Co-operative Butter-making.

Otago Witness, Issue 2978, 12 April 1911, Page 21

Co-operative Butter-making.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, -Dairy farming is generally admitted to be the best paying work on the land now, and yet one reads so little as to the why and wherefore that I trust you will allow me a little space on the matter. Some three or four years ago some buttermakers in Timaru introduced the methods of other countries in the matter of making butter from home-separated creams, with the result that those who have been selling their cream have been making their cows pay 20 or 30 per cent, better than those who have been following up whal is in other parts of the world now the obsolete, method of pooling their milk ar a creaimery. In both cases wo will eay the pric>> paid for the butter fat is the same, and yet a man will get' aibigger monthly cheque if he takes the cram from 5001 b of milk —his daily quantity—and sells it

than if' Ire takes the 5001 b of milk to a creamery and returns home with the skim milk. How does this come to pass, seeing that there is the same quantity of butter fat in each 5001 b? Most creameries buy on what is called the “drip’'’ test, which shows ’the milk to be about two points poorer than it really is, whereas the test used in the case of cream gives the exact i weight of butter fat contained in the cream. During the past 12 months in this : district the" farmers who have been selling cream have been making from 25s to over 40s per cow a month, whilst the creamery suppliers have been making very, much less—-say, from 15s to 25s a cow a month. Of course if the creameries bought on, the [“drip” test the weights paid ..for should I bo the same. I Now comes the question of which method produces the best butter? The general run of factory butter sold in New Zealand at the present time is eimply vile, and if the . butter sent Home is no better, then I am , sory for the Home people who have . to I eat it. We will take the creamery or i pooling system. The separating is done once a day in the summer and every second, or even third, day in the winter. Can this lead to good butter? Certainly not. Take the other plan, and you will often find that the home separator is not kept clean, that two or three milkings are put through at once, and that the cream is not kept under proper conditions. Again, bad butter. It looks a bit hopeless, but I propose to show how it can be done. First of all, bail up, say, two healthy cows in a prefectly clean byre; then let a goodnatured, pretty woman, wearing spotless overalls and a slow, sweet smile, sit down and milk them. Then let the same woman take the hot, sweet milk and put it through an up-to-date sanitary separator, and, after the cream has properly ripened, let her churn it, and make it into butter. This, I maintain, gives the best butter one can eat. At the present time the. people of this dis- ; trict are strongly in favour of starting a co-operative butter factory among them- , selves. The idea is to employ a first-class I butter maker, and let him make all the i cream they supply into pure, swept butter, i It would be to the interest of each supplier to see that his or her cream was handed to the butter maker in the best order. The butter from a factory on these , lines should be just as good as the butter j made by the pretty woman mentioned . above. Not only that, but it should be a paying concern, and that alone should carry some weight in a pretty Scotch district. Waikouaiti has made a success of a cheese factory. Why should not Palmerston do the same with a butter factory. Certainly the calves and nigs would be bettor .pleased, as skim -milk is far more wstainThg than whey.—l am, etc., Onlooker. Palmerston South, April 8. DUNEDIN MARKETS. WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS. Lindsay and Columb, Princes street south, report under date the 11th inst.: ■\Vhfa; per bushel. nerton Best milling S/3-3/4 Oaten chaff 75/0—95 0 Medium do .. 3/1 Ryegrass hay ... S7/li Fowls’ ... 2/6 — 3/2 Straw ; Milling oats 2/I—2/1 Whesten £7/6—30/0 Feed oats ... 2/0—?/:i Oaten... 40/0—47/6 Malt barley ... 4/0 Pearl barley .. 286/0 Feed barley 2/6—2/9 Onions, good cwt 4/6 Cape.barley ... 7/4 per lb Maize 4'o Rolled bacon 7id —8d per ton. Side bacon ... BJd Flour, in 200'a ...185 0 Smoked hams ... 9J Flour, in 50’s ...190/0 Cheese ... 6d—fill Pollard 120/ Good salt butter. 8d to Bran. 85t lOd. according io Oatmeal, in 25’s 250/0 Quality Best potatoes, £1 to £4 7s 6d per ton. Oama.ru potatoes# arrived in good order in. cental bags, to £3 15s. A good demand for hay, £4 to £4 15s per ton. Cow chaff inquired for up to £3. FARM AND DAIRY PRODUCE. Messrs Irvine and Stevenson. George street, report paying for produce during the week ending the 11th. inst as follows: Fresh eg's. Is 4 1 roz I bepirator butter, BJd Salt bn.ler : not buyii g | per lo Fresh butter, good ordinary (in 11b and Jib prints), 9d to lOd per lb. ’ Pigs, 1301 b to 1601 b, 4Jd. Honey, 3Jd. Fowls. 3s to 3s 6d (boiling). New potatoes, £3 15s per ton. THE HIGH COMMISSIONER’S CABLEGRAM. WELLINGTON, April 10. The High Commissioner cabled from London on April 8 as follows: — _ Mutton. —The market is depressed and the stocks on hand are heavy, The consumption is increasing, but there is no change in the prices. Lamb. —The market is firmer, with a baiter demand, though arrivals are very heavy. Stocks are accumulating: Canterbury. 4|d; other than Canterbury, 4id, Beef. —There is no alteration in the beef market sinoe last week. Butter.—The market is firm for best quality, but dull for second-class quality, of which the present supplies exceed the

