DAIRYING OPERATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18346, 12 March 1923, Page 10

DAIRYING OPERATIONS.

ESTABLISHMENT OF FACTORY.

BUTTER AND CHEESE OUTPUT.

SPLENDID GRAZING LAND.

The Morrinsville farming community is nothing if not progressive, and realising that the progress of a dairying district depends to a very great extent on the provision of up-to-date facilities for dealing with the output of milk and butter, they formed a company, and erected a factory near the railway station last year. {The project was' eminently successful. There are now over 100 suppliers to the factory, and it is expected that 400 tons of butter will be made at the factory this season. The m»w company is mak,ing butter for local consumption, and claims to have captured the focal trade. During the flush the company was making up to 80 boxes of butter a day, and over 120 boxes on a Tuesday, when the extra day's supply was dealt with. Just now the factory is turning out an average of 50 boxes a day, and last month the output totalled 1597 boxes. During the flush 2500 boxes per month were made. Tho company has in hand a scheme for ar» additional churn and many other im-i provements which will be installed at the factory prior to next season. These improvements have been found necessary owing to the prospects of a greatly-in-creased future supply. Owing to the number of factories that are dealing with dairy produce from the district surrounding Morrinsville it is impossible to give details showing, exactly the quantity of butter-fat produced by the herds of the, district. Milk or cream is sent from the Morrinsville district to the Waitoa dried milk and butter factories, the Waharoa and Frankton butter factories, the Morrinsville butter factory, and the Tatuanui, Motumaoho and Kiwitahi cheese factories. Last year the Motumaoho factory turned out 421 tons of cheese from milk from 47 suppliers. During the 1919-20 season the output was 219 tons, and the number of suppliers 29. At Tatuanui last year 600 tons of cheese were made from the milk brought in by 60 suppliers. A very large quantity of cream and milk was supplied to the New Zealand Dairy Company's factories from the Morrinsville district, and it is certain that this year all previous records for production will bo ieclipsed. The Morrinsville district consists of nicely undulating downs f with a rich sandy loam in the elevated portions and peat in the low-lying land. Experienced farmers speak in terms of the highest ap{ireciation of the value of Morrinsville and, and they find that, when it is proEerly treated, it will grow anything, ime and superphosphate are "largely used, and aro found to give splendid results. Other fertilisers are also nsed with success. All kinds of crops guow well, including oat«. millet, maize, turnips, kale, kume kume, and all the principal grasses. There has been a wealth ol succulent feed this year and the cattle have done well.

Tho Jersey predominates in most of the herds, the climatic conditions suiting this breed admirably. There are some fine Jersey, Holstein, Shorthorn, and Ayrshire herds in the districts. Great progress hair been made with herd-testing, and a general impovement in the class of dairy cow has been . noted. The average production per cow has greatly increased, and at Motumaoho tho factory record shows that the average butter-fat production is close to the 3001b. mark.

A factor which has aided Morrinsville's progress to a large extent has been the settlement at Kereone and Mangateparu of some 90 returned soldiers. Kereone was settled in 1916, and the majority of the men have done very well. They were settled before the boom commenced, and ! were in a good position to meet the difficulties that followed the deflation in farm produce values which occurred in the months following Christmas, 1921. The i Mangateparu sections were thrown open in 1919, and the men met with considerable difficulty Jn the years which followed. Their land had been used for slj-eep grazing, and practically the whole of it had to be turned over and made resuiy for dairying. The men did exceptionally w</il, and tackled the proposrt«ions before them with courage and gersfiverance When Messrs. McCaw and Batty* the Government's Revaluing Commission, visited the settlement recently, they q?oke in tho most eulogistic terms of the way in which the men at Mangateparu hjad worked. Morrinsville possesses a live branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union and this body has rendered the .farmers splendid service in arranging leoturejj and demonstrations by experts. Visits are paid to the Ruakura Experimental Farm periodically, and an earnest effort is being made to improve' the conditions of the farmers.

Most of the district surrounding Morrinsville is now served with electric power, and the facilities offered in' this connection 'are of' paramount importance in the matter of butter-fat production, and in making for more amenable conditions on the farm. Morrinsville has a great future before ft, and there is no reason why it should not develop into a large town of first-rate importance.