THE DAIRY PRODUCE TRADE A DYING INDUSTRY IN BRITAIN NEW ZEALAND'S BRIGHT PROSPECTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 10

THE DAIRY PRODUCE TRADE A DYING INDUSTRY IN BRITAIN NEW ZEALAND'S BRIGHT PROSPECTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, November 19. Last week-end I spent in Yorkshire. I was staying with a personal friend, who, however, happens to bs the general traffic manager of'one of Britain's greatest railways the North-Eastern, — which, although it does not approach London nearer than just 160 miles, nevertheless exercises an | important influence upon British trade ; iaot only commanding, as it does, the huge mineral traffic of the great coalfields and ironworks of Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham, but also the communication with such important trading and shipping centres as Newcastle and Hull, while reaching to Scotland in the north, ' Leeds in the middle, and (over the Great Northern) to London and the south, but also carries the > entire produce of the extensive agricultural ' , and pastoral district lying in Yorkshire and the Northern Midlands.- 'Under two rela-" tively young and exceptionally able and energetic "and .. progressive commanders— Sir George Gibb, the manager, and Mr Philip Burtt, -the general traffic manager •- (who 1 may be regarded as the oommander-in-ehief and . the admiral-in-command re.- . spectively)— the "North-Eastern has- worked up during the last few "years into a condi-'. - tion of^highr prosperity. *" - '■ -- } But . neither -the commander-in-chief nor 1 the admiral is yet content, More worlds of trade still remain to be conquered, ' and those already acquired can yet be improved. And so Mr Burtt has lately been planning . and executing raids in new directions, much as _ Lord Charles Beresford would with his ' fleet. "New Zealand is directly interested in the results. So, as. Mr Burtt asked me ' to run down and talk over matters with him, last Saturday duly found me at York. There I learned what an important new departure had been initiated, and how it could hardly fail to become a drastic revolution in^ existing British methods. I will endeavour to explain. Not merely the great manufacturing towns of Newcastle (population 400,000) and . Leeds " (population 500,000) and the busy part of (population 200;000), but also an". almost' innumerable, collection of smaller - but prosperous towns with 10,000 to 20,000', or 30,000 inhabitants, take the^bulk of their butter supplies from the vast farming .dis- — tricts the huge' -county of Yorkshire, . notably from "the beautiful*'} and -,-feftile. ' valley of Wensleydale. ' But latterly the , market has-been steadily enbroaehed upon , by the dairy produce of other countries, chiefly* Denmark^ and New- Zealand. - "It occurred L to me," said Mr Burtt, "that it would be well to find out, whether ;'our-_pwn f aimers are" really doing the best ■•- tltey'^ can'*»--for . ll themselves in . devoting,; so , much labour -to I , butter-making. "Could they,- , not employ themselves and their land more j profitably " f or -, themselves ..and , for us, *"I;he j carriers of their produce?" ? - , And so- Mr Burtt made a special trio tto Denmark 'to investigate the matter r 'for him-. X '■ self. _'.. It i will hardly surprise New-. Zealand- > dairy : farmers, -whose methods' have "been So' •largely based on -Danish exanipfe, to be t - told v that : Mr , But tt f ouncT everything , : in ' .Danish,-- dairying tb .differ toto", ccelo-from ; British' ways. , \ "In place of ' the unscientific, slovenly, "muddly, and often -uncleanly methods of England," he told me, "I found everything • done on a - strictly scientific and rigidly methodical basis. All was systematic ' and - .careful: .The most scrupulous cleanliness was invariably observed. Nothing whatever is -left" to mere chance. All is thought out and provided for, even to the minutest detail. From every class of injurious bacteria the milk and cream are effectually protected, while the beneficial bacteria which give -ite proper flavour to the butter are studiously cultivated, a due proportion being supplied to each churning. Mr Burtt went into more extended detail, but as New Zealand is one of the more enlightened butter-making countries, where modern scientific plans are in use, I need not enlarge on that phase. -„,., .. j .» "Compare. this with the British method! exclaimed Mr Burtt. "The contrast is painful Here we find dairying carried on close or even adjacent to dirty cow yards the milk or rream exposed to contact with all the foul emanations, and thus constantly liable to pollution of all kinds; the cows often are milked in filthy .sheds by milkers , whose per-. | sonal cleanliness js' at- the- least questionable'; 'the ■ milk is liable ' to. become be- > 'spattered with various, ;unpleasant things;1 the-butter made by haiid-rrand not-.always, . if I often, by clean hands ; -packed with similar hands, and wjth little, if t any. regard for „ ! hygienic princinles It really is not appei tising-e-ven -to think- of the: -way English butter is produced. this is the sort of thing which is' _it not almost universal, in our British practice.'