DAIRY FACTORY MEETINGS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 August 1924, Page 3

DAIRY FACTORY MEETINGS.

MANtTAHT DAIRY CO. annual meeting. The fifteenth annual meeting of the Mamitahi Co-operative Dairy Co. was held in the company's factory at Mn nutahi yesterday, when the chairman (Mr. S. C. Tonks) presided over an attendance of about fifteen shareholders .

The chairman, in moving the adoption of the annual report and balancesheet. (already published), briefly ieviewed the past- year's working. "From a production point of view the season had been phenomenal, although in the early part it had not been as good as usual. The autumn, however, had proved excellent, with the result that the total butter-fat received for 1 the season only showed a decrease of 575 Iks on last year’s figures. The total amount of butter-fat received this season was 345,201 lbs, which worked out at an average of 18,160 lbs per supplier—a wonderful average for any dairy company. Nevertheless he was convinced that that average could be increased by systematic testing and culling of their herds. In the past the Mamitahi Company had not encouraged testing sufficiently, but it was now up to the shareholders to do something. Good work was being done in this connection in other parts of New Zealand, and the chairman instanced the case* of a herd of 55 grade Jersey cows, machine-milked, which as the result of the operations of a testing association, had last year averaged 370 lbs of butter-fat," and this year 365 lbs. Mr. Tonks was sure, that il they went in for systematic testing it would he possible for them to do a,s well. He had had a letter from a testing association officer in the Waikato informing him that last year they had tested 30,000 cows, and this year they expected to test from 50,000 to 60,000 cows.

Continuing, the chairman said that the. quality of the cheese had again maintained its high standard. Amongst the forty-five factories shipping through Patea, Mamitahi had been placed twenty-seventh on the list for quality, but amongst the non-pasteuris-mg factories they been at the top of' the list.

Ihe Dairy Control Board was now an accomplished fact, and three of its members were at present- touring the United States and Canada obtaining information. He Imped that when they got to England they would arrange a fortnightly shipping service. That was the keynote of a stable market for' New Zealand produce. In January of this year 41,350 crates of New Zealand cheese had arrived on the English market, but in February following 26-1,775 crates arrived — more than six times the quantity which had arrived during the previous month. Mr. Tonks considered that fortnightly shipping would eliminate the dumping altogether. The sale of the company’s cheese during the season just ended was described by the chairman as difficult and disappointing. in the early part oi the year the cheese had commenced to fall .and the directors decided to hold. However, in June they received a cable informing them that their cheese was depreciating, and advising them to sell a portion. The directors therefore had no option but to sell, and they sold a portion at 82s 6d and 83s fid, and the balance was transferred into proper storage chambers. Since the balance-sheet had been put in the printer’s hands this produce had been sold at 90s, 91s and 925. Of course the extra, charges on this cheese that had been held had been heavy, but those charges had not been as heavy as he had expected. The chairman then quoted the extra charges, which ranged from Is 3d per cwt- to Is lid, and he also mentioned that shrinkage had worked out at •slightly over 2 per cent, above the usual shrinkage allowed. However, they had now disposed of the whole of their cheese with the exception of' .about 400 crates, which were sti-U on the water. They had paid out Is 3d and they had sufficient money in hand to pay. out. %. further 2kl, or perhaps fid, which would bring the total payout up to Is old or perhaps Is fid. 1 Ins must be considered satisfactory when they took into consideration the tact that they had held some of their produce with the above result. M ith regard to the present season the chairman said they had sold their August and September butter at a price which would enable them to pay out Is /d or Is 7i<l. 1 J Thanks were due to the manager secretary and staff for their work during the year. The company was veiy fortunate in having two such officers as Mr. McQueen and Mr bneild.

Touching on the balance-sheet the chairman pointed out that the Patea f reezing Company, Eltham Bacon Com- £ any ’ ; a certain number of the Egmont Box Company shares had been nntten off. The depreciation allowed by the Income Tax Department had also been written off. Requisites had decreased by £248, due to the fall in the price of bandages and. caps, etc. Repairs and renewals showed a slight increase, and wages had increased by £64, owing to the fact that more labour was required in the manufacture oi cheese'than butter. Exchange '\_as a big item, having amounted to 3os to £2 per cent., equal to almost a halt penny per lb Imttor-fat. Hnwe\er. this was one of the tilings which the bank had control of.

