DAIRY FACTORIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2750, 17 July 1883, Page 3

DAIRY FACTORIES.

ME BOWROX'fI LKOTUEB AT OBBALDINB. On Friday evening last, Mr Bowron, who i« employed by Government to promoto the establishment of butter and cheese factories throughout the country, gave a lecture on "Dairy Farming" m the Oddfellows' Hall, Qeraldine. The room wo» fairly well filled, a good many farmers being present, also several ladies. The chair was taken by Mr W. U. Black, who said he bad great pleasure m presiding on the occasion, not only because the lecture they were about to hear would be an interesting one, but also becauso the subject of it was of great importance to the district. At a meeting held a short time ago to discuss the question, the member for the district, Mr Postlethwaitf, was asked if possible to obtain the Government permission for Mr Dowron to come down and give a lecluro on dairy farming, and the rosult of his application was that the gontleman was present that evening. They would all agree with him that the thanks of the meeting were due to Mr Postlethwaite for his services m this matter. (Hear, hear.) He understood that lotne farmers were dubious about the success of the proposed dairy factory. He trusted these persona were present, m order that they might bear the matter fully explained. Trade m the district was very dull, and it was the duty of everyone to try and improve it. Every farmer should help to establish the local dairy factory, and if they went hand m band there was no doubt of its success. Ibis unity of action did not always characterise the dealings of farmers, he was sorry to lay. On the contrary, it was as if some five farmers whose lands adjoined were harassed by the sparrows. Four of tbeae agreed to buy poisoned wheat to destroy tho pests, but the fifth — reasoning selfishly — relied on the efforts of his four neighbors to be protected from damage. He hoped that the fifth farmer wonld hare few disciple?, and that Bveryone m the district would join to make their undertaking a success. He would now introduce the lecturer, Mr Bowron. Mr Bowron said his yieit at this time- was due to the efforts of Mr Postlethwaite, who sought him out m Wellington and then used his influence to get him to come down here. Since his last visit he bad travelled over a jood deal of the colony and seen many wonderful things. He had been much struck with the natural wealth of the country. Of the mineral wealth he knew but little, though be had had ample proof of its existence. He had no idea of mining, and little Bxperience m it. Onoe, however, he had some slight experience of it which was quite sufficient to convince him of its precarious nature. There was, however, ether wealth than that contained m the bowels of the earth, m the broad plains, fertile valleys and hillsides of the country. In every blade of grass there was gold. Sold mines were liable to beoomo exhausted and unremunerative ; but it was not so with the soil, which if properly treated yielded a greater return than even the richest quartz. He was about to speak on the subject of dairy produce. He had travelled through every country where oheese is made, to buy for the Home markets, and for many years he had devoted himself to cheese-making, and was therefore thoroughly conversant with ths subject. He had travelled and obtained information m England, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and America, and could say , with truth .that not one of theie countries was so well adapted for oheesemaking as New Zealand, the climate here being so well suited for the industry. In England there was grass for only six months m the year, m some parts of the country for only four months. Of Amerioa the same might be said. Here, however, grass grew for nine months.' This would at once show the wonderful advantages New Zealand possessed compared with those countries. There cheesn could be made for six months only, whilst m New Zealand it could be made for nine. The question, Will oheese-making pay ? was one often askod. When he came out here he saw several specimens of cheese, and out of five only met with two good ones. He asked himself the question, Is it the. land that is at fault ? And had to como to the conclusion that that could ' not ba the bait, as some of the cheeses were as good as the best Somersetshire. ■ No, it was not the land but the manufacture of the cheese that was at fault. He had had ft good deal to do with the Ashburton oheese fabtory, and was therefore anxious to learn something of the quality of the oheese made there. In his travels he met with a Sydney merchant who assured .him that the cheese made at Ash-' burton was as good or better than that made at any other place. : At another house where Aehburton cheese was set on tho counter, he was informed that every one said it was good. In Auckland it ' was m demand. All this confirmed bU first impression , that as good Cheddar cheese oonld be made here as m England, and as good American cheese as m America or England. It was not a question for him to deoide whether oheese should bo made here on the English or the American principle. That was, a question for the shareholders of »ny oompany. Both were good, and . both paid. In the- North Island he came m oontoot with a gentleman who' had 1100 oows on hi* estate. On his asking the question, How do yon milk such a number? The gentleman pointed to the oalvea running witt