.' How about the "aotual "quality? I, asked. How is British butter regarded in the Home markets ac compared with the Danish and New Zealand productions? "Only a day or two ago," replied Mr Burtt, "a large dealer in, butter was talking to me about it. He said : ' The quality no doubt may often be apparently good enough for market purposes. But I never can depend upon it. ' I never, or hardly ever, can get butter of the same quality twice j running from one farmer, or of- the same > • quality from two farmers" in a district, even j '. if they live side by side. There is no uni- ! formity of quality. And then my customers complain tfiatl do not supply them with the j same quality which I gave. them before and which they had ordered • this time. "What , can I do? It's no use my giving a long explanation about the way it is made. They j would not bother to-' listen, or understand it | if they did. Sq,l use mors and more Danish and colonial butter, which I can depend upon to be of uniform quality and of which [ I can always obtain exactly the same quality j when I want more of it.' That, you see," | continued Mr Burtt, "is the' experience of ! a practical man, and it is typical." i But ' would not co-operafion, such as we have in New Zealand, change -all that? I asked. _ "No doubt it would," answered Mr Burtt; "but then arises the important question, Would it PAT? Or, at anyrate, would it pay 6O well as other „ directions in which a farmer might employ his land and his energy?" And your opinion is ? " That it would not," was the reply. " I have investigated the matter most carefully, and I am satisfied that it will not pay a British farj*vjr to go in for really scientific

butter-making while a greatly superior prospect -lies open to him which he can make his own with comparative ease." Andthat is ? " Supply iag the milk itself to the many large towns that are crying out loudly for it," replied Mr Burtt. "Look at such a large and important seaside place as Scarborough, for instance, only some 40 miles from York. All this last summer Scarborough was clamouring for more milk — especially for good, safe milk, and could not get enoueh, although almost famine prices were readily paid or offered. It is the- same with a number of large towns or cities on the North-Eastern railway. Look at Newcastle, Darlington, Leeds, York, Durham, Sunderland, Hull, Grimsby, Hartlepool, Harrogate, and many others. Consider what a quantity of milk they need, and how hard they find it to obtain it of really good and safe character. - Observe what numerous cases have occurred lately of typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and other terrible diseases being contracted through the use of contaminated milk. Recollect how many families who have thus undergone bereavement, or whose friends have suffered, are insisting on having sterilised or Pasteurised milk, and who are willing to pay anything to get. such milk as it is supplied in sealed receptacles. ,A man I know whose .business has no connection whatever with dairying >vent to live near London. He did not relish the idea of contaminated milk, so -he set^ up a couple of cows of his own, and took steps to ensure irreproachable , cleanlinessand hygienic precautions. Well, he obtained more- milk " than his own . family .needed, and -so his friends induced 'him to -let.them share.. Then their" friends wanted to/ come in also, and ' now' this 1 little private arrangement hag, grown into a large and" .profitable business, the milk of 90 cows daily being sterilised or Pasteurised, a/id sold in sealed bottles at extra prices, - which are-.f willingly - and . even" " eagerly paid. I "mention" this as showing how suoh a"* trade once fairly started would necessarily tend to develop, and" how surely it Avould crowd out - the more troublesome and ■ less remunerative trade of butter-making." - - But will you , over*-be able to. make the British farmer see -this? " .' " I shall try." 'answered Mr Burtt. " Indeed, I have tried, and am trying. I have taken Wensleydaie^ as a typical district I am forming associations among the farmers there, " delivering - lectures ' and getting lectures delivered, and using- every effort to inform them. Things are well in, train, and ere long I. hope to /see- an efficient system r of milk^supply in full work-" ing, order. When the . W-ensleydale farmers', should have, come to realise- its' possibili- | ties, others -will -be,, unwilling ;to be Jeftf behind, and will come r - in. Other countries will "follow -the example,,- and so tin* the~,',erid' milk-supplying . will . "supersede' butter^makmg as-.\a .British agricultural industry: Butter will ' be 1 ' imported .from the. countries, that J make it properly; ,suph as Denmark; and New, Zealand,' and **ie; British/ farmer will send, his- milk, sterilised or/Pasteurised,' direct- to-' scores bf\'marke%sj wherer'there^s 'virtually-- an unlimited de-. mand^fbr' it/ and where 'it will' be largely welcomed -, and purchased-", at good" "prices."- , ' And is it f-rom the carriage "of the-milk-that, .your, ..railway ..will, .reap .benefit "of all you are doing in this matter? -"'No, certainly^ not," replied. 