A Palmerstonian's Travels.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7959, 16 November 1904, Page 5

A Palmerstonian's Travels.

South Africa and Denmark. Farming Prospects in the African Colonies. The Dairying Industry in Denmark. _c._ j New Zealand's Keen Competitor.

Mr C.Dahl, of Palmerston North, who has just returned from an extended trip to South Africa, England, and Denmark, yesterday gave the benefit of his impressions and'experiences to a Standard representative. During his stay in South Africa and Denmark Mr Dahl was enabled to come in close contact with several responsible heads of various Government departments, and as he is of a keenly observant nature his opinion on the subjects touched upon during the course of the interview will be read with interest not only by the casual reader but by the farming and dairying community in particular, the information gained regarding these two industries in both Africa and Denmark possessing a particular value to all those engaged in these undertakings. When Mr Dahl left New Zealand .he proceeded to Sydney and Melbourne and eventually landed in Durban, Natal. There he found the local authorities making strenuous endeavours to make their town the. principal poH on the East Coast of Africa,, in order to successfully cope with the shipping facilities possessed by Delagoa Bay. Working day and night for months past dredges had deepened the water on the Durban bar to thirty feet, and as a result shipping facilities and business had improved wonderfully. :In the town itself the visitor was forcibly impressed with the great number of coolies engaged in all departments of trade; far more are to be seen there than anywhere else. At the time of Mr Dahl's arrival the census had just been completed and he was so struck with the comparative disparity between the white and coloured population that he took the trouble to obtain the figures arrived at. He found that there was a white population of 31,000 odd; Indians 15,631, natives 17,929, or a total population of 67,845. It will be seen that the Indian and native are more numerous than the white population. When the coolies were imported to the country by the British Government they were engaged on exactly the same terms as the Chinese are now being taken to the Rand. At the present time they occupy all the principal business sites, one big street being entirely devoted to their businesses, After a few days' stay at Durban, Mr Dahl left by rail for Johannesburg where he found the accommodation equal to anything in New Zealand and the borders of Natal equal to this colony from a productive point of view. The moment, however, the border was passed and the Transvaal reached the country changes materially in character, and is not, in any respect, in Mr Dahl's opinion, suitable for either agriculture or grazing. Apart from the mining industry he failed to notice any natural resources and he inspected the country right up to its northern boundary, approaching Rhodesia. Johannesburg, as/ is generally known, is of the mushroom growth, attributable to the rninihg; industry, and some of the mines, notably Robinson's Deer, are fabulously wealthy. The Rand, of which everyone has heard so much, is a line of gold-bearing quartz, entirely circling the city. There is, however, an obverse side. In spite of the richness of some of the workings, many of the mines are comparatively poor and barely pay the cost of working. Mr Dahl very soon found that it was not all profit in connection with the mines. As to Chinese labour he said it was a most important question and the introduction of these labourers would, ne thought, have far-reaching results. Johannesburg residents' told him they certainly were in favour of the introduction of Chinamen because they had no- other choice. Those to whom the mm* belong, the millionaires of Park . Lane, had the power to close the mines, and they would have done so had they not got their own way in this matter. H the mines closed down, business was absolutely stifled. No money came into the country and they had to. consent to Chinese labour. Under the Kruger Government matters were different. It was reported on one occasion the mines were to be closed down on account of the same labour troubles following upon the reduction of the white men's wages. The Kruger Government was equal to the occasion. They gave the mineowners twenty-four hours' notice to continue, otherwise the mines;would be I taken as State property. Needless to state the mines continued to work and the-white men paid the same wages as previously. It seems now that capitalists are completely in possession of the whole thing. There is no doubt that any amount of black labour is available if the mine owners were prepared to - pay a fair wage. This fair wage amounts to £3 per month, or 2s per day. The capitalists are now getting Chinese labour for oxactlyi half that amount, Is per day. Mr Dahl had exceptional facilities for obtaining precise details in these matters, his brother, whom he .visited, having been Commissioner of Native Affairs for the Zoutpansberg district Tfor the past 27.years. He had under his jurisdiction 172,000 natives, and; he never failed in getting sufficient labour from these natives to supply the mines. A leading article written by the Commissioner on this subject and appearing in the Capetown Argus, was thoroughly discussed by the House of "Parliament. He described his experiences with the natives and said there would be ho difficulty 'with them if they were treated well and paid a reasonable wage for their labour. It must, however,* be understood that, since the war, and the natives' closer contact .with civilisation, some^pf them have enhanced ideas as to the value of their work, but for all that, sufficient labourcouid be got at the same price as /before, viz., £3 per month. As soon as •the Chinese arrived the Commissioner and agents recruiting naMves had instructions not to go to a very, great trouble inasmuch as the labour market would be supplied by Chinese, and thus it will be seen: Jthe inine-owners are saving 100 percent, in the cost of labour. At the present time there are 10,000 Chinese there and' it' is- expected /that fully' 100,000;; in all will be .imported. 1 "When they 'first arrived, a.promise was.made that the Chinese would only work in the mines!, and that .'they would not be taught^trades such as carpenter- • ing, blacksmithing, and similar work,

