THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 37, 7 October 1912, Page 5

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

LORD ISLINGTON ADDRESSES ELTHAM ,G ATMERING.

DAIRY COMPANY’S PROGRESS

Saturday marked an epoch in tho history of’the Eltham Dairy C ompany, for was not the company’s new curing warehouse and store-rooms opened by His Excellency the Governor, Lord’lslington? The building, which is milt in concrete throughout, occupies in imposing position directly opposite tho local railway station. It is a direct result of the growth of the company’s business of late years, and, it is understood, will mean a considerable saving to shareholders during the season. There was a fair number of fanners and townspeople, including members af the fair sex, >at the entrance to tho building (where a platform had been erected) when the proceedings opened shortly after four o’clock. The official party on the platform wore: His Excellency tho Governor, and the H011..W. Carncross, M.L.C., Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (MVP. for the district), his Worship tho Mayor (Mr T. B. Crump), Mr, J. T. Quin (chairman Eltham County Council), and Mr H. 1). Forsyth (chairman of directors), who presided. / Chairman’s Address. Mr. Forsyth, in opening, referred to the purpose for which they had assembled—viz., the laying of the foundation stone, or, rather, seeing that the building had been erected, the installation of their cheese-curing factory 7 . All realised that the installation of cheese-making had been attended with great strides at the different factories, and thus it came 1 bout that there was need f ar I he present building.. Probably they 7 did not know that the building was one of the largest in the Dominion. Altogether, it contained seven big rooms, the two largest being 177 ft x 64ft and T J Oft x SOft. There was accommodation for no less than 7300 cheeses; or, in other words, 270 tons of cheese, tho output of the factories for 24 days. Still there was ample room for expansion, and with alterations double the output could bo bandied. Alongside this immense storeroom there was a railway siding, whereby the cheese could be quickly shipped away after being cured and prepared for export. Something like four years ago it was decided their methods in butter-making were out of date, and the scrap-heap served a useful purpose. But he would like to tell them that the company had paid the same sum of money to suppliers as they would have received ’f they 7 had continued in tho old way. And with the installation of cheese and an improved output he was satisfied tho payments would bo double what it was even with the improved butter methods, and butter only. Ho read a table of prices and quantifies paid out, and received, at the Eltham Factory for the last twenty years. In conclusion, Mr. Forsyth stated that a number of apologies for -absence from tho ceremony had boon receiver] from a mimber; of proponent settlers and dairy factory, managers in the district, and then introduced Mr., C. A. Wilkinson,. NLP. The member for Egmont was'heartily applauded when rising to address tho gathering. Mr. Wilkinson express, ed-pleasure at Hie presence of. His Excellency; ) jtliel represdntativfej i > of the King, amongst them, who had come to Fjltljam af 7 soiqe' ■ Tnhoriv| n i eu6 p| tr| himselfi j/and their thanks* were'dud to him for interesting himself in this, (tii them) very important undertaking. He (Mr. Wilkinson) was sure the remarks of His Excellency would he a source of interest and inspiration’To tho farmers to continue in their work, as ho was blessed with no mean ability in many directions besides |,;oj.ng, a farm'd 1 ; 1 sti thatMie -tckjk' Ti! great ini terest:in the present undcrtakiitgrMr Wilkinson, continuing, said .-ho - hoped the farming community 7 would .continue to put in good work, ns there 1 vva's allot yet to be clone in New'Zealand in addition to what bad already been done. He would have liked , His Excellency to have seen some of the district in its virgin state, but "their distinguished visitor was no theorist, and ho knew from his drive round the district that day that where they wore now smiling farm lands and a prosperous people, a great amount of energy and toil had been expended on it in the past. In his (the speaker’s) opinion, there had been rather too much clearing; the forest had been cut right down; and there were no reserves left to show what the country was like in, its virgin state. He believed that this phase of the question, tree-planting, especially round the homes, would have to lie seriously considered. It would interest His Excellency to know that amongst tho gathering were some of the settlers who had taken up land in tho early days. Agriculture was the greatest industry in New Zealand; in fact, the greatest industry in the world, and they should endeavour to develop it to the fullest possible extent. It was fitting that the spirit of co-operation was alive amongst them, as shown by the fact that farmers wore owners of butter and cheese factories, freezing works, etc., besides owning a line.of steamships for tho transport of their produce to Wellington. A matter that struck him forcibly while in Wellington was that out of ten professors at the college there was no professor of agriculture; that was a remarkable state of affairs in a country such as theirs. Owing to the bequest of the late Sir John Logan Campbell, however, who had -set aside £'20,000 for the establishment of a Chair of Agriculture, Auckland would benefit in that respect. But there ought in his opinion to he Government Agricultural Colleges, and they should not he too narrow-minded in regard to them; in establishing them, sites should he chosen close to the universities, when the management and teaching would bo host, and especially where they would he of the greatest possible value to New Zealand. Still, there was work for the farmer to do in the direction of making country life as attractive as possible, so that the young people would not want to leave the farm and go to the city. The proper cultivation of land was of tho utmost value to the country. Mr. Wilkinson concluded by again thanking His Excellency for bis visit to Eltham. . (Ap : plause.) Mr. J. T. Quin, Chairman cf tho Eltham County Council, briefly spoke stating inter alia, that he was one of the early settlors of thirty-throe rears ago, having seen the progress of the district from the era of standing bush up to the present day. Ho was not a choose man, nr a butter man, hut was present simply as a representative cf the settlers on the Conned, whose duty it was to make roads and—he said it himself—to levy taxes, so he reminded them that the Council could not make bricks without clay. (Laughter and applause.) Presentation to His Excellency. Mr. Forsyth then introduced Lord Islington to the gathering, remarking that lie was a keen agriculturist. Amidst applause, Mr Forsyth presented His Excellency with 1 lie trowel used in laying the foundation-stone. An Instructive Address. His Excellency, who spoke at some

