DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 26 August 1926, Page 6

DAIRY INDUSTRY.

THE T. L. JOLL COMPANY.

ANNUAL MEETING. One hundred and' twenty shareholders attended the eighteenth -annual meeting of the T. L. J oil Co-opera-tive Dairy Company Ltd., held in the Kapuni Hall- to-day, the retiring chairman of directors, Mr J. B, Murdoch, presiding. THE CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS. In moving the adoption of the report -and balance-sheet (pulished on Tuesday last), the chairman said tha* a good season had produced good prices. A spell of rough weather experienced: early in tlie year had; probably been -responsible for the decline of output amounting to 3.9 S pr cent., but during the later part of the season the supply had kept up well. Three-fifths of the total output had been sold before the end of the season. It was a pity that it had not been possible to soil the total quantity, but so far as lie was aware only two companies had been -able to do this. The amount of cheese left unsold, amountin o- to 8000 erae®, had been valued at 80s but as this was .selling from 82s to *B-Bs, it could be seen that there would be a substantial margin for return to the supplier. The price, -however* did not appear to be up to the standard of last year, when as much as 100 s was being obtained. The shipping of produce had been fairly satisfactory—at least from this end. Unfortunately, different steamers travelled at different speeds, and, while generally the boats left at regular intervals from the Dominion, there were -occasions when two or more -arrived at Ilomle -about the- same time, and such an arrival tended to cause a depression. It was contended that this was a question which the Control Board -carefully consider in order to avoid such: clashing. L-ast year i-t had happened quit|a frequently. The company had lost its old brand “Maori Chief” during the year, and had been comlpellefl to adopt the national “Fernleaf.” This was somewhat unfortunate as, once a. company had -adopted a brand there was a feeling that the loss of the brand would result in a certain amount of lost prestige on the market. However, the Dairy Control Board should watch tins matter -and see that no loss was sustained by thei company.

NEW FACTORY ALMOST COM P-LETE.

Th|e factory at Ka-puni was one of the first cheese factories built by Mr Joll, and was now very old and -somewhat cramped, s-o it had been decided last year to- build a new one, the contract priqe for which was- £7BOO. The fittings and extrias would bring the price up a little higher. It was hoped that it would be possible to occupy the new building about the end of the month.. , ... The Control Board had thought it advisable to adopt three grades of cheese —superfine, first and second, superfine being grade 93 and over. The latter would fetch an lextra farthing per pound on tlie Home market. This involved the putting in of pasteurisers in all branches. In the past the- company had installed pasteurisers in two branehjes, and was now putting these in at Ka-puni. Palmer Road and Mangawhero. The latter was one of the worst places in which the company had operated, this being probably, due to something present in the soil and water. Each pasteuriser, including fittings, etc., cost approximately £450 but this was necessary in order that the company should keep up. its position and obtain tlie highest prices. For -tlije first time since lie had been connected with the dairy industry he did not know what was likely to happen in the industry during the 'coming year. In the past information, had always been available from the London market and the clia.irmjen of the. various companies had! usually been in a position to give some indication regarding the future, at the annual meetings of shareholders. This year, however, no indication had so- far been received- from the Home market. Tlie coal strike in Britain was, lie felt, going to affect the produce prices, as there was not so- much money now available, so that it would appear that the prices would: be lower. SATISFACTORY POSITION. Dealing with the balance-sheet figures, the -chairman remarked that these were very creditable. Tlie valuation of -assets had been reduced to a minimum, and they wene now very low for the size- of -tlie company. There were now practically only three places to put into -concrete —Mangawhero, Otake.ho and Auroa. Rlenewals amounted to £4OOO. It had -always been the policy of tlie company to charge new machinery to working expenses, and this had been done this year. Cartage chargies were the lowest ever experienced, and only amounted to. 7-s 6d per ton, although, fuel, etc., carried by the lorries had been included in this charge. Outside exchange on dr-aft had amounted to as -much as £6OOO, or 21 per cent.-, previously, but this had come down to about 1 per cent., which 'was almost norm'al. Ocea-n freights had also been reduced to a minimum, and this was one good thing done by the Control Board, the charge now being per 'cent-, -less than, the 29/32d previously paid. These items were very satisfactory, and in this respect hie would fake opportunity to congratulate the managers and staff on the excellent results achieved during the- year. USING THE RAILWAY.

