DAIRY FARMERS ISOLATED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18678, 7 April 1924, Page 10

DAIRY FARMERS ISOLATED.

THREE HUNDRED AFFECTED TONS OF CREAM HELD UP. HEAVY LOSS IN! PROSPECT. HERDS CUT OFF BY FLOOD Floods in the north may have a very serious effect on the prolific dairying industry in the Lower Kaipara district. Three hundred suppliers, have been completely isolated from, the Kaipara Cooperative Dairy Company's factory at Helensville, and unable, either by road, or railway, or river, to forward cream to it since Thursday )ast. Their output is equal to three tons of butter each day, representing a value of £480. It is by no means certain that all the suppliers will have incurred loss of their supplies, though it is known that a considerable .quantity of butter-fat has been lost as a result of the floods and the complete cessation of all forms of transit traffic to Helensville , from the centre of the flooded area.

In ordinary circumstances the cream would keep quite well for three or four days, if kept in proper vessels, but the excessive humidity of the atmosphere during the period has not been conducive to maintenance of fresh condition, . and it is improbable that every dairy farmer would have enough cream for the storage of his product. The range of supplies of cream to the Kaipara Dairy Company's factory is exceptionally wide, extending from Swanson in the south to Huarsu in the north, and east and west from near the Hauraki Gulf to the Kaipara Harbour. There has been no interruption of supplies from the pastures southward and in and about Helensville. The position, as outlined by the manager of the Kaipara factory, Mr. A. M. Stirling, is much more serious to ' the _ north of that town. The floods have cat off over 300 suppliers, most of whom can. ill afford to lose any of the products of their small herds. Communication Cut 09. No one in the Helensville district can say how the northern farmers in the flooded district have fared or are faring. They are ' cut off from communication railway blocked, roads impassable, telephone wires down. The dairy company promptly made a very noteworthy effort to get into touch with many of its suppliers north of Helensville. It first arranged for a launch to go to Kaukapakapa, and, as a result, succeeded in aiding several settlers to forward , their supplies of cream by the public service train on Saturday. ! Another launch was despatched to the Makarau bridge, and the navigators got in touch with settlers in the neighbourhood, only to learn, however, that owing to washouts and much damage to .the road ,it was impossible .to -transport supplies to the launch. It was no picnic navigsvting the swollen and littered river M thei darkness of a i|uny night. But no mishap occurred, though there were many narrow escapes from . disaster*

Possible Outlets lot Products. •It is - possible, and in several cases it is probable, that the dairy farmers isolated from the factory, at Heienaville, their ; number representing . fully ; half - of th*» total suppliers, will - have managed to secure outlets for their products to other butter factories. There is an understanding . between the K&ipara Company and itg northern directors that,' in the ' event of an emergency, involving interruption of transport, the supplies of dairy farmers in the north may be iaken to other factories, if practicable. \ ' - No serious loss of slock has been reported, so far, and anyone who makes an estimate merely indulges in conjecture. Actual conditions in the central flooded country axe not yet kno " ' It has been ascertained, however, that several herds have, been isolated: in paddocks that have been made islands without access by way of bridges. ; This "was the experience of a large herd in the Makarau district, : where the - distressed fanner was unable on Saturday, to- reach the cattle. His distress was not occasioned by prospective loss of the herd, which was safe from destruction; it was because of his apprehension as to the possible effect to the health of the herd, if * the cows were not milked for two or ' three days. This is a danger which, it; is feared, will have been a . common experience in the region of the worst floods. Drowned Cattle Seen. One of the railwaymen who were marooned north of Tahekeroa tunnel, but contrived to get through to Helensville on Saturday, informed the writer that in splashing through a stretch of sodden country he saw a number of drowned cattle. • Several of- the settlers beyond Makarau are rather pressed for foodstuffs, and are not in a position to stand a siege. Every effort is be:ing made to get necessary "supplies to them. Meanwhile, miles of territory represent a sorry slough.f\ -

STRANDED TRAVELLERS

MAROONED IN TRAIN. JOURNEY THROUGH 9 MUD. MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE. * A drenched wayfarer attracted much attention at the Helensville railway station on ' Saturday afternoon. He looked as though he had been transported, from a Rotorua mud-hole. • From head to heels his soaked raiment was bespattered with mud like plasticine. He was one of the passengers who had been stranded in the train which was blocked fore and aft, as sailors would say, by landslips south of Maungaturoto last Thursday. They spent the nights in the train, two ladies being hospitably housed at a ganger's cottage, and dined sparingly like men marooned on a desert island. "It is easily done when there is not much tucker," said the wayfarer, a railwayman. "You just tighten your belt and have another smoke! ' Seven of the stranded train passengers resolved to reach the open railway in order to gain* the comfort of home in Auckland by Saturday night. It was a memorable journey, through miles of mud and flood, along wrecked roads with washouts, deep potholes and shattered bridges, over and down , slippery uplands of dripping ' bush and fern, and, in the end, working railway passage on jiggers, bending the' right way at the right time to avoid a capsize on curves, . until the shelter' and service of the Public Works train .were gained at Makarau. ' The party included two ladies, the wives- of rail way men with experience of rough travelling and hard life in the wilds, and a sturdy septuagenarian, whose hardihood in drenching adversity won the admiration of, the patty. v There was chivalry on the road, and there was comradeship. Also the kind of courage that' overcomes difficulties. The men's report on the- condition of the flooded district was. brief and completely expressive. It consisted ,of One word of sounding syllables. _ ; t There was no other description to fit the miserable circumstances*