WOODVILLE CHEESE FACTORY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 19

WOODVILLE CHEESE FACTORY.

fa the olden days tie first' noticeable lagn. of settlement in any iie-w district was usually a public-house or a church. ■Row rfc is a dairy factory. The dairy factory is the dairyman's bank, almost his.orerything, Bines it is to him the ontward and visible symbol of. tie profit which be receives every month, with tt possible bonus at the end of the seaeon. The advent of a dairy factory, or a creamery, in any area may justly be regarded as a sign of progress. This is especially so in good productive land fcreaa adjoining towns, wheTe farther Birfc the sections are larger, but. of. poorer Igoaliiar, and have..to be utilised for other ■■ than dairying purposes.

It is in-these circumstances that there hab been inaugurated in Wood•rille a- njrw jndustryj-in the shape of d cheese factory,, erected within half a mile of: the town' by its proprietors, Messrs. G. Reeves and B. Williams, Both of whom are well and favourably known at the business. These principals recognised first of all what has not been- generally recognised—the- importance and suitableness of Woodvillo as a dairying centre. -Then there was .recognised, again, the very excellent quality of the soil in the Woodville district, and the splendid rainfall. As in other parts of- the' Bush districts, it rains in Woodville when, it rains in no other locality, and nine'days' dry weather is regarded seriously by the inhabitants as the commencement lof a ; possible drought. The land in and around Woodville is largely alluvial, river soil; while the hills are limestone! It can be very easily seen, therefore, that the district is eminently writable, for dairying; What the Proprietors Forsaw. This idea commended itself to Messrs. Beeves'and Williams. When they deeded to erect a cheese factory in tho place, Mr. Reeves remarked that whore there was-then one cow then , there would' in a: few years, be five. , This statement applied especially;, to the Eiverside, Estate property— r». fine.property of 900 aores, situated; on. the banks of the Manawatu 'River, which property; eighteen months ago, ■ was , being' offered in Hocks; for £22 10s. and £28 per acre. v It, is : a'surprising fact that in those days the. land was hard to sell'; but,, with.-theadveiii' of the factory, up;. went rtqs;£3s, and (with' the ; tfarra of 24Q?acre'si ■and\^e''' l daiiy'-'fafm block, all the. 'sections...werp .sold, 'ila a sheep-fann Riverside:',retuirned-£2 per acre, as a dairy■:farm.\it':jjow .returns £5 per acre. "With intense cultivation," remarked Mr.-Williams, "it is one-cow-fo-the-acre. country, and as . good as the best in the. Hawera district." Near by ; Riverside are the Nelson Estate and the.Hon; J. D. Ormond's property, both very fine areas. It is /understood that Sir. Nelson will . shortly 'cut up his estate; no., doubt bo, ultilised 'forV.'dairyii 'arm , purposes. Tho Hon. J. D. Ormond's block is a fine" fattening-ground, and as settlement ■ advances, it will. probably be-also usbd. for -dairying.- .The increased value of Riverside is shown by, the fact that, while, in the height of last 'season," the daily supply to the cheese factory was 1600 gallons, it is now over 2000 gallons, while one farmer on the place is running 70 cows on 105 aores, without cultivation. This statement only serves to show what the place could do with intense cultivation. Taking tho First Steps. :, At ; the timo when'the 0 scheme of building a factory was mooted, tho farmore interested could not eee their way. tip commence on co-operative lines. Both ' Messrs. Reeves and, Williams were of the opinion, as practical men, that the district could well afford to run another factory, and, the land from which ■ they' were to draw the. greater . part of their output being quite of the right class, they decided to get to 'business. They proposed, therefore, to build and equip, a factory, manufacture the product, and place it on tne trucks' for one penny per pound . on total output. Nineteen farmers agreed to.the terms, and signed a guarantee to' that effect, and building operations wero commenced in June, 1909. The factory was very soon finished, and'the first supply, totalling 800 gallons, wae ■received on August 16, 1909. Advice to the First Suppliers. 'At the inception of the concern it was impressed upon the suppliers that the success of the institution depended largely upon their own efforts, and that quality ' was the first consideration. It was explained that milk, which had been specially cooled, would return more cheeße per pound of butterfat thai milk which did not. receive. thaVtreatment. 'The milk was to be delivered as cool as was possible, and, attention. was' also drawn to tho importance of stirring the milk at night. (Although it was recognised that the pastures (formerly under ; sheep and crops) were especially clean, it was pointed out that it was the duty of their new owners to always keep them so, otherwise there would ensue a lowering of'the milk quality, with the strong possibility of weak conetitutioned cittle in the course of a few years. Culling was strongly advised, on sound Enes—that waa' by ascertaining how much each individual cow returned to ite owner—a practice which has been in vogue in Denmark during tho past fifteen years. Nothing especial was said lie to'the best milking breeds, as it was recognised that dairy farmers, like sheep fannora, have their own ideas en ttiis score. . '

That the farmers are well aware of the great importance of culling is shown by the fact that, at present, the enpply pom nineteen suppliers is 600 gaUats 'more da% than it was'fox the

