MILK AND BUTTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1920, Page 8

MILK AND BUTTER.

i SAVINGS OF THE PRODUCER, ■SOME STRIKING FACT'S, Says the New Zealand Dairyman: It is time the average dairyman ceased to foolishly disfranchise himself, and, instead, set himself to follow the example of the labor unions in the matter of securing political solidarity for fcis class. After pointing out that Labor is quite well represented on the Butter Committee, it says; This committee is to con-/ sider how much wages the butter producer is to have for.his labor; how much the dairy farmer's sons are to have for their work from the peep o' day to set of sun; what the daughters are to have for their never-ending work. Beautiful, is it not? People who work from 8 am. to 5 p.m., and who leave off religiously before the clock strikes 12 on Saturday, are going to try to fix wages you are to have. But, if the dairy farmers would put aside all their local differences, and all voto for the same ticket, the efforts of the trades unionists would be quite nullified, for the farmer would have such a majority in the House that the labor unions would have practically no say in these matters. But it is the danger of the immediate future with which we are concerned. The labour agitator, while quite content to pay five shillings ner pound for his butter-fat bought as fresh milk, declares that he will not touch a "blanky box of butter" if he does not get his own butter at a price that will not give the producer more than one shilling and ninepence for his butter-fat. is the logic of the agitator. In the meanwhile something must be done. Every butter producer in tl\e Dominion should send the member for his district a wire protesting.against ally such proposal for tinkering with a-purely economic question. The only standard for values for our primary products is their f.o.b. price for export. With the single exception of the member for Patea, perhaps, none of the committee have any great knowledge of dairying, and for their information the "Dairyman" gives as under the wholesale prices to be paid for the milk consumed in the cities of Wellington and Atlcklahd:— s. d. March—per gall, of lOilbs 1 4 April „ I <j Mft y . », ~ ........ I 6 June „ „ 2 0 July „ „ .... 2 0 August ' „ 2■ 0 September „ „ ......... 1 4 October „ „ i, 41 From September to March the Wellington City Council pay Is 4d per gallon. M these prices any dairy farmer within ..forty miles of Wellington will receive for lOOlbs of milk lis lOd for the first period, 13s od for the second period, and. for the third period, the winter months, 18a 3d net delivered at his railway station. Now, Ave would ask every dairyfarmer in New Zealand to give some attention to what is to follow. Up to the present no factory but the Glaxo has «ver paid two shillings and fourpence per pound for butter-fat, no cheese factory has ever paid out more than two shillings and twopence farthing; and no butter factory litis ever paid out more tiian two shillings, even with the aid of casein. These figures are much more effective when set out in tabular form, thus:— s. d. Price per lb of Butter-fat. Highest price paid for milk " as fresh milk 3 5$ Highest price paid for milk for Glaxo 2 4 Highest price paid for milk for Cheese 2 Highest price paid for milk for Butter 2 0 Arguing on the obvious significance of these figures, the Dairyman contends that instead of wasting their time tinkering with the price'of butter, the Committee would be much better occu- | pied in trying to devise a method" of providing fresh milk for the poorer people of the cities. Butter, as will be seen from the above, is and always lias been the cheapest thing made out of milk. It is, it says, only because tile city dweller has no idea when he is buying a pound of butter that he is getting rather better than two gallons of milk for his money (to which he may add say threepence for the by-products'-, .that lie irises any objection to the fair value, namely, the f.o.b. value, being charged for it. As it is, every factory in New Zealand that jins a double plant is going to make cheese, as that will give the best return for labor.