FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81898, 3 December 1906, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY.

CO-OPERATIVE VERSUS HOME UAIRVING. BUTTER-FAT AND LAND VALUES. '"Co-operative Dairyman' 1 sends us tile followingin locking over thv dilf .nt balance sheeis of varioudairy companies published in 'he newspapers this seas in, I was struck with the raujJ; of prices paid lor butter fat, some reaching lojd, while others were under (jd. fue questioa might be asked, dues this dttfcrencc represent 'ac price paid for butter and quality ol the same? In reply 1 say no, but chiefly, on the cusi ol production, and this hinges on the supply. Thus a factory that is equipped to turn out 100 tons of butter annually i 3 only turning out 50 tons, and the cost of tunning is near y the same. The reason of this is that- within the area which l.vas counted as likoly to supply are a number who are making their own butler as they consider they get more into the:r pocket by so doing. This may b.' true, looking at it on the surface, but is not so in reality. In proof of this as~er.:'a 1 will ask, Wheie do '.>e find farme:s of the most prosperous condition* Toe answer is, Wtiere every dairy farmer is supplying' milk to the nearest co-operative factory. This is four.'! in S<"'u*fi Taranaki, wheij; homt <'«:.yi ;s unknown. Land values i.avc gone steadily up because the iji.'.i..r fat values are at high water niu.'k. Doe.s this affect laud value? The best of South Talaraki land wiil cany one c<-w to every one and a half acre, and each cow will av. rage 240 b= of butter fat. Tuis at one penny pef lb means 13/4 per acre; or we will take North Taranak land, which will carry one co<.v to three acres, and will average iSobs of butter fat. This at one penny means 5/ per acre. One can -fce by this how in a district where there are a number of borne butter makers and the low price paid at the nearest factory for butter fat land values are aiso low, as prospecI've buyers are guided more by wnai done at the factory tnan by an individual, and he can depend upon | getting re iable information there. U is co-operation that has bruughi our dairy industry into tue place u now occupies in the world's markets, and were we all to revert =j home dairying we would soon see a slump in prices. In the meantime, owing to a good demand for produce, the home dairyman is drawing benetits to .which he is not a contributor, like a parasite sucking the sap whicn anotuer has drawn for nim (I do not apply this to those who are in out-oi-me way places and cannot get to a factory). There is another phase of home dairying to wlucu I would refer befoie concluding, and that is slavery. It is not often the farmer himse.f who attends to the dairy work but his wife, or maybe, a daughter, and as this has to be attended to under all conditions of health it is not infrequent that we iiear of Mrs or Miss So-and-So being ill. At the piese.nt time 1 coul l point out a few who are more or l.'.vpioitraicd by this overwork or worry, and when trie doctor;' bills have >0 be paid this is where toe apparent piont goes. Tue factoiy farmer's ■Aife does not suffer so much this way, but he can use her time more profitably at something moie suited to a woman's constitution.