The Opunake railway was now complete and had Ween taken over by the department, and it was the policy of the company to use the line wherever possible. It had been found that coal could be brought, to th|e factories much cheaper than previously, and negotiations were, in hand regarding the carrying of the produce. Mr E. J. Betts seconded the motion for adoption, which was carried. AUDITORS’ REPORT. Thje report submitted by the auditors, Messrs H. A. Lennon and W. J. Tristram, stated, inter alia: The bal-ance-sheet discloses ia satisfactory result. of the year’s working. Although a. sale was only till the end of Deciembe.r, yet your .payment, is nearly equal to that of some companies, and surpasses others, that sold! their whole output at the som|c figure as you d.id. We have no doubt the low figure at which unsold stocks Iva.vei been, valued will yield still further results. Your average test has gone up by .33', while line cost of manufacture has gone up by on e-fifth of a penny, owing in part to the higher cost of wages. As it. is, however, it is the lowest we have seen, excepting one factory where the circumstances are exceptionally favourable. You will notieje that vour yield shows considerably less than last, year, bu.t .this is accounted for by the fact that the butter-fat used for starter

butter has been charged against cheese. All the companies- in the Federation are- going -on. a, standardised plan in this and other respects, although th)e.re are points of variance even now which we should like to see settled. VALUE OF TESTING. The- company’,s farm inspector, Mr G. H. Kent, reported as follows: —During the past -season,, oow-s- tested by the T. L. Joll Co.is Testing Association gave an average return of 242.43 lbs- of fat, for testing periods averaging 222 days, a- decrease from previous season, due to a -larger proportion of -lower producing herds testing. Mr W. A. Guy lias the highest yield-—20,6601bs fat from 60 cows, an average of 344.33 lbs per cow. Mr J. H. Prestklge had the second herd on tli-e association’s returns, 63 cows -giving, an average of 297.62 llxs per cow. Mr 11. E. Harrison was- third, with 60 cows, averaging 290.44 per cow. At the other end of the list there were herds capable' of showing improvement, mainly these who had taken up testing for the first -season. Several of these returned less than 200 lbs of fat per cow. The testing association’» work loses much of its value by reason of so many herds testing for only part of the season; -one-third of tlie- cows tested being for periods of less than half the year, some of them for only two- or three months. Though the tendency oh most farms is to increase the production of butter-fat, it must be admitted that a few months’ testing in the -season is not -sufficient to give -a -fair indication of the- production of individual cows. SHED INSPECTION. In the intervals between testing, shed and machine inspection -was carried out, 620, visits of inspection being made, 200 -sheds being found in good order, 372 being classified a-s- fair, and 28 -as bad. With regard to machines, 190 were in good condition, 346 were fair and 34 bad. I wish again to-stress the- urgent need for boiling, water to be use-d in all milking machines daily. Too often an- unused copper or heater is seen a-t the sheds, -suppliers relying on the fact that no complaints have been -registered against their milk, much of the milk from badly handled sheds being of apparently fair quality when delivered.

On the report being read, the chairman stressed the value of herd testing, and urged that an effort should be made to bring the average yiei’d per cow up to 300 lbs, even 290 lbs, thus increasing the output, while not affecting the working and staff expenses to any extent. He also urged upon shareholders that the use of boiling water for cleaning machines was absolutely necessary. LECTURE BY SCIENTIST. Mr P. O. Veale, scientist to the Taranaki Federation of Co-op. Dairy Companies, addressed the shareholders mi lines similar to previous talk® on the importance of cleanliness, stripping, a,nd the necessity for use of boding water. At the conclusion' of his lecture lie was accorded a hearty vote of appreciation. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. Messrs J. B. Murdoch, R. E. Harrison and E. J. Meuli retired from the directorate, and to fill the vacancies Messrs E. J. Betts, R. E. Harrison, ,T. F. Kiley. G. H. Meuli and J. B. Murdoch were nominated. The ballot resulted in the election of Messrs Murdoch, Kilev and Meuli. ' Messrs H. A. Lennon and W. J. Tristram were re-appointed auditors. At a. subsequent meeting of directors, Mr J. B. Murdoch was unanimously re-elected clvairman.