but "as a matter of fact the more intelligent Chinamen ate being taught these crafts, and will consequently in time * take the place of white, artisans. There is, however, the fact that the Chinamen are also alive to the situation, and are not going to work for Is. per day for ever. Some of them have already, gone away. When one takes into considerat* j fact of their small consumption of food ••_sting little, and. the clothes they wet , it will be easily seen that a population of this kind will be of little .value to the country. The black boys, also, says Mr Dahl", will be thrown out' of work, and the bulk of them, compared with the white population, is disproportionate. In Johannesburg, and all round there, where there are people gathered from all parts of the world, the great question is how to keep alive. Murder and* crime of every description *<"s rampant. Only the* other day the Standard Bank of South Africa was entered by four men and held up in broad daylight. Anyone thinking of going to the Rand should certainly consider the cost before proceeding there. Going further north, Mr Dahl reached Pretoria, which he describes as a very nice place. The land is good and if the rainfall could be depended upon it would make excellent grazing country. The rainfall, however, is most uncertain and farming operations, consequently, are greatly handicapped. At Pietersburg, the terminus of the railway, business is chiefly done with the natives in produce. The town is about the same size as Feilding, but on account of the dreadful diseases which play havoc with the horses and cattle it is difficult to get the produce into the town. Going further - north towards, the borders of Rhodesia, Mr Dahl found the country very fair to look upon. . It presented "something of the characteristics of the country between Feilding.and Kimbolton but was level as far as the eye could reach. He was forcibly struck with the almost entire absence of horses and cattle, due to the devastating diseases they are prone to in that country. Settlers*were disheartened with their repeated failures and it was a dreadful sight to witness these diseased cattle. Anyone going there to farm at " present would make the greatestmistake imaginable. People who were there - before the war are selling their land, if possible, and Mr Dahl gave an instance of two stations being sold for ■£16,000; about £l per acre, to an English syndicate which floated the concern into a company of 50,000 shares. Similar proceedings take place in the Transvaal. Companies and speculators induce people to go there, but the only people making money are the -company promoters. Mr Dahl strongly advises anyone, going there with the intention of starting fanning to be extremely careful in what they do. The cattle decimating diseases nearly all emanate from Rhodesia and at present it is impossible to stop the spread. There are no fences in the country and infected cattle roam at will over the country spreading death and loss incalculable in their tracks. By "and by when the country is subdivided and fences erected and preventative measures are possible, then, no doubt, there will be a sensible decrease in the spread of disease. Fences, however, will not keep out the locusts and they are all consuming. They, sometimes, fly. in clouds that obscure the sun and the fields of mealies they alight upon are left* as bare as the palmjof one's hand. The count-y would undoubtedly be fertile if there was a regular rainfall or an irrigation system coulafbe devised., Unless something of that nature is done there is avery poor outlook for that portion of South Africa in farming matters. Cows there are worth from £15 to J_2o; horses a_te expensive, running up to .£75 for a good one; mules, if " salted," are worth i'4o. The horse Bickness has been traced to the effect of the dew upon the grass and can be avoided if all stock is shut up at' 4 o'clock in the afternoon and turned' out again at ten next morning, or when the dew has been dried up by the sun. It would, of course, be impossible to do this, hence the alarming loss. Two crops of mealies and potatoes can be gathered in a season when there is water. The mineral wealth of the" colony is also great but it is held by certain persons and as it is all quartz it takes money to develop. Mining in South Africa is certainly not a poor man's game. At present there is great dissatisfaction among all classes in. South Africa and what the ultimate result will be, Mr Dahl states, no onecan foresee. There is, apparently, a goodunderstanding between the British and Boer residents., Both are strongly opposed to the advent of the Chinaman. There is not the slightest doubt that the Boers have" not done anything to help farming matters along at any time. Even before the war homesteads that had been built, for years were absolutely bare of plantation, not a single tree being visible, all open . country. They have decidedly not kept abreast of the times in matters agricultural or pastoraL Then-principal aim and object appears to be hunting big game and from May till July they go down to the low country in pursuit of it. The rifle is the universal plaything, and hoys and girls ~ of eight or nine years of age shoot with \ astonishing accuracy. They easily and. -at any time bring down birds on the ' wing with bullets. As a nation from a, business point of view they would never' make their mark. There is the chance* that when the land is cut up into smaller . blocks, fences erected and inspectors of stock, etc., get round among the people, things will improve; " I would rather," said Mr Dahl, "Tiave 100 acres of land in ;-' New Zealand than 3000 there. Land on | the borders '. of Natal and the Transvaal jis worth from 10s to: 15s per acre and there is a lot of it still to be sold.'l

