“An Opening in the Heavens ”

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 39, 17 February 1936, Page 8

“An Opening in the Heavens ”

Glorious Sunshine at Rangiwahia For Opeoiog of'New Dairy Factory

When in the distant past the old-time Maori emerged from the bush-clad slopes of tins Ruahines into a natural clearing he exclaimed “Rangiwahia!", the interpretation of ivhieh is “an opening m the Heavens," and thus did the settlement come by its name. Baihed in glorious sunshine on Saturday the township, together with the settlers of the district, took a brief holiday from the labour of the <soil to mark the opening of tho new ferro concrete dairy factory—a substantial testimony to the high place held by the district in the butter making industry.' The original factory opened m December, IS9B, and the first pay out was made on tho basis of 2-Jd per gallon of lOilbs. at a 3.6 test —equivalent to 7d per lb. butterfat. In those days mere was no homo separation--settlers had ■to bring their milk over difficult tracks to the little factory which bad been •built to handle an output of 50 tons. Some 24 suppliers served this factory in those day 3 and gradually, with the development of dairying, ‘.he output increased until last year 203 tons of butter was despatched from Rangiwahia. Tho original shareholders were Messrs J. -D. McGregor, James Stent, M. Sullivan, D. H. Guthrie, F. F. Pemberton, W. Boshier, T. D. Wood and Alex Morgan. Proceedings included an official luncheon held at the Rangiwahia Hotel where Mr. E. W. Pemberton, chairman of directors, presided. Those present included Hon. J. G. Cobbe, member for Oroua, and Messrs W. Singleton (Director of the Dairy Division), M, Wallace (Dairy Division), C. G. C. Dermer (Cheltenham Dairy Co.), E. G. Dalziell (Kata Dairy Co.), R. Stent (Taihape Dairy Do.), A. McNeil (Apiti Dairy Co.), W. Boshier and A. Morgan (past chairmen of directors of the company), J. W, Chrystall (late secretary of the company), D. Jones (manager), N. M. Martin (present secretary), W. P. Shaw (Kiwitea County Council), the directors of the company and their wives, and many old settlers, including Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Wood. During the luncheon Mr. Pemberton said he was suro he would be echoing tho sentiments of all present in expressing regret at the death of his late Majesty King George V. The gathering stood in silence for a moment and then toasted the health of King Edward VIII. At the conclusion Mr. Pemberton paid a tribute to Mrs. J. Collie (wife of the proprietor) for the splendid luncheon provided. At the factory, which is situated on a very convenient site on the main highway, a large gathering of settlers assembled to hear the addresses. Mr. Pemberton presided and expressed pleasure at the large attendance. He had to apologise for the absence of Hon. Lee Martin, Minister of Agriculture, who, up and until the last minute, intended coming but had been unable to get away owing to pressure of Cabinet business. An invitation had been extended to tho Prime Minister (Hon. M. J. Savage) but he had wired regretting inability to visit tho district and offering congratulations to the company and tho enterprising settlers of the district. “We are all disappointed," he said, “and we had to fall back on—and were very pleased to do so—Hon. Mr. Cobbe, our member.” (Applause). Continuing, the speaker said that the district had been visited by several notable statesmen, including Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon, who came to the town in the 90 : s in response to an appeal to the Government for assistance towards tho cost of providing metal for the Kimbolton-Hangiwahia road. There was no meeting hall in the township in those days and the Wesleyan Church authorities kindly permitted the use of the church and Mr. Seddon spoke from the pulpit. Snow commenced to fall while the Minister was speaking and he likened the administration of his Government to the snow—it was pure. That meeting ended in the district getting a grant to provide the necessary metal. On another occasion the late Sir Joseph Ward visited the district to open the Karewarewa bridge, and in 1912 the late Hon. H. C. Ell visited the town to open the post office. Rangiwahia, he said, was originally the centre of one of the small farm settlements introduced by the Ballanee Government and the first settlers came with little capital. They felled the bush in the winter months and in the summer went off working at harvesting, etc., in order to earn sufficient. to keep them going through the following winter. As clearings were made a few cows were brought in but with no roads and hardly a decent track thero was no way of getting the milk out or getting rid of the butter made.

