Normanby Dairy Company.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 5 July 1923, Page 11 (Supplement)

Normanby Dairy Company.

Good Progress. Output 546 tons Cheese, 43 tons Butter.

The co-operative movement extended to Normanby in 1895, when the farmers purchased the business of the Crown DaiTy Company. The present co-opera-tive company commenced with a nominal capital of £2000, and in its second year shares,to the value of £530 had, been taken' lip: To meet the • initial '. expense the small sum of £650 was borrowed. The output for the second year was 33,000 lbs. of butter,. which realised £1406, enabling the company to pay 0.59 d per lb. for butter-fat. The buildings in those days consisted of a butter factory only, which was on the site of the present main factory, and the total assets in land, plant and buildings were valued at £829. The loan obtained was repaid in 1898, and fresh and better financial arrangements were made with the Bank of New Zealand. The. 1905 balance-sheet showed that £1516 wast netted from butter sold in London for the season. In that year a new factory was erected, and a sum of £800 was borrowed from the Bank of New Zealand with which to construct a reservoir and water race, giving the company cheap power for driving the machinery. In 1909 the suppliers of the Ararata creamery, which up to that time belonged to the ..company, seceded and started a cheese factory on their own account, and the same year a resolution was passed at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders that steps be taken to erect a building and plant at Normanby for the manufacture of cheese. The new cheese factory cost £1343 and the plant £980. The building was finished in 1910, but owing to some difficulty the plant was

not installed till 1912. For the first year the cheese factory was working 381 tons of cheese and 167 tons of butter were manufactured, and the following year the output was increased to. 461 tons of cheese and 184 tons of butter. Coming to the 1922-23 season t\e output was 546 tons,! of che.se, 43 tons of creamery butter, and 13 tons of whey butter. The average test last year was 3.93. For the past three years. a cow testing association has been in existence, and last year, in conjunction With two other companies, an inspector of milking sheds was appointed. Testimony to the wisdom of this-course is found in the fact that the average grade for the 7400 crates of cheese exported was 90.66, only 43 crates being second grade, or .59 per cent, of ' the total. ' To-day the whole of the company's works are comprised in one block of 1 buildings. The assets, apart from interests in subsidiary companies, are i shown in the books at £2912, and the • share capital has been increased to ' £12,000, of which £9000 has been taken ' up. The last increase of share capital was made in the 1921-22 season, when ,' £4000 was added. The whole of the ! machinery is run by water power de- j rived from a water-wheel of the full j breast type, but as a reserve there is a 30 h.p. boiler and 8 li.p. Tangye engine. The cheese factory has nine vats, and for butter-making a 16001b. ; Topliss combined churn and butter worker is in use. No supplier has to travel more than 24 miles to the factory, and the land is classed with the j best on the Plains. The holdings run I up to 100 acres, and the herds average [ between 30 and 40 cows. The land is valued at £90 per acre, and not much can be had at that price. When all the suitable land within the district is de- .' voted to dairying Normanby factory \

will get into the running with some of the largest factories in South Taranaki. The output is steadily increasing, and from improved herds alone a considerable expansion of business is certain. The cows are chiefly grad9 Jerseys, and with a number of other factories the average test is moving close up to 4.0. "- - ■ The factory is Hye miles from Hawera and one mile from the Normanby railway, station, so that the handling charges are light. The carrying is done by contract. The chairman of directors is Mr. C; J. Preston, and the secretary Mrs. A. W. Page.