From South Africa Mr Dahl proceeded, to England and after doing necessary business there went ioni to Denmark in further pursuit of business in connection with dairying machinery. He was received everywhere with the greatest courtesy and kindness, the Prime Minister of Denmark, the Minister, of Agriculture, the head of the Dairying Department and other responsible officials all paying him the greatest attention and placing him in the way of obtaining all the information he desired relative to dairying machinery and Danish methods of dairying.; He was satisfied, after -keen, observation, that the butter made in New;,..'. Zealand is, equal to most. DanisK** and ; should- be equal to the best. There are certain matters however, qf the greatest import- . ance and they must be- given attention to before we produce butter equal to the *-- best Danish. :For instance milk musb be taken clean and pure to the factory. In Denmark they never cease impressing the fact upon dairymen. Then there is the question of a. uniform grade. In Denmark, where there are factories.scat-1 tered all over the* country, butter is at.. . wajs.produced of ■thepneegrade^th&e. very best, and the secret is ithae;

uniform method employed of using a starter, that is inducing the action of bacteria that ripens the cream. In New Zealand, nine out of every ten factories will, probably, produce butter of different grades and before this difficulty can be overcome a-.uniform method of starting" must be employed. Mr Dahl emphasised.the-point that until dairying schools are established in New Zealand, as m Denmark, and dairymen taught the scientific secrets of butter-making, we cannot hope for a uniform grade or the quality attained by the Danes. They freely admit that competition from New Zealand is very keen but for all that they do not fear because they are constantly endeavouring and straining every nerve to maintain an irreproachable quality in their butter. They are using all the latest machinery and one special point worthy of note is that they never dream of sending away from the factory one drop of skim milk that has not been pasteurised. If they did, they ask, how would they stop the spread of tuberculosis ? To them it appears ridiculous to attempt to stop the spread of con.tagion without the use of the pasteuriser. "It is undoubtedly,",said Mr Dahl, " a step in the right direction, and I am not without hope that it will be adopted ere long in New Zealand. Otherwise, half our labour to stamp out tuberculosis is in vain." Then as regards cheese. There is in Denmark the Trifolium factory, which deals with the milk ot 9,000 cows daily. It is the largest dairy in the world, and the best. It was lately visited by the King and Queen of England, and several Royal personages in their train. Mr Dahl had the privilege of visiting the factory, and he was impressed beyond \ measure with what he saw. Everything was of the best, every department was a picture of cleanliness and perfect management. The machinery was all the very latest and best types, aud the management a standing tribute to the Danes.