length, said it gave him very great pleasure to have the opportunity ot taking part in such an interesting ceremony, and one of such importance to the residents of Eltham and to the community at large. He was quite sure that the able state to which agriculture had been brought would add more and more to the value of the industry of agriculture, and to the products of the district. They certainly appeared to bo possessed of a very fine building, and lie < oiigratulat- ! ed them on it. It gave him very great pleasure to have tho opportunity of /corning to Eltham and meeting so many of the inhabitants, as well as the agricultural producers cf the district. He had not tho opportunity to come before. Had lie bad the opportunity and time, he assured them he would have been amongst the agriculturists a great deal more than he had been privileged to be during the past few years, but bis time had been taken up at the centre of the Dominion, and lie was only able to make infrequent visits throughout the country. Then ho was always pleased to dye encouragement and tho benefit of his experience, and his own common-sense and to suggest in those, matters as. one who had been intimately connected with agriculture in the Old Country. Ho had for many years taken a great interest, not merely in tho question of agriculture, as they saw it in this country, but ho had taken special interest in it as a member of a Royal Commission, where the information and the experience gained of practical duties largely concerned the industry in this country. He realised, as Mr. Wilkinson did, that it was not only the intrinsic and material value of agriculture that was to be considered. Agriculture was if very peculiar interest to this country ; it was essentially an exporting country;, its whole progress, great iiZ was i.t only sixty years, was due to it; «nd its future welfare also depended upon the progress of agriculture; and, further, it was the foundation upon which must hinge_ all Q|c'Lcollateral trades and industries in the country.

