The Hawera Star. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1925. A DAIRY LABORATORY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 March 1925, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1925. A DAIRY LABORATORY.

’ip’iivcred ev»r> evening nv 5 o’clock in Hawern. Alanaia. Normnnby, ofeaiawa,. r.thani. atangntnki, ‘ Knponga, Alton, M'lrlcyville, Patea, We verley, Mokoia. '-Vhakamara, Ohangai Mcremere, Fraser Koad, and Ararats.

Having decided upon the establishment ot' a national dairy laboratory, the powers, that be must now fix on the most suitable location therefor. Auckland will want, the laboratory; nothing can be more certain than that. Whenever there is the merest suggestion of any addition to the public institutions of the Domnion, Auckland’s hand goes out. And, as soon as Auckland gets in with the first request, Wellington begins to see all manner of advantages in a “central position” —in other words, to see how admirably situated the capital city is for the headquarters of a new service. In the case of the dairy laboratory a central position is essential, but the centre to be sought is not the geographical middle of the country, but rather the most convenient converging point for the main dairying districts. If it were a matter of selecting the geographical centre, Nelson has a much stronger claim than Wellington —and Nelson taps the West Coast districts, in which dairying is bound to make great strides in the next j twenty years. But the greatest convenience of the*greatest number must be the deciding factor, and, measured by that standard, both Wellington and Nelson are found wanting. The four main dairying areas in New Zealand, reading from north to south, are Auckland, Taranaki, Manawatu and OtagoSouthland. Because the value of a laboratory’s service must depend largely on its nearness to the milk supply, it seems useless to hope for absolute satisfaction from one establishment for the whole Dominion. It is too much to expect that one laboratory could adequately serve both the Waikato and Southland. Eealising that, some folk will immediately cry out for every dairying district to be equipped separately.' Possibly that might be the ideal —IF the country could afford half-a-dozen thoroughly up-to-date laboratories. We cannot afford such extravagance, and there is an eqd to it. The most sensible plan for the time being would seem to be the establishment of the national laboratory where it could best, cater for the greatest volume \oi milk, and the equipment, of a. subsidiary experimental station in the other Island. The work of the two institutions could be harmonised by regular interchange of staffs. Far better to concentrate on making the national concern one of really outstanding efficiency than t.o waste time and money on a dozen “half--pie” efforts. If this arrangement were followed, the main laboratory must, be given to the North Island. Where, then, should it be situated? The site chosen would need to be central and to be itself in the heart of a rich, milk-producing district. We can see no better choice than South Taranaki. There is no land elsewhere to excel the Hawera-Manaia-Kaponga-Eltham area for fertility, and there, is no district in New Zealand where the dairy industry has been more highly developed. Also, no more central position could be selected, especially when .there is kept in view the Government’s intention of pushing the StratfordMain Trunk railway line, to an early completion. As we see it, the maximum benefit will accrue from the establishment of a dairy laboratory only when it is easily accessible to the byres and factories, where the quality of the product for export is secured or lost. Supposing a • manager finds that his cheese has suddenly and unaccountably dropped to second grade. His first move will be to take samples of milk and curd and to send them off posthaste for laboratory examination. If the fault, cannot be detected by that means, the cheesemaker may wish an expert bacteriologist to visit his factory and district for the purpose of making tests on the spot. It is essential, therefore, that the laborator\ r in this Island shall be situated where Cambridge, Levin and Kaupokonui can all reach it with the minimum of delay. With a fast mail train service from Wellington, and an early prospect of direct rail communication with Ongaruhe, and possessing some of the richest and most, closely settled dairying country in the Southern Hemisphere, South Taranaki appears admirably situated for the establishment of a. thoroughly up-to-date dairy research station.