THE DAIRY YEAR

Hawera Star, Volume L, 7 August 1930, Page 9

THE DAIRY YEAR

AIEILBOSE: .COMPANY

EIGHTEENTH -ANNUAL (MEETING

Eight shareholders were present at •the eighteenth annual meeting of the Melrose Go-operative Dairy 'Co., Ltd., held! at Hawera, to-day, Mr G. W. Williams (chairman' of directors) presided.

‘ ‘|Our output of cheese up till December was forwarded on consignment and realised: market iprlt.es. For the second half of the season we were able to arrange a.'satisfactory sale,’’ stated the reports “After paying 5 per cent, interest on share capital, which equals .28 pence per lb. lnit'ter-fat, and'..’making reasonable allowance for depreciation, the pay-out will equal Is 6d per lib. butterfat over the whole season.”

The statistics accompanying the report gave the .following particulars:— Pound's of milk received, 3,3.66,365; pounds of ’butter-fat, 144,50!5; average test, 4.30; factory pay-nut per lb. but-ter-fat for last season (1928-29), Is 7d; number of suppliers, I'3; number of cows supplying the factory, 580; average pound’s of butter-fat per cow, 249; total charges (including repairs- and depreciation but. not including interest on shares up to f.o.b. ocean steamer on. butter and cheese worked out' a.t pel’ lb. butter-fat), 3.92 d. * Used for Cheese-making. —Pounds of milk, 3,'2 : 3i9, 1 6G2; pounds of butter-fat, 139,272; pounds of cheese made (factory packing weights corrected from grade notes, less 24 per cent for shrinkage), 149 tons •lS’ewt. 3qrs. '2!bs., 335,190; pounds of cheese to lib. butterfat, 2.40; pound's of milk to make- lib. cheese, 9.66; pounds of cheese from 1091 b. milk, 10.35; average test, 4.29.

SIATT'SfEACTIOR Y POISIfTTON “The directors consider the position disclosed very satisfactory,’’ said the chairman in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. “I should like to congratulate you on a successful year. There has been a. slight increase in the milk supplied, and if this increase continues it- will bring down our charge per lb. of butterfat.

“It is very encouraging to know that sodium chlorate will kill' ragwort and if the treatment proves successful there* is no doubt that our factory will build' up again, as there is a lot of land that has been forced into sheep through this pest. The* directorate has arranged' for supplies to be indented and! suppliers, may obtain the sodium chlorate from the factory at cost.

“■We consigned! the cheese up to the cud of December and then were fortunate to secure what has turned out to be a, good sale for the balance of the season. The price was B§d, less one per cent and we sold ■(>(> tons at that figure. Owing to a good yield of milk in the autumn we •exceeded what we had sold. The excess has gene Home ■and is taken in at 755. We instructed our manager to make the (best cheese and, thanks* to our suppliers bringing in good milk, he was able to make one of the best parcels of cheese graded at Pa tea last season, with no seconds at all. QUALITY OF PRODUCE.

”We received reports on the cheese as it reached the consumer and both our agents reported it- as being of good, firm body, close cutting, fat and meaty. The cheese* was made from unpasteurised standardised milk, and the results! .go to prove that good cheese, suitable to the trade, can be made from standardised milk. The experience also indicates that it is not the reasonable standardising that lias caused trouble, but the abuse of legalised skimming and the implied expectation that the home consumer will pay for water up to 42 per cent., which has been evidenced in some cases, I ceiieve. “We have been able to pay out Is 5d plus interest on the first half of the season, or a little more than that, and Is 7d plus interest on the second half, and have allowed sufficient for depreciation, repairs and renewals.” The chairman concluded by expressing thanks to the secretary (Air. A. K. Fyson), the factory staff and suppliers’ for their co-operation in the season’s activities and the* results achieved. The motion to adopt the report and balance-sheet was seconded by Air. \\ . Dunlop. The report of the auditors, Alessrs Tristram and Lennon, was presented by the secretary. The reports and balance-sheet were adopted after a brief discussion, the chairman and secretary explaining minor phases of the. accounts in reply to questions.

CHEESE POOL ENTRY. The. retiring' directors, Alessrs AY. Dunlop*. G. Wallace and G. W. Williams, were re-elected 'unopposed. Alessrs Tristram pv.nd Lennon were re-elected a;s auditors. The chairman’s honorarium was increased by five guineas*; that of the directors wars renewed on, the. previous terms.

The factory output of c-heese- had all readied first grade, but. more had reach'd lino t. said the- chairman during ai discussion on the question of joining the* cheese pool. Co ni'pa,redl with, other heitories* which, as they did not pasteurise, were on the same basis, Melrose had. obtained higlky satisfactory results. Joining the* pool l was a voluntary matter. It. appeared that factories bad

nothing to lose bv joining; similarly, no actual cash benefit might result immediately but ‘by combining in the endeavour to 'obtain improvement in qua.litv, factories should benefit in the 10-mr run bv the added prestige and' poisisiblv higher nrice. attracted by the produce a.s a whole. A reeonimenadtion to. the. directors that- the coni'can-- io.in tihei pool war adopteid imanimoiisly. At a subsequent mooting of directors, Mr Williams was re-elected an cibairnia.n.