requirements. Choicest New Zealand butter, 108 s; Australian, 102 s; Danish 120 s; Siberian, 104 a. Cheese. —The market is very firm, and there is a general active demand. Now Zealand cheese, 625. f Hemp.—The market is unchanged. The output from Manila for the week was 30,000 bales. The stock of New Zealand hemp totals 606 tons. The mutton and lamb shipments received during March from the River Plate

The totals in March, 1910, were 169,747 (mutton) and 29,533 (lamb). Wheat, —The market is dull, and the supplies are small. New Zealand wheat, long-berried, ex granary, per quarter of 4961 b, 525. „ Oats. —The demand is falling off. New Zealand oats, short sparrowbills, ex granary, per quarter of 3841 b, 18s; Danish, per quarter of 3201 b, 16s. Beans.—There is little demand. New Zealand beans, f.a.q., old crop, per quarter of 5041 b, 345. 1 . Peas. —The market is very quiet, with nothing doing. New Zealand ncas (partridge), per quarter of 5041 b, 425. FROZEN MEAT MARKET. LONDON, April 9. Frozen Meat: Sheep, Canterbury and Southland unquoted, North Island 3d, best brands lambs, Canterbury unquoted, hSouthland 4 9-16 d; beef, fores, 2 15-lbd,, hinds 4d. Australian: Sheen. bent 211-16 d, ewes 2|d; lambs, best brands 33d. fair quality 3id, inferior quality 3|d; beef, fores 2|d, hinds '3gd. American: Sheep, light 3d, heavy 213-16 d, ewes 2|d; lambs, first quality 3Zd, second quality 3|d; frozen boat, fores 2|d, hinds 4d; chilled beef force 3 8 kl, hinds 4id; all others unchanged. OUR ARGENTINE RIVAL. WELLINGTON, April 7. The Commerce, Tourists Division of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourists has received the following cablegram from Buenos Aires, dated April 6: The following'shipments of produce were despatched from the Argentine to United Kingdom ports during March, 1911 (com-

