A DAIRYING CENTRE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 22

A DAIRYING CENTRE.

■ - DANNEVIRKE'S NEW ERA. , THE MAORI LEASEHOLDERS../ I Now that tho bush is departing, the immediate future of -the area adjoining Dannevirke may be said to lie In dairying, it is necessary for tho upkeep of the town that the borough 1 should be supported by family communitics engaged in a primary industry such as dairying, which always ■spells a steady and constant distribution of money—that is so long as the markets hold good. Naturally at the back of tho dairy farmer comes the sheep owner,,j\vho is quite as profitable to tho disthctj as tho smaller man, and . H hen a town-has. these two elements' fairly proportioned the result is: seen in bigger populations, better trade, and an increase of wealth generally. The country is entirely' free from noxious weeds, and another admirable feature of Dannevirke is the fact that tho whole district possesses good roads and there is. plenty of 'metal available in all directions. Tho soil, although light in . some cases, is reclaimed from virgin bush, the English grasses hold well, and there is no necessity to renew them. A good growth follows a burn. This is an important factor when one remembers that it costs 30s. per acre to sow grass seed. ■■ A large number- of areas aro-adapted to mixed farming, in any ease it always pav-s a dairy farmer to run a few sheep if he can possibly do so.. : - • ■ Soma' Present Results. ; However, - the dairying industry-has' now been started in -the', areas "''near the town, aiid- judging from results tho business- is most satisfactory. There are in tlio district some half a dozen factories and creameries, and particulars of their returns show that the confidence of tho dairy farmers in tho district has not been misplaced. Of course, it ,has to be remembered that .the areas now- devoted to dairying were once heavily wooded, and thai in many instances the country is rough, and only cleared by great labour and patience on the part of, the owner, hires .accomplish wonders, • however, in this respect, and' frequently • do the Avork of a hundred men in a very short time. _ At Pn-ipiri and Raumati at the presentjtiin'e, the glare of bush stump-fires-in all"directions shows that" tho dairy farmer is. keenly alive to the .requirements of * his farm'and district-,' and he is well aware; that good cleanp&stuie's • mean bigger "milk returns. C r ™ unls • at P rese nt average gross trom £8 to £11 per cow, and it is es•timated that when the farms are properly developed, these figures Will show an increase, of as much as 50 per cent. Everything of course, depends jupon tho industry of the farmer. ' Factory Returns. ■ I The: oldest factory in the district, is .that owned by the Dannevirke Co-op-erative Dairy Company, established- as a proprietary concern in 1892 at Umutaoroa, three or four miles out, and ;a pkee memorable in Maori history for a* desperate light between tho, .Ivangitane and Ngatiniamoe tribes,' in :v.hicii- the latter were defeated with •great slaughter, and afterwards eaten, by their conquerors. Umutaoroa—slow ■ cooking* oven—took its name from the culinary proceedings which followed the fight. For tho past. ten years, the company .has been co-operative.' There are thirty suppliers, and last year thev sold ovor"'£i)000:' worth of cheese anil butter. Tlio price paid out for butterfat ] ust bordered on lid. per pound. A little factory which has just commenced operations, and with considerable success, is that at Tamaki, seven miles , away from the town. The sup-pliers-number 50; most of them , beiiig on /0-acre holdings. The country is fairly-rough, with a fair proportioii. of stumps, but tlio factory lias never been closed, winter' or summer, , and the company, a co-operativo one, • is now in its -second year. During the past season,, the company sold butter to the value ,df £11,073 'ils. lOd., prices ranging as. high as 130s. per hundredweight; The suppliers received 10Jd. per pound for their butter-fat', whilo tho butter

nas sold- at an average price of per pound.. Further country in. this district, notably Kumeti, and a' second •portion oi Tamaki, is to bo opened up, ' Smn ar?l runn iug into considerably over oOUU- acres. . .. .1 ' le Raumati cheeso co-operative, factory, situated within a few miles of JJaiinevirke, has now been going three years, and with increasing success each S! ?a»?n. -In .•1908 ...there were 185,018 pounds.of milk received, from which wei;o manufactured . 6658 pounds of butter-fat, the average test being 3.6 llie,. supply of mjlk ill 1909 went up: 202,0q0 pounds, while, tlio butter-fat increased to j.4,406 pounds—over 100 ner cent. , 1 This, past year there has been a further increase'of milk to 426,935 pounds ' while the butter-fat stood at 15 848 pounds, oil ?. 3.7 test.. There are 21 suppliers, .vho guarantee .424 cows.: The country is rough, and'with further' 1 clearing may be expected to give still better. • returns. Last ■ year, • Raumati! sold/'cheese to the value of £5200 6s. Bd., the output—all first-grade— using something short of 100 tons. Ihetsum of £3177,185. lid. was divided amongst • the, .suppliers, . In. addition to the foregoing co-opera-tive-concerns, there are- the Piripiri and • Tataramoa ■ factories) >• and ■ tie Hawke s Bay Dairy Company, . all ' of which aro owned by proprietaries, and Winch are '.doing very good work indeed for the district and also' for -the tanner. Piripiri is one of the newlyopened blocks, thr<;e miles' from Dann®. nrke. and there aro 32.suppiiers to the local factory. The Hawke's Bay Company has a number of creameries in. ■different portions-of the district, 'and' a , well-built, factory. right in 'tho "town or Dannevirke.. •' Its. headquarters aro at Noodville, and amongst its principals ..are Messrs. Beatty and Veale who are practical men, and who in ■many ways have largely identified themselves -with the industry. Further north in" the . Norsewood and .Ormondwile districts are proprietary factories run by Mr. Nicolaisen, an enterprising Urmondvijlo business mijn, and there'is also a co-operative factory. at Nofsewood.. It can be very easily understood trom the foregoing that in its immediate district, Dannevirke is eminently suited'for dairying. . . ;-: : y The Native Leaseholds. - The business' people of the town for sorno ■ considerable time-have;-been, agi-tating-with-a view to persuading, 'the' Government to.open up. some of the tig Native land blocks which are lying almost oil 'the borough" boundaries, ihese blocks are welt. known as Te.wmprising~'3473 acres, and ±ehoraite_No. 2, comprising 5924 acres. Tho .Number 2 block includes the. Dannevirke. racecourse, while-the ■ other section adjoins, the town. It appears that these areas have" been-'held on long Native lease's.on' 'something^like nmepence an acre,.and these leases will expire on December 31 next. The landhas been fairly well cleared, and on ono section is being sub-leased, in many instances to dairy farmers at from. 9s. to ]ss. per acre. Naturally when tho ago land was first takeii up many years ago, it was' of little value, and even m later years was regarded, somewhat, as a. .white elephant.! , The advent of dairying created a demand for it, and much- to - his surprise/the lessee-found 4 that • after : many : years ' the block had' .turned out to be a good investment; lne, Government has issued a proclamatlon j respecting, these properties, and no : doubt. something definite will' be done in the "way; of {settling, the/land by the' end of the year; Another-pro-■Party which the Dannevirke 'people would like to see opened up is the Tintit block, three miles from the town; and a. Native L ;.loasehold'with seven years to run. The Native leaseholds withiii fcom one ,miles; of thetown total in all -15,158 acres. V *';•