THE COMING DAIRY SCHOOL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 6

THE COMING DAIRY SCHOOL.

> Now that the long-deferred hope for r the establishment of a dairy experimental . station, or dairy school, has a promise of - -early realisation, it is interesting to loo>-: : back to ancient history to see when the 3 institution was first declared to be^neces- - eary. To find this reference has to be - made to the very first annual report, fo> r 1893, of the Department of Agriculture. i The Chief Dairy Expert of that day, lo s years ago, made a powerful statement (•{ i the necessity for such an institution, and f some of the passages of his report — which - might almost be described as a manifest > b — would have been of no less force if fc written, to-day. The following are some 1 of the passages: "The want of an exj perimental dairy school is now becoming 3 evident to all reasonably versed in praes tical dairying. . . . The time has no%v i arrived when the condition of the industry - demands it, for the growing magnitude of our dairy trade andi the peculiarities <tf c our situation will continue to create prot blems and difficulties in the manufacture j of butter and cheese which can only be - solved by experiments and investigations t reliably conducted. . . . There is a t great field open to us in the way of cont ducting dairy experiments, and the mo3t i authoritative and serviceable way to carry f | out these is by means of a dairy school. I contend, &o far as dairying is i concerned, that it is incumbent on the a State to supply reliable and valuable in s formation to farmers, and to put that m3 formation forward in such a way that c even the most apathetic will be taught n to put in force the truths brought to a light. "' A long list followed of matters t | requiring investigation, some of which t j"have been -studied in other countries an 1 c , the results communicated to New Zea- .- ! land dairymen by one or another of the t talented experts whose services New Zeii land has been fortunate in obtaining, s while others still require elucidation. (la - the same report attention is called *o i the necessity for providing cool* storage g for cheese at the ports of shipment, which c has still to be supplied at some ports.) r We have r-cally made very little progress •- in the 15 years. The actual processes of i- manufacture have been improved, speaking y generally ; but who can say that the be^t i- butter and cheese made now are better ', than the best of Mr Savvers's day? Indeed, in the important matter of delivery y of milk to the factory or creamery in c j good condition the past was decidedly >, superior to the present ; it is to be hoped c this will be remedied by the new system c of dairy inspection. The numerous other d problems will demand the assiduous ■Attention and energy of the staff of th<} experiment station, who, we hope, will soon be able to set to work.