THE POTATO GRUB. TIMAR'U. AariH B. The potato grub is reported from several localities in this district. ; OAMARU MARKETS. OAMARU, April 8. The week has been an unusually quiet one for all markets, neither buyers nor sellers being keen to do business. Most of the farmer's have now disposed of their wheat, and those holding are men of independent means, who can well afford to wait for better prices. Nominally, wheat is worth 3a Id on trucks, less commission, for velvet, while the same value holds good for Tuscan. Red chaff is Id less. Transactions in locallygrown oats are very few, merchants purchasing from outside to fill local requirements. Nothing is doing in potatoes, owing to the ravages of the potato moth. GRAIN AND PRODUCE SALES. Messrs Dalgety and Co. (Ltd.) report as foliowts: —We held our usual weekly auction sale at our stores on Monday, the 10th inst., when we offered a good catalogue to the usual attendance of the trade. Bidding was decidedly slack, and we passed the bulk of our catalogue in. The following were the prices realised: Oats.—The market still continues to advance. The offerings from the country are light, and merchants are picking up any lines which come within their limits. Millers are also buyers, and good Sutherlands are in demand. Black and Dun oats are scarce, and are wanted for seed. Prime Dun and black, 2s 3gd to 2s 4d; good feed, 2s 3d to 2s 3jd; medium, 2s 2d to 2s 2^d; inferior, 2s to 2s Id per bushel (bags extra). Wheat.—During the end of last _ week there was a much better demand, owing to the London market being reported as steadier; consequently, although prices were no different, a large volume of business was put through. All- good lines are in demand. Prime velvet, 5s 3£d to 3s 4d ; prime Tuscan and velvet ear, 5s 3d to 3s 3-id; whole fowl feed, 5s Id to 3s 2d; broken and damaged, 2s lOd to 3s per bushel (bags extra). Potatoes.—There ■ is not much difference to report in values. There is a strong demand, but supplies are coming in slowly. Ail good samples are eagerly competed for, but buyers are chary about _ touching any lines showing any signs of grit. Best sorts, £4 to £4 ss; medium to good, £5 10s to £3 17s 6d; inferior, £2 10s to £2 15s per ton (bags in). Chaff—Large supplies have come forward from the country, with the consequence that prices are easier, and, as buyers hold fair stocks, the bulk of what is coming forward is going into store. Best oaten sheaf, £4 7s 6d to £4 10s; medium,to good, £3 17« 6d to £4 ss; light and inferior, £3 to £3 10s; straw chaff, £2 12s, 6d to £2 15s pen ton' (bags extra). Messrs Donald Reid and Co. _ (Ltd.) report:—We hold our weekly auction, sale of grain and produce at our stores on Monday, when we submitted a large catalogue to the usual produce deal cm and others. With the exception of chaff, all lines met with good competition. Values ruled as under— Ghts.—Consignments are coming forward very slowly, and the market shows a firming tendency. Any prime lots of Gartoms or sparrowbills on offer aro readily taken by shippers at prices a shade firmer than those ruling last week. Good feed lines are also in good demand. We quote: Prime milling, 2s to 2s 4d; good to best food. 2s to 2s 3d; inferior to medium, 2s Id to 2s per bushel (sacks extra). Wheat. —There has been a little more inquiry, during the week owing to the fact that a couple of shippers have been operating. At the same time, not much business is going through, farmers not being anxious to accept present rates. Fowl wheat is