'my friend.' "It is .truej- no -doubt, ~ that -w.©;shall iJarr'y" it,' and remuneratively, , But that is 'not "what I_ have" in 'view as. regards, •- the-,in-terests of my railway. No ; what / 1 have found as the * result of most careful " and elaborate .investigations -and -calculations is•tha_t: the fortunes of a. railway hang" in no small 'degree upon those of the- farmers whose, districts serves., It is- true, of course, that the' North-Eastern railway has a vast mineral traffic, '^and. that it is the 'predominant partner., in the east coast, route between London' -and Scotland. " But we also serve a very large agricultural district, and experience conclusively demonstrates that when the prosperity of an agricultural county improves;" so does the general traffic, on its railways. It ,is hot merely the" produce sent by "farmers, that, pays us. "It is T still more what we convey to them when they can afford to indulge in various comforts and luxuries, and their own travelling must be .included. If, by the- establishment of { this new and most profitable milk-supply industry -in lieu of" the decaying and" mismanaged "butte-r-mak-. ing industry, the farmers livijag on our railway system or in its vicinity become prosperous., instead, of having "to struggle and slave for a bare existence,' then assu- 1 redly our traffic will go- up .proportionately, and .'so- by striving; to^ improve thef.position of _ the" '.farmers we" J are" at the same- time striving to improve -the, traffic- 'on our railway.' Thus we "kill-- two birds ' with,- one stone."' . \"~\ "~ - . . - .1 presume, you are 'quite sure" pf/.your as to. the relative profitableness of the two plans? \ . "Quite. I have had it most carefullytested, and I find that from, three -gallons of milk a farmer gets lib of* butter, - whose wholesale.^market price to-him-is 9d;-at the most. For the same quantity of milk if v as _ milk > h* would "get just double the profit. Butter doejs-not bring *nore than Is 6d a lb at the best, and of this the farmer gets, barely half. But- milk readily brings in Newcastle 4cf,pe'r quart in the summer and 5d in the ."winter, although usually its quality is very poor— miserable, in fact. The demand for pure milk is" enormous, and is increasing daily. So, too, is the competition of foreign butter. Siberia sends barter 'to Moscow, 2000 miles by rail; and Moscow forwards it, also by rail, "to -Riga.- Riga sends it . on by sea through the Baltic to. Newcastle, Hull, or Grimsby, and 'thence it goes, on to Lancashire by rail, right past, the very doors of the Yorkshire farmers, and undersells them in Manchester, Liverpool, and other large centres of population. Some, too, goes even to Denmark, for the Danes eat very little of their own butter. It, is too expensive. It pays them better to eat Siberian butter themselves and to send away their own high-class butter to Britain, and they do "so." * I suppose no competition is possible in the milk supply? - "No," replied Mr Burtt. "There England has a monopoly ; indeed, as I have already said, she cannot yet meet the existing actual demand. I- have obtained authentio returns of milk-consumption~ which show that not one-fourth is used of what ought to be consumed on an average per head of population- I—that1 — that is, the demand which has to be met, — and England has a monopoly^ of supply. As regards butter, the competition is open to the whole globe. There is just the difference. It would be idle to attempt fostering British butter-making by a protective tariff. England must turn her attention to a

better paying trade. ' Years ago Denmark realised that England would need her butter, and so she set herself to supplythat demand. She used to send England lots of meat. She does not now; butter comes instead. Twenty years ago the* Danish farmers were much worse off than British farmers are to-day. In 1882 on© co-operative dairy factory was started; now there are 1100 of these, supplied by no fewer than 1,067,000 milch cows. There is no permanent pasture there, but _ the land is worked in a series of crops, in a rotation of eight years. The cows are kept in the most wonderful order, groomed up to the highest pitch of perfection, their hair carefully clipped, and the most strin.-" gent .care taken that not a particle of hair or any other microbe-carrying vehicle shall by any possibility drop into the milk. Then a veterinary surgeon visits every dairy farm at least once a fortnight without fail, and closely examines every cow. Should the slightest doubtful symptom appear, the animal's milk is not allowed to be used. "When you consider all this, and contrast it with British ways, it is nob surprising that Denmark has become England's butter-shop. And, mutatis mutandis, the same thing applies to New Zealand." I have thought that these results of tho personal investigation of -an exceptionally shrewd and able man— one pf the great men 'of" British railways — cannot -fail to^ be both interesting and instructive -to my- Ne-w; Zealand readers, particularly -those 'who are interested directly, or indirectly in New Zealand's produce" trade. -