DIRTY DAIRY YARDS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 63, 11 September 1924, Page 5

DIRTY DAIRY YARDS

FROSECUTIONS. AT UPPER HUTT.

Several--dairy farmers in .the Upper Hutt. district were before the local Magistrate's Court., yesterday, which was piesided over by Mi\ C. li. Orr Walker, B,M. Inspector Wilson prosecuted on behalf of the Department, and Mr.; A. J. Mazengarb appeared for each of the offenders. . ■ : R. Stott and J. Stewart were each prosecuted on two charges of failing to clean their stockyard or milking yard, and failing to clean their milking shed. The facts as outlined ..by the inspector, and practically .admitted by the-defend-ants, were that at an inspection made in May certain advice was given which, on a second visit* paid on 30th July by the inspector, was found not to have been complied with; both yards wore in a dirty state. The posts and portions of- the milking shed were in a dirty condition. ■ . . x On behalf of the partners, Stott stated that the improvements^ asked for by the inspector had now been more than complied with, and the yard had been concreted.' Tho improvements would have been carried out much earlier except for the serious illness of Stott and inability to procure labour. All their milk had been, passed a-s first grade by the City Council. In fining each of the defendants £5 and lls costs on the one charge, and entering a conviction on the other, the Magistrate said the fine was low on account of the circumstances', but dairymen should recognise they had a duty to the public, and even if they had to sacrifice themselves they must keep .-their premises clean. ■

William David Braid was charged with failure to keep the stockyard .clean and allowing an accumulation of:> manure vithin 30 feet of the milking shed. The defence was that the milking shed was cleaned every day, and the yard, which was paved with cobble stones, cleaned with a shovel daily, and j/hat the alleged heaps of manure were heaps of 'mud which had been swept off the yard after the manure had been removed. It was not denied that it coniained a small proportion of manure, bxit this was held to be unavoidable. Defendant had been milking for 15 years, and this was the first complaint that had been made, though the same system o. cleaning had always been adopted. The Magistrate said that the case was not a bad one, but no doubt dairy farmers needed " shaking up " occasionally Defendant would be fined £2 10s and i 11s costs on each charge.