Mr. McDonald seconded the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, which was then adopted w ithout any questions being put. Mr. .1. D. Thomson was reappointed auditor at a renumeration of cMit guineas. °

Messrs H. Hamilton, R. S Scown. and S. Wills were elected to fill the thiee vacancies on the directorate. Asked what payment would he made from the proceeds of the sale of this veai s produce referred to bv the chairman. Mr. Tonks replied that prohablv a progress payment of Is 6d would be made. However, he could not say yet what the directors would do.

-Mr. h. Geary referred to some ‘‘ugly l u incurs going around concerning Inmself. Jt had been said that he only came to the factory meetings to have a growl. He resented this, and he denied all that had been said about him. The chairman said that Mr. Geary was not alone in this respect. He also had been discussed on numerous occasions. There should not lie this discussion amongst the shareholders, and ho asked them to re mom her the slogan : 'Tinted wo stand; divided we fall.” Mr Heavy said ho know that one shareholder had said that if he (Mr. Hoary) were elected to the directorate •he would not send his milk to the factory. •■To think that a man could conic down so low as to believe that I was a. menace to the district,” said Mr Geary. Mr. B. S. Scown said he had boon subjected to the same treatment The subject was then dropped.

Iho setitng up of a testing association and the appointment of an inspector were then discussed, several of those present speaking in support of a move in this direction. However, no motion was passed. Mr. B. Muggeridge suggested that an instrument for detecting the dirt L '°rri eil *' should be purchased. lue meeting decided to place on record its appreciation of the services rendered to the company bv Air \ E ANilis. who had retired from the directorate. Hie chairman's honorarium for the ensuing year was fixed at £SO. The meeting closed with votes of thanks to the chairman, directors, manager, and staff. RIVFJRDALE. , The thirtieth annual report to be to the shareholders at the annual meeting of the company states: Your directors have much pleasure in presenting the thirtieth annual report and balance-sheet. The season, notwithstanding a drought period in the middle of the summer, proved to be an excellent one for production—the record for the previous year being almost reached. The season from the marketing end has been most unsatisfactory; at times the market in London was almost hare, and then again shipment after shipment was crowded on the market at the same time. In order to check the inevitable slump from, this cause, we decided to hold our cheese in London for a better market. T his action has proved to be justified, as satisfactory prices have been realised for a great part of our ‘ output. Ihe unsold cheese (1372 crates) at‘the end of the financial year has been estimated at a reasonable price, and on this basis your directors recommend after providing for depreciation and dividend on share capital, further pavments to bring the pay-out up to l s 6d per lb butter-fat. A\e hope, however, that the final realisation o*f our unsold produce will enable this estimate to be exceeded. The store has again had a successful year. During the year prac- 1 tically all the war-time stock lias been realised, and the total reduced to an amount that should suffice for future trading. The store reserve that was built up during the boom years reduces the capital now required' to run the business to a very small sum. The profit, with the small balance brought x?Qoo ar i d fmm Jas J fc - vear - amounts °to ■£od2 11s lid. We recommend that a rebate of 3 per cent, be made on store purchases and the balance carried forward. The retiring directors arc Messrs J. S. McKay and J. S. Short, who offer themselves for re-election. Von are asked to appoint an auditor and fix his remuneration. Air. Lennon's Services are again available. Statistics attached to the report state, the figures in parentheses bein«fo . r 1923 : Milk received. 20,040," 0961 b (20,826,9081 b); butter-fat received. 804.87911, (816,4411 b); average test, 3.947 (3.92): cost of manufacture on nutter and cheese to f.0.b., including depreciation. 3.74 (3.25). r?tei,' lkillg ~^ ilk > 18.119,51911, : , butter fat, 707,51611, .’!°9lb); cheese made, 1,911,7741 b (804.3481 b); pounds of milk to 11b of cheese, 9.47 (9.92); average viold e 7 (2.,); average test, 3.89 (3.72)- wliev butter made, 47,0961 b (18.0321 b) But : milk, 1,920,5791 b (12 840 -,321b); butter-fat. 97.35311, (519 butter amde, 115.02711, (619 57 > >lb)• (19 - 3); nvc ™& test: 4.34 (4 04); butter made from 111, of butter-fat, 11.812 (1.193): unsalted but-o-’V' 1 .! 1 (u0,9321b); cream received. 30,2,01 b; cream test, 39.2.