Another matter that particularly impressed itself upon the visitor and made him think of New Zealand methods was the practice of sending all milk for consumption in the cities in specially prepared bottles, all sealed after the milk has been pasteurised. Everything is pasteurised. The bottles are | pasteurised before they are used and again when they return to the factory. Pasteurised milk from special cows is sent away to the towns for the use of children and babies. Mr Dahl considers the same thing could and should be done in New Zealand. Here with all our advantages as regards feeding stock, when they may remain in pasture all the year round, we should easily be able to compete with the Danish farmer, who, for many months in the year, has to stall feed his cows as we do our horses. Our butter should, with these particular advantages, be superior to theirs. Men in charge-of factories there have to pass examinations in dairying schools and on the .experimental farms, where every effort is made to complete knowledge in connection with dairying matters. In the early days Denmark used to produce considerable quantities of wheat and rye, but in later times all the land is given up to dairying. The greater portion of the wheat and maize required for the cattle is imported from Asia. In Northern Siberia within recent years a lot of land has been thrown open for dairying purposes and numbers of Danish dairymen and quantities of Danish machinery have been sent there. The Russian Government is doing all in its power to assist the industry. The Danes are carefully watching to see that no butter is exported bearing brands of any Danish manufacturer. Breaches of this nature have been detected once or twice and very heavy fines have been inflicted. Mr Dahl has come back with the firm impression that dairying in New Zealand has a very great future. We must, however, wake up to the fact that there is the greatest competition against us in other countries and their greatest desire is to produce a perfect article. As to the produce trade with South Africa, Mr Dahl has a poor opinion of that and he is satisfied that great care should be exercised in shipments whether of butter or potatoes, because the Argentine is pouring in a lot of produce at a very small cost. As an instance he stated that the best* butter f.0.b., Buenos Ayres, was -quoted at B£d per lb. From that it will be-seen it is very necessary for us to keep awake. So far as the Argentine and Siberian butter is concerned the Danes do not take it into consideration, but New Zealand and Australian butter is regarded in the light of a keen competitor.

During his stay in London Mr Dahl attended the Royal Show. As far as the stock was concerned it seemed to him that the colonies could equal it in some respects. The machinery department, especially dairying appliances, was very good, but nine-tenths of the dairying plants used in Great Britain come from Denmark. Talking of dairying machinery he said that while in Copenhagen he visited Messrs Burmeister and Wain's "Perfect ' separator works, where 3,000 men are employed. Mr Dahl, who is the local agent for the separator,* saw the whole process of manufacture, and he was greatly impressed with the thoroughness observed. Every separator before being sent away is overhauled by experts, and is then taken to a skimming station and worked. If the: slightest fault is noticeable it is at once sent back to the works. Every separator sent out has thus been practically tested before being placed upon the market. One of the [ firm's experts is coming to New Zealand ! at an early date in the interests of Mr Dahl's * business and he also intends sending one of his sons Home to learn all the intricacies of the business. Referring to .preferential tariff Mr Dahl said it was still one of the burning questions at Home. There was, he said, a great deal of truth in Mr Chamberlain's proposals but still there were many great men at Home who disagreed with, the opinions expressed by Mr Chamberlain. It seemed distinctly unfair, said Mr Dahl, that American and German manufacturers should be allowed to manufacture in excess of home needs and dump all surplus stuff into England at prices the home manufacturers could not compete with. The American and German makers thus received a double profit, one on tho goods sold in their own country and another on those sold in England. He was in deep sympathy with the proposals. The Danes were greatly surprised at the practice being permitted but as for the possible duty on their butter they did not care at all. It would not, they said, amount to a halfpenny per pound and no one would refuse to pay that extra amount for the sake of getting the best butter procurable. Mr Dahl came away fully impressed that the great majority of the people on the .Continent live for pleasure. In Vienna, Berlin and Copenhagen, to-

gether with other big continental cities, one day is the same as the other except, perhaps that-Sunday is a little more tong and exciting than any other day. They are all following in the train of Pans cities, devoted to pleasures. Compared with thirty years ago he did not think the change was for the better. He much preferred to be in England where Sunday was a day of rest.