not so plentiful, and meets with ready sale. We quote: Prime milling velvet, 3s 3id to 3s 4d; Tuscan, eto., 3s 3d to 5s 3W; medium milling and best -whole fowl wheat, 3s Id to 3s 2d; medium fowl wheat, 2s 9d to 2s lid broken and damaged, 2s 3d to 2s &d per bushel (sacks extra). - [Potatoes.—All prime samples' are readily sold on arrival at prices in advance of those ruling since our last sale Owing to the Oamaru crop being affected with the worm, any lots from this district are almost unsaleable. We quote: Prime Up-to-dates, £4 5s to £4 73 6d; medium to good, £3 7s 6d to £3 15s; inferior, from £2 10s upwards per ton (sacks included). Chaff. —Extra heavy consignments have been arriving during the last few days, and prices are slightly easier. TJie demand. is confined to prime lots, medium and inferior being more difficult to place. We quote: Prime heavy oaten sheaf, £4 10s; medium to good, £4 to £4 ss; inferior, £3 10s to £3 15s; oaten straw chaff, £2 12s 6d to £2 15s per ton .(sacks extra). Straw.—We quote: Oaten, £2 10s; wheaten, 27s 6d per ton (pressed). Hay.—Prime clover, £4 5s to £4 10s (pressed, ex truck). RABBITSKIN SALE. Messrs Dalgety and Co. report having held their usual fortnightly auction sale .on Monday, when they offered a large catalogue. There w«8 a good attendance of buyers, and competition was very animated, every lot being cleared at prices fully on a par with late rates. At this season of the year the catalogues are made up principally of summer and early autumn skins. Quotations are as follow:—Winter does and bucks, none in; springs, 12d to 13d; summers, B|d to 9d; racks, Bgd to milky, 6fd to 7|d; weevilly and broken, 4d to 6d; runners and suckers, 4id to s£d; blacks, 12d to 16£d. HIDE SALES. 1 MELBOURNE, April 6. At the hide sales to-day there were fair supplies, and prices were unchanged. NORTH OTAGO RAM AND EWE FAIR. OAMARU, April 6. The annual ram and ewe fair was held to-clav, when the entry was 471, as against 802 last year. The only demand was for Border Leicest&rs, but the sake were not extensive. The highest-priced rams eold were three offered by Mr T. S. Little, which realised 12gs, 10gs, and 9£gs. The other sales did not exceed 3gs. The recent drought was responsible for the smallness of the sales. CLEARING SALES. Messrs Stronach, Morris, and Co. report haying held a clearing sale on account of Mr J. Fruish, at his farm. Seacliff, on the 31st ult. There was a large attendance of buyers from the surounding districts, and everything offered was readily sold at very satisfactory prices to the vendor. Dairy cows were in good demand, and sold up to £5 ss. One spring-cart mare brought £l7 10s. The farm implements and sundries, all realised full'market rates. i The same firm reports having held a clearing sale on account of Mrs Col. M'Donald, Kilmog, on Thursday, the 6th inst. The arrangements were perfect, and, although the buyers were chiefly local ones, bidding was brisk and* everything 6old exceptionally well. Dairy cows brought up to £5 17s 6d; 1 draught gelding, £36 10s; 1 filly, £22 10s; 1 spring-carter, £ls 10s. 'There was a large number of sundries, farm implements, etc., and all were disposed of at satisfactory rates. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co (Limited) report having held, on behalf of Mr William Stewart, Tomahawk _ (whose lease has just/expired), a highly satisfactory clearing sale of the whole of his dairy herd, horses, implements, etc., on Friday. Besides a full muster of "Peninsula settlers, dairy farmers were present from the Taieri, Waikouaiti, and surrounding districts, and competition throughout was very keen. A start was made with the cows, which were a very fine lot, and the whole herd of 40 head was quickly disposed of at up to' £lO. The horses were composed chiefly of nice active spring-cartel's, and realised up to £2B. There was also a large assortment of implements and sundries, which brought excellent value in every case. PROPERTY SALES. Messrs E. L. Macassey and Co. report having sold the following properties last week:—On account of Mr John Milne, his five-roomed.house and outbuildings, together with section in. Parkside, Caversham, to Mrs Poulsen. On account of Mr James Anderson, his five-roomed housa and outbuildings, together with large section, in Forth street, to Mr William Lawson. On account of Mr Aitken, 220 acres freehold dairy farm at Waimumu, together with all crops and stock, to Messrs Searle and Hirons. Messrs Dalgety and Co. report having sold during the past month the following properties in Hawke's Bay:—The late Mr John Orr's Hukanur property, containing 1677 acres, to Mr John Muir, of Blenheim ; Mr Pat. Pattullo's Putorino Station, together with all stock, plant, etc., to Mr George Bee, of Fairfield, Onga' Onga, the late Mr James Barlow's Tikokino farm, to Mr W. J. Matthews, of Tikokino ; Captain H. E. Humphrey's Pakaututu Station, of 7620 acres, together with all plant, stock, etc., to Mr R. H. Nitz.

