THE NATIONAL DAIRY ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 4

THE NATIONAL DAIRY ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of the National Dairy Association will have been held ere this appears in print. The report of the committee for the year which ended on May 30 was published in our last issue, and the contents merit the careful consideration of all persons interested in this important branch of colonial activity. It should be noted, however, that this published report deals mainly with the operations of the association in the South Island, as a separate statement is to be presented by the North Island secretary. Ifc is thought advisable that each branch should continue to manage its own affairs so far as it is compatible with mutual co-operation. The report, which is signed by Mr J. R. Scon, the energetic secretary of the association, discloses the fact that the association's shipments of cheese from Port Chalmers to London have been of much less amount than in the previous year, — and this despite a slightly increased membership. It "is true that there has been an increase in the amount of butter exported, but this increase is very far from compensating for the falling- off in cheese. Here are the figures : —

Liat Year s Shipment This from Port Year's, i ' Chalmers. Tons. Tons. I Cheese ... 2212 1627 = 535 tons less Butter ... 131 159 = 28 tons more Moreover, the Wellington branch of the association shipped only one-half of the previous year s amount, both of cheese and butter ; and the Government returns up to March 31 show a shortage of no less than 700 tons on the record of the year before as regards both articles. There is a scarcity of butter and cheese at the present time, and the deficiency is specially unfortunate, as prices are high and likely to remain so for some months. The committee are of opinion that the main cause of this shortage of production must be found in the fact that dairymen have failed to conduct their business on proper lines, and it certainly does seem as though New Zealand producers were particularly slow in learning the lessons taught by experience and precept. The chief neglect has been in respect to the care and selection of cows. The severe winter of 1895 seriously affected backward cows, with the result that leas milk was obtained. " This " (to quote the report) " ought to have made farmers consider the question of winter feed and shelter, but apparently the lesson has not been generally borne home to them. The system prevailing of just milking cows during five or six months of the flush of the grass season is ruining the cows gradually and surely, and making them less productive of milk, and the more so no adequate provision is made for shelter and food during the winter. We presume on our fine climate, but it will be found ere the question Will dairying pay? is properly solved that we must make adequate provision for our cows during the winter, and carry on | our operations in manufacturing at I least during nine or ten months, if not the whole year." Those British consumers who like New Zealand butter and cheese complain that they cannot obtain a continuoiis supply, while Denmark and other countries, with less favourable climates than ours, are able to keep up the desired regularity of supply. Hence many of those consumers who prefer New Zealand produce find that it suits them better to buy their butter and cheese from those countries which send regular shipments. According to the committee, not only would the continuous system pay, but " also under such a system alone will dairying become a really profitable and reliable branch of farming." It occurs to us to remark that the committee and officers of the association mustpresumably have noticed during the past year that farmers generally were following a course calculated to result in the shortage which, as a matter of fact, has ensued; and it is pertinent to ask whether remonstrances and timely counsel were forthcoming. If this question be answered in the affirmative, then, of course, the farmers are alone to blame ; but it is not enough to mention these matters in reports and at annual meetings: the association should endeavour to keep a watch over what its members are doing, and be ready with advice and friendly interference when things are evidently going wrong.

Regrettable as is this shortage of production, it is satisfactory to observe that, upon the whole, there has been an iniDroveinent ia "the duality of pro-

duce shipped. The improvement is confirmed by London reports, and in this respect the lessons of the past do appear to have borne some fruit. It is stated in London that the best New Zealand factory cheese can hold its own with the best Canadian, a result which, as the committee observe, is certainly matter for congratulation, and which is attributed "to the cheesemakers' careful attention to the instruction given by the Government experts, whose aim it has been to inaugurate a system of manufacturing tending to uniformity in quality, in which they have certainly made satisfactory progress." The improvement in the quality has not been confined to cheese ; buttet has shown a similar progress, — this' being true even of the dairy and .milled butter. Nevertheless the committee, as on previous occasions, deprecate the export of this kind of butter, the results of shipments remaining unsatisfactory. " The sooner farmers in all places erect factories the • better, if there are none within reach; or if within reach they will find it much to their best intei'esfcs to support such factories and supply them" with milk. The cost of transit on mediocre or inferior butter must always make exporting it a profitless business even at the best, and those who in the past have purchased such butter, even at a low figure, have almost invariably made a heavy loss, and such purchases will not readily be made again." There can be little question as to the soundness of this counsel.

Unfortunately the season has been one of low prices, especially as regards cheese. Butter "was a little higher than in the previous year, but the report points out that this slight rise was probably due to the decrease in the amount of supplies from Australia. The committee offer a number of practical recommendations in the direction of improved facilities for butter-making, and specially warn producers that a high - class article cannot be turnsd out unless proper refrigerating machinery is available. Combination is recommended in cases where a single factory is financially unable to procure this machinery, and it is truly observed that "wo are too far from our market to be able to make the manufacture of anything but the highest quality a success. . . . It is in quality that New Zealand should fight its way to a hold on the market ; quantity will come quickly when our reputation for high-class goods has been made." The report is, upon the whole, written in a hopeful strain, though the season has been a poor one, and though it is most unfortunate that the shortage of production should prevent the colony from reaping the advantage of the rise in the price of cheese. In conclusion, we may take the opportunity of emphasising the necessity of hearty and loyal co-operation in the interests of the industry on the part of members of the association.