THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15751, 18 November 1916, Page 6

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

OPENING OF CHIvESK FACTORY AT STAVELEY. The establishment of a croaincry at Staveley about ten .years ago by the Stavelev Dairy Company completely altered the conditions of farming in that part of the Ashburton district, and if. proved so successful from the start that iu the course of a couple of vears the value of some of the land in the district nearly doubled, and as a matter of fact some of the land did change hands at twice the value which had been placcd upon it before the! creamery wa.s started. In the direst | of seasons there is very rarely any. shortage of feed in the vicinitj, - as | while there may be a want of rain lower j down on the plains, frequent i occur all along the foothills. In addi- j tion to good grass and oat crops, the i land will produce the best of mangolds, turnips, and swedes, and the more it is . cultivated the more productive it becomes. The opening of the company's j cheese factory on Thursday attracted! a very large gathering from all parts oi-j the district, as well a> visitors from ' Methven. Cbristchurch. and other | places. The new factory, which is built; of ferro-concrete. has been designed anti equipped on the most up-to-date lines. ! and the plant is capable of turning out: li tons of cheese per day, and it is expected that before the season is far ad-! vanced the daily supply ot milk will be , 2800 gallons. The official opening ceremony was performed by Mr Hugo t riedlandei, , chairman of directors, and during the course of his remarks he briefly touched upon the importance and advance- j ment of agriculture from as far back as. the ' sixteenth century. Referring to j the Staveley district. Mr Friedlander j said it had been, and was still doing J its full share towards the progress ot the Ashburton district, and at the present time, when the war was in progress. it was the duty of every producer to do his utmost to help to Iced, the masses. The history of the Stave-' ley Dairy Company had been one ot steadv progress *>ince its inception in 1907,* when a few enterprising settlers in the district considered that the time lia<l arrived to start a dairy factory. The Droject had been taken uu with

much enthusiasm, and the creamery had met- the requirements of the district ifor some years. In tho early days ithc profits "had been small, and a sum of £1800 had been paid out during the first year. Sinc-e then progress had been rapid, and last year tho payments had showed an increase of 550 per cent, on those made during the first year's operations, and substantial dividends hod aiso been declared. Those who had simply invested money in the company ha*l received reasonable rates of interest, while the suppliers had received reasonable and fair prices for their milk. On behalf of the company hp declared the factory officially open. Cheers wore then given for the direc- | tors and the dairy company, and the | visitors were entertained at luncheon provided by the ladies of the district. Mr Jl. Oalbraith. in proposing the toast of the Staveley Choose Factory, complmented the shareholders on the general arrangements which had been made. Ho felt sure the factory would have a successful career, and that, the settlers would give the company loyal support. -Afr H. Friedlander, in responding, said lie had taken a keen interest in the dairying industry of the district since a s far back as 1907. and had done his best to help the company, which had never looked back. It had made all the. progress ono would expect, and had been enabled to pay out, including bonuses, £11,000 during last year. The factory ;ind plant had cost about £'3000, and be thought that all would agree that the factory was complete in every respect. A number of other toasts were duly honoured, and brief speeches made by .Messrs A. Macfarlane, C. J. Harper F. Pawson.. A. W. Ruddenklau. j! Harnett. T. Gundry and representatives of the firms of Messrs J. and \V. Jamieson, and McEwen and Co.