the Main South road in the direction of Apiti, while the other was erected at Ituahine in the Mangaweka direction. The difficulty which attended the operations of all. dairy companies in the early stages of the struggling industry were accentuated in Rangiwahia, as road access and distance from port to export, real as they still are to-day, were much more so in those early days, due to unmetallcd and roughly constructed mountain roads. The altitude of the Rangiwahia district (approximately 2000 feet above sea level), and the bracing and healthy nature of the climate, soon established it as a desirable home for man and beast. Already the sheep grown on tho Rangiwahia hills were demonstrating their value as superior flocks in the estimation of purchasers in the surrounding districts. But it was in the dairying industry that tho district was destined to achieve the fullest distinction. Due to the cold nature of the climate, blights and weeds are kept down to a minimum, and the short tasty pastures make a splendid basis for tho production of superior cream. Consequently*, later, when modern methods of manufacture were applied to make the cream into butter, the grading system, commenced a little before 1909, fully demonstrated the very high standard of the article produced, and for the two last seasons this company has gained tho distinction of having the highest grado of any butter factory over all butter exported from New Zealand ports, the grades being:—Season 1933 : 34, 94.87; season 1934-35, 94.90. In addition to this official recognition of the quality of Quail butter sent down to tho grade store in the ordinary way from day to day (which of course is the best test of quality value), it is recalled that at the Auckland Winter Exhibition in 1925 our butter won the world’s championship. Also, besides securing over fifty prizes at the last three years’ winter shows, tins company has two years running secured the Grand Championship banner and the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay provincial championship at the Waikato Winter Show. Although the high grade of butter that has been attained has been due in the first place to the superior nature *of the raw product, and the help given by the suppliers in sending it to the factory in good condition, it has also to be remembered that credit has largely to be given to the organisation of the factory eexcutive in seeing that all cream reaches the factory by 10.30 each morning, and that thereafter it is treated in the most effective way to ensure this result. Up till fairly recently the company had for many years exported all ils butter, but had considered for some time the desirability of placing a jortion of it on the local maikct. It was not until December, 3 934, that a start was actually made, and though very little advertising was done a keen demand set in in the towns it was sent to. Our butter ;s now being sold-freely in-the cities of Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington and in Feilding, and if present sales are maintained tho quantity sold locally for this season should be between one-third and half of- the total output. Although thero were only a few dozen suppliers to the factory in the early days, there are at present not far short of 100 suppliers. The output, too, has increased considerably, especially during late years. The company however has still only a small output relatively, not yet having reached the 300ton mark. For some time it had been felt that the factory building at Rangiwahia was incapable of handling the increased output of the company satisfactorily. The buildings comprised the original structure built in 1898, with certain additions made in tho intervening years, and when it was desired to instal a churn of a type calculated to show economy in the manufacture of the butter it was found that further extensive additions would be necessary. A serious drawback to enlarging the old factory was due to its having been built on tho old gravitation system — on four different levels. The whole question of rebuilding was then gone into, and in view of the help and encouragement offered by the Government with regard to the erection of new factory buildings, the matter of building a new factory was placed before shareholders and it was almost unanimously decided to build a new fac- ■ tory and factory manager’s residence on an entirely new level site, provided a loan could be obtained on the terms offered under the Agriculture (Emergency Powers) Act 1934. It was subsequently decided to appoint Mr A. E. Cave, of Hamilton, architect, and the successful tenderer for the factory building was Mr T. C. Young, of Feilding, and for the factory manager’s residence, Mr G. A. Anderson, of Ashhurst. The site selected is considered to be eminently suited for the operations of a butter factory. The land is high and well drained, while a stream at the back of tho factory runs continuousy throughout the year, and provides excellent drainage. The specially pure water which has been obtained by the company for its butter-making for year’s past is still available and at a much shorter distance. After realising on certain investments put aside years ago for this purpose, it has been found that after purchasing and installing new plant, that the approximate cost to the company will be the amount of the loan secured from the Government of £4500, the total cost to the company being in the vicinity of £5600. The loan has been secured at the low rate of 4 per cent, and is repayable by instalments over a period of 20 years, and was the first

Continuing, Mr Pemberton said it was 50 years since the tirst settlers came into this district. A six-foot track constructed through the virgin bush under the supervision of the late Mr Charles Field (which has since been transformed into the present lvimbolton-Kangiwahia highway), was the only access, and a number of years of very arduous work was required to clear the heavily-clad hills and valleys of the thick forest lying at the foot of the Euahine ranges. It was not until about ten years after that a need for a factory arose. "With the development of dairying in other districts, settlers here also turned their attention in this direction, and the need of a factory was soon evident. It was duo largely to the efforts of the late Hon. D. 11. Guthrie that a dairy company was formed in the year 1898. The main butter factory was built at Kangiwahia and two creameries were established—one on

