THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16568, 4 June 1914, Page 9

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

THE PRICE OF MILK ~ QUAL 0Y NOT IMPROVING. s 1 Association.] *i f j>~ :f dunedin, June,3. , iVTlae' >T priu ripal. subject of discussion at-the nenting of the South Island Dairy Asioeiation ,waa introduced by Mr J. Jaimsden (Drummond), who moved—" That Mr Cuddle's bchenic for payment Id* milk on quality be recommended fit adoption by ail factories." The/move,. - siud he toou. ji for grumed that all tit re quite familiar with the [koposal, triichhad bei'U widely circnated. 'lt vas one of the most important schen en that had come before the Associatioi for a long time. It would have a far-reaching effect if they were to have a p "oduct of the highest standard. They must begin with the highest quality of milk. It would stimulate suppln is, the factories and the industry as ,» whole to maintain the highest standard of excellence. It was a fact that New Zsaland cheese did not maintain the reputation it had. Seven years ago it was better.' At that time there were more factories, and some of the 1 younger factories had not gone up to the mark. Although the larger factories, "were stilt; able to maintain a high standard, in view of the possible widening of markets throughout the world, it was necessary to maintain the highest possible standard. The proposal was not revolutionary, but was along the lines of improvement and in the direction of benefiting the industry. Mr Hill (Aparima) seconded the mo-

Mr : Cuddle, Director of the Dairy Division, said he had not much to add to v.hat had been tlresidy published, bv him on the subiect. The proposal had been very well received in both islands. Factory directors and others had written to say that they were heartily with him in this matter. Only on, Monday there was a meeting of delegates from Hhe-; Northern Peninsula, in Auckland, and they accepted the proposal outright. They made an agreement amongst themselves not to accept ?ny supplies of crpani (no clippsc being made at this factory) that Ird been ~ on the. score of quality by any other company. That.,was a.very important'n*atte.f.;:lt would bo'littl«',use to cdont thp;propo-al at nil without some such understanding. Tt seemed to him that they were faced with this position, that the milk supply to cheese factories was not improving. Any experienced factory manager would "say that lie found- it more to make good cVese tftsh; he d'd some years asro. The question was','.is the «ujmlv Eroing back in qU'?Vt'y?. He Vlieved "that m 6ome.cnses it was bWck; Inspection of d->iry farms had not b"on attended bv very much success. Division had available was altogether too small to cover any + hi"G liki the Whole of the ground. To increase the number.of inspectors would be a m'st".M»",fPT +l -o.cost' was heavy and dairy farmers objected to over-i"Vpection A pre-rfc many of them d : d not kindly to that sort, of thj™. Th« work tho Dairv DiWnn had done h*d been of a very amicable nature, the men hnvi"<t gone ibn n t. hrtsiPP** i" a tactful and instruc+ive way, and tli"v werp-»ot in a position <- 0 C0X)( , wi+hithjp d'fr>r,"ltvat al'.',' TVir time j w«j; Ttifr*-?*: + ;\ r **r up '•-->■*> s«o+rTio+i'r>«wpfb at the factories. In this proposal, however, they had .spniethi'p'e +h.it wn« going to meet tho casp, nrd he cnu'd not see.that it woidd in"ic* nny hardship on, anyone. Tf all cheese were madp from good "mil!' product i+« pricp would : V>; heifer. The cost.of the tes* say. "about £o in case of large factories- and verv much le?s for smnll factories.. a most sa+isfactory plan would be for a number of factorips to group themselves together and employ a man for tho purof mal-inc the tests. Possib'y tn o'filcer could test ten factories if +hoy frere situated close together. They would reqirm to pav bet"-°en them "a wlary of £2."0 a year. Ho. felt sure that it would bo a good investment.

Ho.thought that one test each week would bo sufficient *- he saw no necessity for a daily test. The Department was quite willing to help them in the matter, and was anxious to see the proposal adopted. The cheese as a whole was not giving the satisfaction it ought to give. Undoubtedly a. lot of excellent cheese was. sent Homo, but their agent told them plainly that New Zealand cheese was not as good as Canadian; in some cases, indeed, New Zealand had been returned. These, of course, were isolated causes, but they, showed where New Zealand stood, and , also the necessity for recognising as scon as passible that an improved general standard would benefit i ei'erybody eoncerncdw The-indus-try had'grown to an enormous extent. Ho understood" that the output last year was 39,000 tons, and he believed that it would be 50,000 tons per annum in the near future. Ho pointed out that New Zealand had to compete against the best in the world. He felt sure that if the proposal 1 were adopted and carried into effect, the result would bo improi'ed standard of quality and higher prices.' They could not afford to have a stigma cast on the industry at the Home end. He hoped the dairy companies of the South Island would give the proposal Jieir hearty support. The Commissioner assured questioners that it was not intended to adopt any scheme that would frighten suppliers away altogether. Possibly a reduction by* one penny of the price given for butter-fat for one montn would be quite ample. He also made it clear that it was not proposed that there sh-uld bo two grades of cheese. The iuea was that if the farmer got less money for inferior mi.k he would soon inquiro into the cause of its inferiority and would promptly effect an improvement.

