DAIRY REGULATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 6

DAIRY REGULATIONS.

THE MINISTER AND THE FARMERS. CRITICISM AND EXPLANATION. (BY TELEGBirH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Carterton, October 23. ' Tho Hon. R. M'Nab, Minister for Lands, addressed a large gathering of dairy farmers here to-night on thj dairy regulations and dairying generally. Dairymen wero present from -the .district extending from Kaituna, in Masterton,. to Feathorston. Mr. E. Clifton, chief inspector of stock, was also present. Tho meeting was presided over by Mr. W. Moore, Mayor of Carterton. The proceedings were opened by Mr. Hornsby, who explained that .Mr M'Nab's address would bo quite non-political. The Farmers' Point of View.

Mr. A. M. Wilkinson (Featherston) said that farmers were placed under a great disadvantage in meeting the Minister, as the great majority of those present had not seen tho amended regulations. Those who had read them, however, had no objection. It was a fact, said Mr. Wilkinson, that' at a conference held in Palmerston North, it was decided that the maximum per dairy herd should be not more than ss. 'per head., The Department had. proposed to make the, tax 6d..per cow, which, on the 300,000 cows.in the Dominion, would result in £7500 being taken out of the pockets of the farmers. This was a point which farmers could'never understand, ..as it was understood that the Agricultural Department was doing its best in' tile interests of the' farmers. It was stated by ' those who had read these proposed' ■ amended regulations that they pressed too heavily upon small farmers. Farmers were glad that the powers of inspectors -had been curtailed. This was Wanted badly. He gave an instance of an ; inspector who forced him to take up tho good 3-inch scantling floor of his cowshed and substitute concrete. The Department had also stipulated for whitewashing the sheds. Tho speaker considered that whitewash was unnecessary trouble,'as it peeled oasilyi Mr. Wilkinson said he used permanganate of potash, commonly known as Condy's . crystals, and .he would like to know why that antiseptic should bo barred by tho regulations. The speakor then referred to the shipment of milk to Wellington from" Featherston, and stated that he considered that farmers were not ■ beii'ig treated. fairly. . Mr. W.-'Fugo (Featherston) agreed with the present amended regulations as far as largo dairymen were concerned. It was' different with small farmers, however, and -he thought that they would have difficulty in constructing the ' foot race. Cooling the milk also was difficult with some small farmers who had no water. '•' The speaker .was in-favour of powers of inspection-being given to managers of factories. Mr. -W. 'Fisher (Taratahi) said that farmers still objected to the cow tax. It appeared to them that the tax had been taken ]off sheep and put on to' farmers. Thoy objected also to the 30ft. race, and the necessity. for boiling water in factories. In his district all cans wero steamed. Was it not, a fact that these regulations woro tacked on to those of 1898, which gave the inspector full power? It was impossible to keep fowls out of a cowshed. _ Mr. W. C. Ordish (Dalefield) said if cowbails were] to be cleaned as desired by the regulations the farmers would simply have to reside in the'bails. The. speaker, .however, had no . objection ,to regulations which were properly administered.. • Mr. W. Fisher objected to .the clause demanding . the - white-washing , .of .ceilings.. ■Whitewash .peeled easily and dropped . into the milk. , Mr. James Callister (Dalefield) thought .th'a.t the majority of the regulations were ijust what were wanted. , He had plenty of water and the' concrete floor was scrubbed out every' day, and, in fact, one- might liavo 'his meals there and think ho was at a model hotel in Wellington. He favoured the, race ,syjstpm ( ,;aiidi condemned wooden, floors, in : cowshedW.' 5 ": Under ;: these-floors in summer time were every kind of microbes under the sun. . The speaker was in, favour of , the abrogation of the cow tax. Farmers had quite enough:toi do without any tax of this description being put upon I 'them: .The present Government was hitting up the rate •of. wages, and-they should further protect the farmers. Regarding ■ whitewashing, the speaker quoted Mr. Gilruth, who said that it was of little, godd. Regarding. the tax,. Mr. Callister . said once he kept sheep and had to pay sheep tax. He sold his sheep for cows, and now ho found that ho ha.d to pay cow tax. Mr.' R. G. Welch (Matarawa) was in favour of a . farmers' appear court, consisting of practical men who could decide these ■questions.. He thought, that the . regulations gave the farmers very little to complain of.' ' 1 Mr, R. W. Nunn (Longbush), asked where were the regulations going to lead? They were going from bad to worse. Soon farmers would be compelled to place their cows upon tennis and hockey grounds. (Laughter.) . ': . ... Mr. M'Nab's Speech. ' - Mr.-M'Nab said that he wanted the me'eting to understand what the Department was doing for the benefit of the farmers. There had riot been many complaints that evening. He might explain that lie was not responsible for tho first regulations of 1898, in which the inspectors had sole power. It was against' the' power of the inspectors that the present outcry had been made by the farmers. There was no regulation which com-, p'elled a dairyman to put up a race. One oould have either a yard or a race. With reference to cow fees, thsy would see that Sir Joseph Ward had said that the tax was to be rkluced to ss. He could not remember that -ho had ever promised at a conference ,at Palmerston that the fee would be'-Ssj-' 1 ■ Mr. Wilkinson: You admitted at the conference itself that this was so, and the samo statement was made earlier in a general way by Mr.- Clifton. Mr. M'Nab quoted Mr. Cuddio in support of the necessity of thorough inspection of dairies. Tke defects of New Zealand produce in London were mentioned so often that the Government had to take action, and they first sent Mr. Cuddie. to England to report on the .matter. .Regarding : milking generally, he favoured primitive conditions such as milking on the grass in fine weather, in preference to milking in byres. The Minister went on to refer to graders' and instructors' opinions; of a derogatory character to milking machines, owing to the manner in which tho ■machines were treated by careless or! inexperienced ■ owners. Mr. Singleton had favoured the • appointment of trained inspectors and inspection generally. This had been done. The inspectors selected had been instructed and examined. Those present would see that regulations would not come into force until tho end of next season. Before' that time the inspectors would have been properly instructed in all departments: It was not the policy of tho Government to givo tho inspectors sole power. If tho speaker did not think that the present proposed expense of £15,000 a year for inspection would not return farmers £50,000 per year, ho would have nothing to do with the business. He refused to recogniso that a ss. fee was a tax, but if the Colonial Treasurer thought that sum might ho wiped out, well, the Department would not object. As regards whitewashing there might be something elso equally good. The Minister then referred to the plan of operations which were- now being • arranged for improvement of our produce. An officer of tho Department was to bo stationed in London quito apart from the High Commissioner's offico. Tho positions of instructors, graders, and inspectors were the blue ribands of the Department which our young men might seek for. The proposed dairy school and experiment farm at Palmerston North would bo the first of its kind in- Australasia. Tho Department had also gone right into tho spread of tuberculosis, • and reports would show that this was greatest in dairying centres, and that 13 per cent, of pigs slaughtered were atfcctcd with the disease. Ho concluded by stating that ho hoped that those present believed that tho.Department had tho welfare of the dairy farmers at heart. Mr.' M'Nab was givcii a hearty vote of thanks, and on the motion of Mr. Hornsby, seconded by Mr. Wilkinson,, the meeting decided that tho Ministry wore doing their host ill the interests of the dairy industry.