfectly healthy and c:ean. In view of the natural fall <he did not think a concrete drainage, which was one of the recommendations of the inspector, was necessary*

Mr Lane submitted that the Dairy Industry Act gave the Government no power to make the regulation under which the case was laid, forbidding the sale of milk from other than registered dairies. The Magistrate said that in his opinion much of the evidence had been irrelevant to ths charge. It seemed to him that there was no defence, except the legal point-put forward by Mr Lane, which was a very technical one. He reserved his decision.