LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8664, 6 November 1899, Page 4

LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

THE TE ARAI BUTTER FACTORY. Casual visitors to Gisborne, and indeed many townspeople, have little idea of the Urge extent of rich flat land that lies hidden behind the hills which, from the deck of a steamer, seem to encircle the district approaching to within a few miles of the shore. Amongst these hills, however, there are fertile valleys aud a vast area of the best agricultural and grazing land in the colony, capable of carrying a very lar^e and prosperous population. One of these valleys that is little visited by townspeople, bub up which settlement is gradually extending, is the Rae Valley, inland from Te Arai. The face of the country in this direction has changed greatly within recent years, and as it is being cleared of bush aud "broken in," the land is proving to be of excellent quality, capable of carrying large flocks and herds, and ot growing almost anything. The properties of Messrs C. Parker, Jex-Blake, Sisterson and Mcßae, and other settlers who have holdings in this valley, are among tho finest in the district. Another farm situate in this locality, which a representative of this paper had the pleasure of inspecting last week, was that of Mr David Hair, -who is occupying a portion of the Q'e Arai run, owned by the Hon. George Randall Johnson. Mr Hair has for some time past been engaged in the dairying industry, and his produce is some of the best known on tho local market. His operations has steadily grown until his dairy has assumed all the proportions of & factory, and become certainly worthy of description as amongst the leading industries of the district. The approach to Mr Hair's property, which is situate less than a couple of miles from Te Arai township, is one of the prettiest drives in the district. The Te Arai river winds sinuously down the valley, and along its banks have been preserved patches of native bush and giant cabbage trees, which give picturesqueness to the locality. Our visit was timed opportunely, jußt as the kye were coming hame. As we drew near to the homestead gates a herd of over seventy milkers were slowly vending their waydown the country road towards the byres, and as the afternoon sun set its rays upon their sleek and glossy coats it presented a pastoral that would have delighted an artißt and given good scope for his brush. Seventy cows in full profit is about the daily average handled by Mr Hair, and in addition there are often a number of others that are being dried off from which limited supplies of milk are obtained. The cows are, we understand, the property of the station of which this farm forms a part, and Mr Hair is fortunate in having for the supply of the dairy a herd of übout three hundred dairy coivs to select from. He is thus able to pick out only the best milkers, any which do not come up to a profitable standard of quantity and quality being turned out with their calves. The result is that the dairy is equipped with one of the best collection of cows that it would be possible to find in the district, or, indeed, in any part of the colony. The stock are all healthy and iv good condition, and even its very breath smells of butter, Seventy cows to milk night and morning involve a considerable amount of labor, but the milking is undertaken by rapid hands in a systematic manner, and the complete sanitary arrangements of the sheds, kind treatment of the cows, which makes them quiet and tractable, relieves the work of much of its difficulty and drudgery. For about an hour and a half at each milking time there is a merry patter of milk into the pails, and the big cans in which it is conveyed to the dairy are quickly filled. The byres occupy three sides of a rectangle, the centre of the yard being bricked, curved, and drained so as to ensure dryness and cleanliness, which latter feature is everywhere observable throughout the dairy, and is no doubt the necret of the excellent quality of the butter produced. The bails have an ingenious device by which they can be closed by the pulling of a string, thus avoiding the neceswiy of the milker approaching the heads of timid cattle. But there were few, if any, timid cattle in the herd of seventy being milked lust week. Gentle handling had given confidence between milker and milked, and even young heifers enter and leave tho bail in the most businesslike manner without a kick. From the milkint(-3hed we proceed to the dairy, where Mr Hair has just installed a new Alpha-DeLaval separator driven by steam from a compact little 3 h.p. boiler. The milk in the large cans is warmed by the exhaust steam to tho requisite temperature and is put into a lank above the separator, from which it runs into the bowl revolving at 5600 revolutions a minute, and reappears in separate streams of skim milk and cream. In this pail of the establishment everything is blight and clean, and the new maehineiy runs smoothly as well. The separated cream is taken to the churn room where the sumo evidence of cleanliness and the additional virtues in the buttermaker's code of coolness and good ventilation arc visible. Here are all the necessary appliances for the manufacture and " make up" of butter, of which we are informed Mr Hair's output is about 3501bs weekly and is likely to exceed 4001bs during the flush of grass in the summer months- The establishment altogether is very creditable to the proprietor, and is, moreover, a credit to the district. It presents an object lesson of the capabilities of the district for dairying, and as one rides away from the place and views the large area of land, ideal dairying country, in the neighborhood, on the flats, and amongst the several valleys of the district, one wonders that there are not many more factories and creameries in operation, sending a larue export of butter from the district, to rival the output of Taranaki, and bringing a steady stream of wealth to our farmers. A CURE FOR CHRONIC DIARRHCEA. 1 have been a sufferer from chronic diarrhrea ever since tho war, uml have used all j kinds of medicines for it. At last 1 found one remedy that lias been a success as dourt, and that is Chamberlaiu's Colic, Cholera and Dianhwii Remedy.— P. K. CinisiiAM, Gaara Mills, La. For sale by E. D Smith, chemist. — Advt.

One experiment the Hadfiold Projectile Company carried out lately, in which only one shot was fired, cost £1000. The shell pierced luin of Harvcyiscd steel armor, 9in of wood packing, and penetrated 30ft into a sandbank behind. Lieutenant Peary's vessel, Wimlw.ml, arrived at Brigus, Newfoundland, on Sept. 14. Her crew report that Lieutenant 1 eary I gotflfty milcsfurlher north than did Nanscn in the Fram. Ho would have been able to teach a higher latitude still bad be not suffered to badly from the great cold. His ; feel were frostbitten, ami he lost seven toes. He was compelled to retreat, and was h.iulc-1! nearly a hundred miles upon a sledge. He remains ftt Btali for the winter, and tho Windward will return there in July next. The Fram left Etah in August, but owing to the ice, could only make five miles in six days. Ur Svenson, of the Fram, died during the winter.