Nothing had impressed His Excellency more during his journey in their district, and about New Blymohth, than the great method of co-operation, which was the .whole essential < f trade in Taranaki. He realised that they recognised its importance, and they' would do so more and more as year after year went by. No one know bettor than ho (the . speaker) .did, what an arduous life was attached to their particular branch of agriculture; ho sympathised with them, and appreciated their hard work, early in the morning and late at night, as it so often was. But to that must bo applied the best thoughts on scientific farming. It was now recognised that tho more a farmer put into the ground tho more he got out of it. (Hear, hear) And that led him up to the question or manures for the land. He had been told that a great deal of land in their district would ho worked cur in ten years, but there was no likelihood of it being worked out in one hundred years if scientific methods in the Ijruittor of manuring wore, applied t!p it. The particular type of manure suitable ■ for the land inkthe branch of agricul-ture-..being caß , ried,,pn urns, what they ‘wouUr have’ To find Tiulnure much used iu_tho Homo Land—and he knew 110 better— was basic'slag. He advised them to treat even a portion ot) their, landpwith it eacb-yejar;; and soj mak'q |oy tyh|; improvement qf the farin’ as a whole. As to the question of milk affdTWitter-fiff 1 testing, j 1 is Excellency said**-he understood tiiijs was and' Tie'fcdligratul.itied thehii.iipilil».Jue, ifacf j.lafikl in t.'.iih connection lie referred to the testing of 25,006 cows throughout Taranaid. His Excellency expressed interest in thelpuThrlfe (■fr'TOhf.MEfigl?, Chaii-L man of the 'Stratford Dairy Company, on this matter. Mr. Dingle said that the average return per cow was 170 lbs., and pointed out that an increase of (only' ret'jMNipilQß2Bo* lbsif whira=wban a profit of no less than £IB.OOO in. one lyfiar.'.lt AasQio' useHcprilllitiod His Excel B kV&ster s of cows; 200 lbs. was only a moderate re- ■ turn.! So/nW berdsi' had- A rfehtfWVMf iio less than 300 lbs. ; now, if that -average was "maintained throughout too Dominion the increased value of trade, even with the same number of cattle, would bo close on a million sterling. : The co-operative system in vogue was next touched upon, and the people were congratulated on the same by His Excellency. A stage further would ho reached later, lie felt certain, when a federation among them would exist. The idea might be new to some of them, but he believed they would agree with him in the years to come. As to their box factory, which ho had tho pleasure of visiting, he had never seen anything more up to date; it was the very last thing in skill in that direction. Their cheese and butter factories were , the very latest tiling in scientific methods, but there was another-stage. In Europe they worked on still extended co-operation, which was not touched yet in New Zealand. That was in regard to marketing and sale. Ho would not at all be surprised if in a few years time they would find they could reap great benefit in the matter of purchase of their material by this method. They would have to look at this thing carefully, because it was in these small matters that the profit to the farmer was made. (Applause) They could get a great deal out of co-op-eration; they must see that then- produce was put on the Home markets in such a condition that it suited their customers. There was nothing more important than that. Even such a small matter (sojne may think) as the colour of their butter should be carefully watched and attended to by the agents. Some of their customers were most fastidious, and anything affecting the trade at all should be immediately cabled out to the producers. His Excellency went on to say that he would watch most carefully, and with the greatest regard, the ,pjlogress of New Zealand in the years 10 come. They must have a thoroughly scientific and up to date college. ’ In the Argentine, South America, Canada, the United States and in European countries, the latest scientific methods were being applied to agriculture, and this must bo met by the opportunity being given for education in agricultural colleges. The permeation of knoivledge of improved scientific methods would work wonders in the country. One other aspect that concerned him was the means cf transport and communication. They had constructed many miles of railways during the sixty years the country had been settled, but he had no doubt that if they were to make tho country fully productive, they must have some form of light lines, tramways, he would call them, constructed on the roadside, and acting as feeders to tho main lines, With the water power available they would be able to make material progress in settlement and production. His Excellency, in conclusion, assured his hearers that all he had said was only evidence of the great interest he had always taken in the Dominion while occupying the position of the King’s representative for the past two and a half years. He wanted to see the Dominion push ahead, and become one of the most stable and greatest food producing centres for -the Old Country and for other cov.ll-

tries. Notwithstanding Canada's groat area, there was a large and increasing market lor New Zealand buttei. oui years ago New Zealand exported on y til,ooo worth of agricultural products to Canada; in 1912 the amount had risen to £300,000; while tor the first tlirce months the increase alone m the export of agricultural jirodncts to the sister Dominion was £-12,000. “1 thank you,” said ills Excellency, “for your kindly indulgence and appreciation of my remarks, and 1 can assure you that it lias given me very great pleasure to come to Eltham, and j have also very greapleasure in formally declaring this stone well ami truly laid. This is done— (and the action was suited to the word) —-by pulling this curtain down. Yon wi Ij, agree that it is a fairly simple job. (Applause.) . . The stone displayed to view on the ride of tho building bore an inscription relating to the ceremony, and also held tho list of directors. The building as a whole reflects great cicdit upon the builder. Mr. I'. Amoore. Cheers were then given for His Excellency on the call of the Mayor, and after a few remarks by his Worship, further thanks were accorded Lord Islington by acclamation, and the company adjourned for tea, which was laid out" in the building under the supervision of Mrs. Foster.