AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2003, 14 July 1892, Page 11

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

(Continued from p«f/e 7.) Supporters of the central factory for Canterbury say, according to the Press, that the immediate neighbourhood of Ashburton will furnish good .support to the central dairy factory afc Addington, if that bo established. There is a large number of small farmers who would be glad to send milk to a creamery, their farms being of a suitable size for this kind of dairying. In the Ashburton district men with farms of 300 acres or over mainly prefer to go in for sheep, as being less trouble and yielding a good enough profit, but those with smaller farms are looking forward with some eagerness to the building of a creamery in connection with the central factory, and they are quite numerous enough to ensure its successful operation. Mr William Ronald, of Waianiwa, writes as follows in the Southlond News : — At last turnip sowing time I obtained a variety of the different artificial manures now so extensively used in Southland. Curiosity led me to test them for my own satisfaction, and perhaps the results will be interesting to some of your readers. The Jand was what might be designated medium terrace ground. The quantity of manure *'as the same in every case — namely, 3cwt per acre — and all sown on the same clay :—: — Tons cwt qr lb s. d. Bones 32 12 1 17 1J) 6 per acre Chesterfield ... 31 4 3 !) 13 (i .. n Green Island „. 15 12 1 18 12 0 .. m Kangaroo Island 33 1 2 10 13 6 n n Auckland butter factories do not appear to kill the milk suppliers with high pi ices, as the following circular issued by the Dairy Association to the Pukekohe Creamery will bear testimony: — "Our prices for milk for 1892-3 will be as follow : September 1 to November 30, 2^d per gallon of 10 per cent, quality ; December 1 to March 31, 2^d ; April Ito May 31, 2i}d. With the addition of bonus, subject to conditions as below. Extra percentages of cream over the standard 10 per cent, quality will be paid for extra at" one farthing per cent. Should the cream quality fall below 10 per cent, a proportionate sum will be deducted. Individual suppliers' milk will be tested separately and the result will be calculated on the season's average as before. Milk samples will be tested at the Central Factory, Pukekohe. In addition to the prices as above a bonus will be paid, on the following terms, to all who commence to supply within seven days of the opening of the creamery and continue to deliver until the end of May. The terms are— the milk must be bon&fule supplier's milk, of honest quality, free from stockyard or other bad flavours, and generally clean and sound, and of a character to satisfy us. The bonus will be a sum equal to one farthing per gallon upon all the individual suppliers' milk delivered during the seasou. Thus, with bonus, the price will be: — For September, October, November, April, and May, 3d; for December, Jfanuary, February, and March, 2Jd ; and extra percentages added. Wesley Spkagcs, manager." — —On June 30 a large number of intending milk suppliers of the new Kihilcihi creamery met Messrs Reynolds and Farley on the factory ground, when the following prices were offered and accepted for the coming season's milk : — For September, October, November, and December, 2|d per g.illon ; for January, February, and March, 2.^(1 ; for April and May, 3d per gallon. Those who supply continuously from September to May will receive a bonus of J of a penny per gajlon, hi addition, but those whose milk is under the standard of 10 per cent, of cream to the gallon will not parI ticipate in the bonus. It is also a stringent condition that milk suppliers provide themselves with coolers, and no milk will be received ■ at the factory which has not been put through a cooler. The cooler is made of Steele and Co.'s paper coated with tin, about 7ft long and Bin wide, and costs about 30s. When in use it stands on a vat. Its object is twofold — to deprive the milk of its animal heat and impurities, and to prevent the milk turning sour in hot weather. Mr R. Reynolds stated that if the two objects are attended to, the firm will be able to put butter on the English market that will beat the world. At Waikato, in answer to some remarks about the unprofitableness of milk supplying, Mr Reynolds said their firm had 'offered the best possible prices that could be reasonably expected. If they totted up the prices offered for next season's milk, they would find them to amount to an increase in the return of LI per head per cow, compared with the prices of last year. Taking an average cow to give 450 gal of milk in the season, the increase would amount to LI 8s per cow. The industry was now fairly established, and it only rested with themselves to make the article such as would command the markets of the world. With regard to the bonus offered, that would be paid only to suppliers commencing with the opening of the factory in September and sending a continuous supply to the end of May. There would be no bonus for the other three months of the year. With the new testing machine they would be able to prove

the exact quantity of cream or rather butter fat in the milk, and the bonus of £d would be an extra advantage in the hands of the milk suppliers. As an instance of the correctness of Babcock's machine, he stated that he had had a cow half milked ; that milk was tested and gave 9 per cent, only of butter fat. The cow was then finished milking and the latter half tested separately, which, when tested, gave 17 per cent, of butter fat, thus agreeing with the wellknown fact that the lasb portion of the milk given down by a cow was nearly twice as rich as the first portion, and proving it 3 own correctness as a test.