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corresponding time last. year. This excellent record is partly due also to tho feeding of somo of the herds on Bpecial winter fodder. The Factory Described. The factory was constructed on plans approved by the Government Dairying Department. Built on the banks of the Maungapapa. stream, the drainage is excellent. A. pasteuriser for

the whey was amongst the new machinery not found in every dairy factory. Following were the dimensions of the building :—Making room, 34 x 28; curing room, 34 x 28■; engine room, 16 x 12; starter room, 12 xB. The material used was wood, with an iron roof, while the approximate cost (including the manager's resideinco) was £1600; The making, room is. fitted with four vats. Ttere was only one in use when the' factory commenced operations, and then! the number was increased to ; three, while'this year four are beingutilised. .'. The engine is.a 5-h.p.. TanEye, from John Chambers and Company, Wellington, with a 10-h.p. multitubular, boiler. ..The water supply is high pressure, and'the floor*is'concrete throughout.' - The ■■ curing-r00m..; ; has, a: storage capacity forV3o;tons:of';;cheese4 The factory is situated in" a very ceh-' tral position, no supplier haying ■ to I bring his; milk more than three.miles/ Tho roads—an important item 'in the daily task of a dairy farmer—are of metal, arid in good condition. Rapid Growth of tho Business. . Whon, : the factory commenced operations thero_ were 19 suppliers, with 300 cows. There are now 42 suppliers with 800 jcows, while J:he v average test is 3.9,. Tho. first snipment sent on Oc-' tober 6, 1909, comprised 100 cases. This consignment, which realised the highest .prices ruling on the market, was first grade/ and since that time' the factory has maintained the same position. At the end of last season the total output was 146 tons, which.this, season is expected to be increased to 200 tons. Of last year's output 25 tons went' to South Africa.. ■'•';....-

Very Interesting! Suppliers' Earnings.

The factory draws its supply of milk from cows running on about 2000 acres of land Suppliers' sections range from 105 to 5 acres, the smaller.ones being close to the factory. These five-acre

sections were established by tho late Mr! John Ballanco. There are ten of them, and their.dnily. aggregate is about 135 pounds of cheese during the season. Tho men never, mado any great use of their milk beforo tho factory was started, but now, by a process of cultivation, they .get. ajair. return...From the fifty-acro selections .the profit runs into £500 per annum. The biggest fiveacre return gross per month is £2 13s. 5d., and the lowest 18s. 9d. Referring to returns from the larger areas, one supplier on about 100 acres receivof £450 gross from October to May last year. This season his gross return should reach £700 or £800. On November 7 the samo farmer, brought 950 pounds of milk to the factory; on November 7, 1910, his supply was 1800 pounds. It will be still greater, next month, as the flush of tho season doos not strike Woodvillo till nearly Christmas, about a month later than in the Wairarapa. „ . ;

Woodvillo is distinct from many of tho other dairying districts in the Dominion, inasmuch as the farmers "carry on" all the winter. They aro now going heavily for winter feeding, generally green oats. This year, snys &lr. Williams, there aro areas nnder maize—some between five and sis acres. Tho proper area for winter feed requirement? is said to bo one-tonth of tho total farm area. The proprietors. Mr, G. Reevesi one of the proprietors of the factory, has had a lengthy connection with the industry. He was, for many years, proprietor of tho Gore cheese factory, during which time ho was a heavy prize-taker at tho Dunodin shows. Later he came to Mangatainoka, where 'he ran up a cheese factory in the extraordinarily quick time of fivo weeks, and aftor keeping it going most successfuly for five years, sold it to tho suppliers.. Mr. Williams, his partner, has also had a very length connection with the industry. For five years ho was first assistant at the well-known Dalefield cheese factory, Wairarapa. Then ho was manager for six years at Belvedere, after which he was manager for a year at the new Raumati factory, in the Dannevirke district. Ho resigned that position when he arranged to take the present venture, and ;his

resignation was accepted with great re-* gret on the part of the suppliers.' List of Suppliers. Following is a list of the names of the suppliers to the Woodville cheese factory :—Mrs. A. E. Macintosh, Messrs. W.j Makic. C. A. Lynch, Currie, J. Andrew, P. Power, G. H. ' Walther, Harris 8r05.,. J. M. ,o'Hagan, H. A. Rosenfeldt, Mrs. A. Clarke, R. Cairns, Waugh, Bros., W. Stockbridge, .D. Christie, • J.iClarke, R. Sykes, J. Crawford; A. 0. Oxonham, W. A. Walther, G. Tracy, P.. Martin, J. Mockett, M. Smith, G; Hyde, A. Scorgie, J. D. Lahayie, J. : Salmons, W. J. Wright, fi. Hoiighton, T. Cole, C. Forrest, >H. Salmons, J. Johannseni A. Rosenfeldt,

A; Jones,' C.Sowerby, A. G. Francis, V: M.,,' Jones, W. Sbbott, L.. .Lβ Vaillent.'■'-• '.- , . '■ ' ";.-