The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1913. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 32, 12 June 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1913. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

1 mulshing as it does about three millions sterling of the value of New Zealand’s exports, the dairying industry is of the greatest importance to the country, and anything therefore that may tend to give it a check or'

sot-back, wants most carefully watching. That it is, above all things, necessary to maintain the reputation New Zealand has gained for the high quality of her dairy produce has again and again been urged upon those engaged in the industry, and it is not at all comforting to find that, in some quarters, advice has been unheeded, and our own Government experts are intimating plainly that sufficient care is not being taken, and that there is even a tendency towards deterioration instead of what wo should always aim at— a higher standard of quality. Negligence of that most essential condition—scrupulous cleanliness in the various stages from the cowshed to consumer, is, the experts state, a largely contributing course, and Mr Cuddie himself, the Dominion’s Chief Dairy Commissioner, has spoken very plainly on the subject. Advices received from London indicate that lie lias not said too much, and that his strictures on the methods, or want of method, which many engaged in the industry are guilty of, are justified. It is most apparent that however much the Department tries, it can do little without the co-operation and good]

sense of the dairymen themselves, and if tliey are so short-sightedly oblivions of their own self-interests, then their ease is hopeless. It is useless also for those engaged in the industry to deceive themselves that a complaint hero or there will make no difference, because the eyes of our competitors are keeping close watcha ml they do not hesitate to adversely comment, A leading Sydney journal publishes a lengthy article from a New Zealand

correspondent, and further discusses the question editorially. The considerable decline in prices for our cheese, though of course not altogether attributable to a falling off in quality is, no doubt, to some extent due to this cause, and the Australian paper holds out this as a warning to those engaged in its own State. '1 hat New Zealand can do well we are assured, and that it is the few and not the many who are the cause of this check in tiro steady, forward march, is certain. It has many times been pointed out that under the factory system one offender may do much towards tarnishing the good name of the produce which that factory places on the world’s markets. Therefore, in theii own protection producers and suppliers should take strong measures to bring offenders to account. Admittedly, there is no real reason why we should lose our high placp as producers of the finest butter and cheese, and if proof of this were wanted, the splendid exhibition of factory produce, gathered from all parts of New Zealand, which may now he seen at the Winter Show at New Plymouth, is surely evidence enough.