of Wellington; Mr H. H. Pharazyn's New. stead Estate, oontainin 2458 acres* also stock, plant, etc., to Mr P. Pattullo, of Napier; Mr John Muir's Puketitiri property, to Messrs Potter Bros. Including the above, Messrs Dalgety and Co. have during the past 12 months disposed of 42 properties in the Hawke's Bay district the total area of these being 84,234 acres. DUNBDIN HORSE SALE YARDS. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Go. (Ld.) report as follows: —There was a very good entry of horses for last Saturday's sale, the major portion of them being draughts, with a few spring-carters and weedy buggy sorts. There was a splendid attendance of the public, most of. the town carriers, as well as a large number of farmers, being present, and included amongst them were quite a number of actual buyers. Consquently we have to report a good sale. The consignment from Messrs Tubman Bros., Roxburgh, was greatly admired, and elicited keen competition. A bay mare in this consignment, sired by Wallace (imp.) out of a Cranbourne ina.re, commanded a lot of attention, and was eventually secured by Mr D. Lyon, Awamangu, for £6O. Another mare, by Pride of Elderslie, out of a Cranbourne mare, also came in for a lot of attention, and eventually fell to the bid of Mr Ewen M'Lennan, Berwick, at a satisfactory price. The balance of this lot all changed hands at prices ranging uip to £35. Mr Thomas Whelan, oS Roxburgh, also had a consignment of draughts forward, but most of them were rather stale for Dunedin market, and the highest price we have to record in this lot was £37 10s, this price being obtained for a nice five-year-old gelding. For other vendors we ©old a large number of draught mares and geldings at up to £35. Spring-carters were also in demand, but most of them forward were on the aged and small side, and our highest price in this section was £2O. The buggy horses on offer were a rather weedy lot, and highest price in this class we have to record is £l6. The demand for good young draught mares and geldings continues unabated, and _we could place any number at the, present time to advantage. We quote: Superior young draught geldings at from £4O to £45; extra good do (prize-winners), at from £45 to £SO; superior young draught mares at from £SO to £6O; medium draught mares and geldings, at from £3O to £4O; aged, at from £lO to £ls; strong spring-van horses at from £25 to £3O; strong spring-carters, at from £lB to £25; milk-cart and butchers' order-cart horses, at from £ls to £2O; light hacks, ab i from £8 to £l3; extra good hacks and harness horses, at from £l'3 to £25; weedy and • aged, at from £5 to £7. ,' OTAGO FARMERS' HORSE BAZAAR. The Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association of New Zealand (Ltd.') report:—We held our usual weekly horse saie at our bazaar, Crawford street, on Saturday last, when we offered a good entry of both light and draught horses to a representative gathering of buyers from all parts. Strong active draught horses, both mares and geldings, were in strong demand, and- we had no trouble in disposing of almost every heavy horse offered —in fact, the supply, although a fair one, was considerably short of the demand. For some woeks now buyers have been attending the market to supplement their teams with good heavy draught horses, and, although they have been able .to get a fair number, have generally to take one or two "light draughts to make up their complements: ..- Good, sound draught mares are particularly/ in demand, both for shipping and 'for farm work and general stud purposes, but strong, active geldings are also inquired for, and aire bringing* full market value. Light draughts met with a brisk sale on Saturday, and strong spring-carters suitable for tow» work were eagerly inquired 'for.'" The 'quality >of the light horses forward was scarcely as good as usual, and, we have no high prices, to quote, j" We have still several inquiries for sound-, reliable harness cobs. We'quote: Good young draught mares, at from £36 to £45; extra good Clydesdale mares, at from 45 to 75 guineas .;',lorry geldings, good: sorts, £35 to £45; extra, to £53; Ordinary draught mares and geldings, £26 to £32; I aged draughts, at from £8 to £2O; strong, upstanding vanners, at from £25 to £3O; extra, to £4O; heavy spring-carters, at from £lB to £2B; ordinary spring-carters, at from £l4- to £18; upstanding buggy horses, £ls to £22; hackneys and cob ponies, £8 to £l2.

were: —■ Mutton Lamb carcases. carcases; London 39,073 11,529 Liverpool 128,161 24,736 Southampton 4,250 — Hull ... ..." 1.163 239 Newcastle 23,207 1,325 Cardiff 7,706 812 Bristol ... ... 4,352 — Ireland ... ... 2,934 6,623

pared with March, 1910): 1911. 1910. Frozen beef- (quarters) ... 255,136 131,16? Chilled beef (quarters) ... 90,084 127,989 Frozen mutton (carcases) 159,876 179,098 Frozen lamb (carcases) ... 193,053 31,292 Butter (cwt) ••• 900 -10,547