loan, I understand, to be granted under the provisions of tho Act mentioned. By tho terms of the loan tho company has not only secured its finance at perhaps tho lowest rate ever obtained by any dairy company, but it has also been able to equally apportion tho cost of tho factory over a number of years and thus make for equality of payment among its suppliers. In addition to the appreciation of our shareholders in regard to tho terms of tho loan secured thanks aro also due to the Government for granting a subsidy of £3 to £4OO on tho factory building and £6O on the factory manager’s residence, both grants being approved by tho Unemployment Board. I am sure it will be a very real asset to this district and I hope will servo its purpose for several generations,” he concluded. (Applause). . Mr. Singleton offered his congratulations to both the architect and the builder for tho fine structure and suggested that it should not be called a butter factory but a creamery. Ho had been asked to express regret on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture for his inability to be present and went on to speak of the early days of the company’s operations. He recalled that the company’s first manager was Mr. \Y. C. Dixon, who had made a name for himself and the district and was now one of the senior officers of the New Zealand Co-op. Dairy Co. Another manager who had dene well was Mr. Forester Thompson, who had left to join tho Dairy Division and who had since retired on superannuation. He was one of the cleanest factory managers the speaker had ever met. Mr. Singleton went on to speak of the development of the dairying industry, mentioning that in ISB7 New Zealand exported 3700 tons of butter as against 135,000 tons last year. Tho value had increased from less than half a million to fifteen and a half million. Suppliers in 1906, when the first records were kept, numbered 15,000 while to-day they numbered over 70,000. Great strides had been made in the matter of the quality of the product. There was very little second grade butter exported to-day, but in tho early days the country used to export dairy butter and milled butter, the latter being a blended product. He had seen quite a lot of that milled product which remind him of some of the Irish butter of the early days—it was not too palatable. New Zealand exported some second grade as well as whey butter, but this did not come into competition with the finest grade creamery butter. With the improvements in manufacture and development in transport it was becoming apparent that some factories were becoming superfluous and is ■was reflected in the returns for last year which registered fewer factories, the total now being 522. He anticipated that there would be a further reduction this year. He had evidence that some of the changes being made were in the interests of quality as with less competition better cream was being supplied and consequently better butter being made. The keeping qualities of our butter were well known and steps were being taken to improve on this and to strengthen its briskness. He agreed with the statements as to the quality of the cream supplied by the district and while this might be put down to the district he suggested that manufacture played an important part and it was essential that the manager was fitted for the job. He concluded by wishing the company every success. (Applause.) Mr. Dermer also offered his congratulations to the company and its suppliers and said that while the quality of the company ’s product was high it should rise with the new plant. Nature had been kind to Rangiwahia in that the district could produce an excellent raw product and he believed that the higher country produced a better raw product than the richer low lands. Mr. Stent said that the company had one of the most up-to-date factories in existence and in this hour of triumph it was pleasing to bim to see so many old pioneers Ho. was sure it was a most gratifying thing for them to look back upon the past when they entered the district with their axes and billycans. Did they ever look forward and visualise such a factory? An old settler: No, we never realised such a possibility. Mr. Pemberton said he had overlooked thanking Mr. Dermer and the Cheltenham Company for handling the company’s creajn during the change-over. The arrangements had been most satisfactory. (Applause.) Mr. Dalziell said tho district was a most favoured one and he congratulated the enterprising suppliers. Mr. McNeil said that there was only one fault to find with tho factory—it was in the wrong place —it should have been in Apiti. (Applause and laughter.) Mr. Boshier, an ex-chairman of directors and the remaining survivor of the original directors, said that the occasion was one of immense pride tol him. The modern factory just completed was an eye-opener to him when he looked back upon the old structure built on the gravitation principle. In those days they had to pump the milk to the top storey to get the necessary fall to the separators below, yet despite the disabilities the factory worked under the production was always successfully handled. The company’s butter had held its own on the London market. Harking back to the early days he remembered one settler, Mr. Rose, who lived some distance from the township and was unable to get his milk into the factory. He decided that he would have to invest in a separator and news of this, when brought to Mr. Thompson, the manager, caused him to visualise the end of the industry if home separation came in. But what was found to-day? Universal home separation. Mr. Boshier regretted that tho Minister of Agriculture had not been able to attend for he had anticipated hearing something of the new Government’s plans regarding a shorter week of work and he wanted to know how this was going to bo applied to the dairying industry. He agreed that two days for recreation would be a good thing but wished to know how such a benefit could be extended to tho cow cocky. .Many of the- farmers worked as long as 12 hours a day and ho wanted to know what was going to happen if a five-day week was introduced.

Mr. Pemberton: We will lose all our