DAIRYING AT PALMERSTON

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4316, 27 March 1901, Page 3

DAIRYING AT PALMERSTON

THE NATURAL CENTRE OF THE INDUSTRY.

AIILK PRODUCTION THE GREATEST SOURCE OF PROFIT.

Nq name is more closely associated with the dairying movement m the Palmerston North district, from its inception to its present prosperous state, than that of Joseph Nathan and Company. From the very'beginning, wnen tho factory system required careful nursing and the expenditure of much capital, the Messrs Nathan saw the great potentialities of the movement and risked their money and devoted, their energies in establishing the industry on a sound footing. Lately they have been liberally expending large sums of money in farther extending tho business in the dis-| tricts serving Palmerston Korth, and it is not too much to say that the manner in which they have met the settlers bv the erection of creameries, equipped with the most up-to-date appliances, and by giving full publicity to the system of testing milk—that bugbear of the proprietary factory—is not equalled by any other private concern in the colony. A gentleman, who has greatly assisted tho Nathan! Company in bringing

about this very satisfactory state of things is Air Lang, formerly a Government instructor and! grader, and nowmanaging the dairy produce business of the company. Air Lang’s h eadquarters are at Palmerston North, and while he was visiting Wellington the other day a representative of tho '‘Now Zealand Times” took advantage of the opportunity to have a chat with him upon his work in the Palmerston North district. In the first place, Air hang remarked, tho district in which its principal work is done promised to become a most important dairying centre, and, judging by the rapid 'strides which the industry is making in the Alanawatu, Rangitikei, Firty-milo Bush and Hawke’s Bay districts, Palmerston North should ultimately become the chief dairying centre in the colony. The settlers in the districts mentioned are only now discovering tho great benefits of dairying and tho regular monthly “milk cheque” has been a strong factor in their conversion. The certain income or the milk supplier” is inducing the larger proprio-

tors to embark in dairying; cutting up their estates, or intend cioing so, with the object of establishing dairy farms, while others are devoting their attention to the business themselves by arranging with suitable men to milk on shares, a systeim which has proved eminently successful iii other parts of the colony, especially in Taranaki. An advantage possessed by this class of dairy farmer is that he enters the business possessed of sufficient capital to establish it on a sound basis; also, being new to the business, he is prepared to take advice from experts at tlie business and work in an up-to-date manner. Such men, on entering the business, have, in tho great majority of cases,*seen the vital importance of testing and weighing the milk of the individual members of their herd, thus ascertaining the true valua of each cow and establishing, at the outset, tho business on a sound commercial basis. The importance of this means of ascertaining a cow’s value is fully recognisdd by Mr Lang’s firm, which has arranged that, for a merely nominal sum, suppliers can have the milk of their individual cows tested by the latest appliances at the different creameries, where suppliers are also initiated into the system of testing. Referring to the vexed question _ of testing the milk supply at creameries, Mr Lang pointed out that the most complete arrangements are. in operation* at each of his firm’s creameries. To this fact is no doubt due the unique success which has attended the Defiance creameries. In many districts throughout the colony the plan has-been for the samples of milk to ho carted to tho central fac-. tory before being tested, a system which has proved a source of greiat dissatisfaction, and rightly so, to suppliers. Tha brand! of his firm’s butter, “Defiance,” is, Mr Lang remarked with considerable satisfaction, gaining steadily in reputation, and the demand for it is still on the increase. This is, of course, attributable! to the up-to-date equipments and the qualified staff and supervision of he creameries and factory. The Messrs Nathan are negotiating for suitable sites for the erection of several more creameries in tho Manawatu and Forty-mile Bush districts, and are seriously considering the advisability of erecting another factory. A great advantage possessed by Mr Lang’s firm is that, having a very wide connection for their butter in Wellington and in othdr parts of the colony, they are in a position, to give a more satisfactory price for the raw product than factories which have to depend solely on export trade.