OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 57, 8 March 1911, Page 3

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

((All Rights Reserved.)

RURAL NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVIEW.

(By R. J. Eames.)

No. 20

HAWKE'S-BAY: PROVINCE OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.

DAIRYING AT DANNEVIRKE

Tho notion generally held of Dann*virke district is that it is a saw-mill-ing area. That is no longer true. The milling' timber was cut out sometime ago. "Then followed the felling and clearing by the farmer, and now there are developing extensive pastures for tho cow. But, iike the whole of Hawke's Bay, this locality is 'struck periodically by droughts. Not such ' droughts as our brethren across the herring-pond know, but droughts of': sufficient severity to dry up the founts which yield the butter-fat. Take the experience of the Dannevirke Dairy Company by way of example. In 1906 it paid out £8000, and in 1907 the figures fell to £5600. In 1909-10 there was an increase-to £7000, and this year the sum will be about the same, from which it willi be seen that even yet a recovery has not been made et the set-back in 1907. There were indications at tho time of visiting that the present season will be a short one, as tho falling-off in the supply was it-ore rapid than at the corresponding period of previous years, due to the dry weather which afflicted the wholo of the province in late December and January. Within a sevenmile radius at Dannevirke there have been four new dairy factories started within three years, which shows how rapidly the redeemed bush lands are coming under cows. The pay-out cf five factories averages something like five or six thousand pounds per factory per annum. Several blocks have been cut tip by the Government m lots of 70 to 230 acres, at rentals Averaging'about 9s per acre. In freehold values there has been a rapid increase, and they rang© now from £18 to £28 per acre. There is a lot of land which requires about three acres to carry a Cow, bufc it has been shown' that land ab £20 per acre will return £3 per acre from butter-fat. One section, running a cow to 2£ acres, won £9 10s per cow. The establishment of a bacon factory shows this the importance of the pig is being recognised. INTERESTING DISPUTE ABOUT TESTING. Along the run from Dannevirke to Woodville there are further evidences of closer settlement, and at Woodviite itself is established' the biggest dairy company in Hawke's Bay. This is a proprietary concern which last year manufactured 443 tons of butter. Round about Woodvillo there have been some years of competitive manufacturing, and a good man/ failures by which the farming community has suffered. Last year a rather hot cor • troversy occurred over the reading «>f tests, on<-> company alleging that another had made a practice of misleading the people by reading the tests low, which process enabled them to pay out more, per Ib for the butterfat. One of the parties to the controversy published the followingitabla, showing the effect of under-reading a test: r - ■'..,-.. Milk Test Fat Price Value p.c lbs d. £ s. d. 1000 3!S 38 10 111 8 1000' 3.7 37 101' 111 71 1000 3.6 36 10| 111 6 1000 3.?> 35 102 111 4* 1000 3.4; 34 31 111 2 The figures are • instructive. From thorn it will bo seen that if a given lOOOlbs of milk contained 381bs of butter-fat (at a 3.B.test) it would only be credited with 341bs of fat if one read1 test as 3.4. SOUTHERN END OF THE DISTRICT. One of the most important of the companies connected with the rural activity .of the district is established at Woodville, namely, the bacon company. Anyone who gets the opportunity should take a ran through a factory of this kind, which can turn put something like 400 pigs a day. The work is specialised on the American plan, and it takes only a few minutes for the hog to pass through the hands of the sticker, the scraper, and the other operatives, on to the hooks in pieces, ready for curing. When dairying operations were bogun in 1897 the- outpvit of the Woodville district was something iike 75 tons, but with the development of the industry there was mad© in 1906 about 450 tons of butter, and this without increasing the original area. This year the Hawke's Bay Company's businesss sliows another expansion of two tons, without taking in fresh territories. The average price of but-ter-fat for the past three years was [ over lOd per Ib. The district as a whole is a good one for dairying, but the land is also suitable for sheep, and a good deal of it is used for the light stock. There is no doubt that a further extension of dairying will take place, and although the milch cows (according to an expert who is familiad- with both districts) were ft.r a long time behind the quality of the Taranaki aniiral, improvements are now taking place every year. Several herds have been worked, up within five or six years from "just cows" into producers which doubled the output of i the different farms. Some suppliers j aie averaging up to 3001bs of buttei'fat per cow, but a great many, in the words ol: an authority engaged in the business, "just puddle along and only got half the results they should. ' The Cow ha« been responsible for many changes in the ownership oi: land. Up to 1897 there had hardly been a farm sold in the district for years, and the best land could then be bought for £12 per acre. With the development of dairying, however, values have risen rapidly, until they now range from £25 to £45 per acre. The Woodville dairying area is not a large one Tho best of the land, if farmed weli, is capable of carrying a cow to 1-j .acres One farmer has wintered 100 head of cattle on 150 acres, and wintered them well. To do this, however, requires systematic farming, with provision for winter feeding. The farm areas run from 15 to 200 acres, the large majority bein;?; from 80 to 120 acres. Up to the present there has been very littlo manuring, and many will say that )- is unnecessaiy. Others, however, declare that it pays to manure, and that tho use of basic slag means bigger profits. The valleys are on the wet side in winter, but are rich in quality, being heavy loam over clay. All kinds of English grasses take readily but a lot of cultivation is necessary. The surface timber has mostly disappeared, and half, or often more, of the farm areas, have been put under the plough. For the lighter land further back, supporting on a)l average a cow to three acres, £17 to

£18 is asked. In comparison with valued in some other places there is a prospect of a further rise, but financial men engaged in the industry say that present values are quite high enough if farmers are to keep on the safe side. On one farm of 140 acres 100 head of stock were run, including a. herd of 50 Jerseys,:, which averaged 2801bs of butter-fat per cow. During the past few seasons the dairymen have realised what a valuable adjunct to a farm the pig is ,and dairymen on 45 and 50-acre places have netted £100 a year from their porkers and baconers. Besides dairying, cereals .and loot crops are grown with good results, an«i from a contemplation of this end: of the district one is almost led into forgetfulness of the fact that it is part of the province of the Golden Fleece.