A FAVOURED LAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1924, Page 5

A FAVOURED LAND.

IDEAL FOR DAIRYING.

NEW ZEALAND’S POSITION. COMPARISON WITH DENMARK. The New Zealand dairy farmer is in a fortunate position his lot is compared with that of the dairy farmers of Denmark. Nature has more liberally endowed him with fruitful soils and an equable climate; machines make his milking hours easier; he milks only twice a day as against thrice in Denmark, and he may take a holiday during the slack period of each year.

These and many other advantages belong to the dairyman of New Zealand and it is, perhaps, because of them that, on the average, he must yield first place to the Dane as a scientific farmer. What the Danes lack in natural advantages they have to make up in scientific methods. Some interesting observations on dairy farming in Denmark and New Zealand were made to a Daily News reporter yesterday by Mr. Just Moller, London manager of Chr. Hansens Laboratory Ltd., ■manufacturers of many well known dairy and food preparations, who is on. a tour of New Zealand. Mr. Moller said that he had been particularly struck with the potentialities of New Zealand from the point of view of the dairy farmer, and expressed surprise that it was not being flooded with settlers desirous of making their homes in such pleasant surroundings. He was sure that, if the Danish farmers were aware of the conditions in New Zealand, they would soon cease to carry on under the unfavourable natural conditions of Denmark, preferring to settle in New Zealand. DIFFERENCES JN METHODS. “Our methods of farming in Denmark are entirely different from yours,” Mr. Moller said, “because nature, I think, has been more generous to the farmer in New Zealand than it has been to those abroad. We have to work on very economical lines, using every square foot of ground.” The cattle were not allowed to wander indiscrimately over the fields, but were tethered in rows, the tethering stakes being moved forward as each patch of pasture within the limits of the ropes was eaten. A paddock cleaned up, the cattle were then moved to another field.

Science has played a big part in developing the dairy farms of Denmark, and every encouragement is given to the farmers to quaEfy themselves in this important phase of their work. How many New Zealand dairy farmers, seeing a paddock failing to yield a good pasture, could take a sample of the soil and analyse it to find the cause of the trouble? It is safe to say that as yet there are comparatively few, but the vast majority of Danish dairy farmers can do it. If a boy desires to become a farmer, he generally spends a year or two on a farm after leaving the primary schools to acquire practical experience, afterwards attending an agricultural college, where he receives training in the sciences applicable to his chosen career. The lesson is being learnt in New Zealand, for agricultural science is taking every year a more prominent place on the curricula of the secondary schools- It is interesting to note tha{, despite the need (or intensive culture and the fullest development of her dairying resources, Denmark does not seek to teach agricultural science in the primary schools.

REGULATING SUPPLIES. Life on a Danish dairy farm is a continual round of work for 365 days in the year. Calving is so arranged that there is a full supply of milk all the vear round, and, consequently, Denmark is able to keep un regular supplies of produce to the London and other markets. It is only in the summer months that the cows are pastured in the fields, being housed and hand fed during the remaining period of the year. AU milking is done by hand, .-.nd there are three milking periods each day. Mr. Moller said that there was considerable objection to milking machines in Denmark, but he thought that, with greater knowledge of the possibilities of the machine, they would eventually be installed. The cattle generally used were the Red Danish and the Jutland, the Jutland being somewhat similar to the Friesian but smaller.

In Denmark the dairy farmer is paid, not only on a butter-fat basis as in New Zealand, but also on the bacterial content of the milk he supplies to the factory. It has been found that this method of paving out ensures the maintenance of high quality milk. Mr. Moller also mentioned that there was no home separation in Denmark. He had thought that home separation would reduce the quality of the output and he was surprised to learn that some of the best New Zealand butter, of which he had been a regular consumer in London during the past few years, had been made f?om separated cream.

SYSTEMS OF GRADING. After paying a tribute to the beautiful types of dairy cattle he had seen' since he arrived in New Zealand, Mr. Moller went on to make flattering references to New Zealand’s system of grading, whereby every box had to bear the grader’s stamp before it could be exported. He thought this a much better system than that adopted in Denmark. There the Government laboratory has the right to demand from each factory three kegs of butter every year. The kegs may be taken within a few days of each other or a few weeks, while months may separate the dates on which the kegs are demanded. On these three kegs the output of the factory ia graded. To the factory manager obtaining the highest grading marks a gold medal is awarded. It is a tribute to the skill of one manager that in competition with the 1763 other factories in Denmark, he has won this medal for 19 years out of the 20 in which he has competed. The penalty for excessive moisture in the butter submitted for grading is drastic but effective. The factory manager concerned is forbidden to export any more butter until he wins a first prize at one of the dairy shows, three of which are held each year.