THE DAIRY INDUSTRY IN VICTORIA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 931, 3 January 1890, Page 17

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY IN VICTORIA.

The Age reports that according to a paper read by Mr D. Wilson at * ree'ent conference, the quantity of milk produced in ifictoHa In one year is no less than 146.000,6’6'Ci gallons. At 8d per gallon its value is Li B6§,QOO. Reckoning the consumption at f pint pa* head per day, a total of 41,062,000 gallons", Gained at L 1.368.750 is obtained. Of the remainder about five - sixths, or 87,500,000 gallons are made into butter* and one°sixth, or 17,500,000 gallons, into cheese. The value of the butter production is L 1,166,600, and of the cheese IAS7,MO. “ Our dairying industry ” (says the Age) ff therefore represents annually L 2,972,550, or more than dotible that of the production of otfr gold mines. Farmers, who regarded themselves aa ruined not very long ago, are now making a satisfactory income by their dairy produce, The Colony is regarded as peculiarly adapted to the manufacture of condensed and concentrated milk, and one member of the conference stated that he had tried condensed milk, but it did not pay, and under the new tariff, with the 2d duty, he would be able to turn it out at a profit. There is no branch of farming that has made such rapid strides of late years in the older countries of the world as that of dairying, and a great future may be predicted for it in Victoria.” In this connection the paper points out the importance of ensilage for winter food. “In 1884 the ensilage silos in the United Kingdom did not exceed six, but they lmd increased to 2352 in 1887. Information received from Canada tends to show that the ensilage may be yet more cheaply produced than has been hitherto supposed, as it is stated that Mr Robertson, superintendent of the Ontario Agricultural College, reports that there is no occasion to bring pressure to bear on the silage in the pits. Fifty acres of green stuff that would produce 100 tons of hay at an outlay for making of about Ll per ton, will produce 300 tons of ensilage for an outlay of 23 per ton ; and it is confidently asserted that the latter will be worth at least double the amount of the former, either for fattening or milk-pro. ducing qualities. Our farming industry is likely to develop enormously as these advantages become known, and it will be well for the various agricultural societies to adopt measures for having the value of ensilage practically tested.”