In the ensuing discussion Mr Middleton said that the suggestion was a very valuable one. and that Mr Guddie was entitled to their heartiest thanks. Thcro would bo something to go on if a curd tost were instituted. It would not be a mere case of'gue..sing; tluy would find out the culprits and penalise th.m. /It was manifestly impossible to make different grades of cheese, because factory managers could not find •out at the time to what grade the mi k belonged. The milk must go into the vats as at present. Surely the fact that a man's milk was graded second class and that this supplier; was paid one penny per pound less and rested under tho stigma of producing dirty milk would bo enough to encourage that man to mend his ways. They should not take ■ into consideration tho bosny of injuring the business. Mr Barnett (Canterbury Central) asked "■ how home-separnted supplies would be dealt with, and Mr Cuddie said the classification of cream could ho carried out, though not on the same principle. The cream could be examined and graded. without difficulty, although of course a curd test could' not be applied, but there were other tests tint were quite dependable. 1 ' The secretary read n letter from Ashburton nrrrjng obi-c Hons t,a the proposal find hoping that the. motion would rcieetcd lint the meeting no-rood tr'n* Mr Cuddie had already'iitisfnc-t-r'v met thee objections, which wcr ■« m-'de from Inch of-'knnwlpdso', One of th'-rn w.a«i ps to cVraificVjo'i of co-m pn a wookly t-st. MrCmhhV' «>id : he h'd nevor of -ream tho f,p«t rrinst be .rnndo regularly on i+i a-rival ft the a-, dairy como-nip* IvH h'p«.i :1 -yvr :■]] Irst soj>son in Ancliland Th-- f;>" t'TT won'd mnko daily. t"" k « and Hip <">'<-cr"'.-n-t ofTicinl would iif'-o a k-p<-]?lv ohp"k. : '

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J in the right direction and worthy of a ' trial. The motion was carried without I opposition. | SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY ASSOCIA- I TION. [Fee Prebs Arsooiation.] DUNEDIN, June 3. ' At a meeting of the South I-.land Dairy Association this morning the voting for two directors, resulted:—Mr Parker (Stirling) 61, Mr Bolt (Taicrl and Peninsula) 51, Mr Silent (Morton Mains) 28. ■! In moving the adoption of the annual report at the meeting of the South t Island Dairy Association, tho chairman. : iMr 11. Ro's; Hunter (Edendale) said tho season had been splendidly prosperous. The usual rule was for Home i buyers to begin operations each season iin tho North Island. rimy had to buy from perhaps one hundred and fifty factories before coming south and by that time the keen edge of their demand had been dulled. But this ' year buyors started in the South Island i . and after strenuous negotiations Eden- : dale, one of tho first factories to sell, had aocepted 6fld per lb on trucks for the cheese output. lie believed Edendale's acceptance of that price had resulted in tho good prices that had been obtained generally. Ho did not believe in consignment, tor so many things were liable to happen. He went on to refer to the prices that had been obtained for butter. They had not been so good as they would have liked. Three matters affected the market. The first was tho strike, which caused four steamers to be held up. These .vessels practically left at tho same time for Home and glutted the English markets. Prices dropped and had never recovered. Then at the back end of the season British and European dairymen experienced a. very good season and heavy supplies of .butter were placed on the market, helpi ing to make another glut. • Tho last ' cause was tho enormous output of margarine. So far as the balance-sheet was concerned they were in credit to tho extent of £IOO. Tho meeting discussed the matter of I fire insurance. It was stated that . insuranco commission received by the Association amounted to £BB 12s 2d. Thcro_ were ninety-five factories in the Association,. ..and out cf these' only 1 twenty-two had insured through the Association, in some cases only parI tially. One speaker said that through l want of cohesion among dairy fac- ; tories premiums bad been raised from I 10s per £IOO to 22s 6d per £IOO. The insuranco companies could surely reduce the present high rate and still make a profit. Mr, Bolt said it might bo interesting if he were to tell the meeting the experience of his company. Some years ago. when insuranco went up 26 per cent' his company considered that the thing was getting too stiff altogether and decided to set apart £IOOO as the nucleus of an insurance fund. That fund was now £IOOO and during or sixteen ■ years they i had lost £4OO in fires and saved £3OOO i in insurance.

MARKETING DAIRY PRODUCE. A SUGGESTED COMPANY. [Per Press Association.] DUNEDIN, Juno 3. At the meeting of the South Island Dairy Association this afternoon, Messrs TV. Fisher and J. Brasch, of the National Dairy Association, spoke on suggested improvements in the method of markcting i New Zealand dairy produce, especially as regards the overseas markets. At the recent conference it.was suggested that Home marketing should be confined to open consignment arid selling, and it was recommended that a limited liability company should be formed with a capital of not less than £IOO,OOO, the Board of Management in New Zealand to appoint a Board of Management in London to act in an advisory capacity. The executive of tho South Island Association :was-: instructed ?to inquire into the scheme,""and Messrs Foster and Hill, members of the executive, wore appointed to attend a meeting to be held in Palmerston North on Juno 17.

. It was decided to take steps to see that the freights on butter and cheese should be universal throughout the dominion.

A motion in favour of the erection of cool stores at the Bluff was carried, and it was decidod that steps should be taken to push the work abend.

It was resolved to hold the annual meeting at Invercargill next year. The executive was recommended lo bring under tho notice of the Education Department the advisability of haying a Chair of Agriculture endowed in one or moro of the colleges.