the cows ; and m answer to an inquiry as to he price of calves, he taid they fetohod from :i guinea to 25 '. Thoeo cows there'ore only gave >i roturn of 25s m tsrove month*. He Paul In this gentlomin, Why uothavi- noheese fa"tory nnd make tv<"ry oow ram, not 25?, but £12 or £14, and that gentleman was building a factory, and many others m tlio North Island were doing the same. The estimates of the quantity of milk a cow would giro m a yent varied a good deal. He knew one gentleman who owned 20 cows and pent his milk into London, who got 740 gallons of milk from ono cow m tho twelve months. In America it was said o pow should give from 660 to 700 eallonß m tho year. His own opinion wsb that a cow Bhould average two galloiiß a day nt least for 40 weeks, but numbers of pcoplo maintained that a cow should do more. Two gallons a day would be equal to 6 cirt of cheese m the lime. In America it was said a cow would produeo milk snflloient to make 6 cwt of choeeo m tho year. His own cows m finglund did not average 5 owt, because ho kept pedigree cows and took some of the m'lk for the calves ; but his neighbors' cows avoraged 5 owt, and some 6 cwt. He knew one man who kept 40 very ordinary cows, evory one of whL-h gave 5 owt of cheese, which ho sold at 70a a owt. Assuming that 5 cwt of cheese was made from tho milk of one cow, and that this cheese coulil bo sold at 6Jd per lb, he did not think that too high a price to calruluto upon; cheese, was lusher thin that now. In one store ho knew cheese was selling at. 71 d, and very iufe-rior stuff it was. In Wellington the price wna lOd, lid and Is per lb. Supposing tho 5 cwt of cheese could bo sold at Gid per lb, that would give £15 a year from ono cow. The price of ono p.iund of cheese was a small sum, but £15 a year per cow was not a bad return. If a factory were started the price to be given to the farmor for his v.ilk could bo ngreed upon. If the shnroholdors wore farmers, they would get tho full profit from their milk m their dividonHs. Supposing that 4d per gallon was given for milk, and eieh cow gava 660 gillons, the factory would pay £9 6i for tho milk. He know a man who rented 50 acres of land, who kept oows and sold his milk to a dairy factory. In two months ho received two cheques amounting to £60. That sum paid hi« rent md left a good balance besides. Ho, therefore, bad his firm free of rent for ten months. Ho could a?eure them that this was n fact. If i dairy faotory paid Iho farmor £9 6s for his milk from one 03w (by a cow, he must be understood to mean a full grown cow, not a heifer, say a cow five or six years rid) they ivoultl hare a good profit left, seeing that at. :lio calculation made the milk would produce 615 worth of cheese. This was a good profit, and made a dairy factory better than an oil well, which might run dry; — betterthan a gold mine. Indejd, it was a gold mine. The £5 14i was not the whole profit, eithor ; for, besides that thoro would bo the profit from the pigs, fer pigs must be kept m order to make use of the waato products, whey, io. Pigs fed on tho whey would ronlise a profit of 30s each. In England, it was eaid that overy cow would feed two pii;s. It was a wellknown fact that nothing made better pork and biicon than nboy nnd barley meal. A factory of 600 cows would, at any rate, feed 600 pigs, not all at once, but by fattening a certain number and selling them off to make room for others. 600 pig* would realize at the very lowest £900. at 30a per bead profit. Tho profits to tho dairy faotory therefore would bo £5 14s per cow, and £9>o f r pigs. Was not that worth going m for ? It had beon said, If we all start dairy factories, where shall we find a market ? In Australia, where they could make choese only a few months m tho year, the population was rapidly increasing, and n market could be found there. The Asbburton factory cent Bomo there, and got 8d and Odperlbfor it, and if the cheeses had been smaller, lOd or Is could have been obtained. There was a great outlet m Australia, and India, the Pacific Islands and England were open to receive large quantities. For the first six weeks m eanh season they should make small cheeses, cay from 12 to 201 b each, for the Home and Australian markets. Tho weather would perhaps be cold, and therefore these cheeses should be placed to ripen m a small room artificially heated. At tho end of six weeks the cbeeees could be Bent away, as at Srst they would not be so gojd. They should be careful never to allow tho milk from a newly calved cow to bo put m with the milk to go to tho factory, at least not for seven or eight daya, as such milk would cause the cheese to bo uneound. From what he had fluid, it would appear that oheese, made either on the English or American principle, would pay better than fattening bullocks, possibly better than sheep, though m England nothing paid so well as sheep. In England be had bought lambs at £1 each, sold the wool for 6s 6d, and m nine months sold the sheop for 60s or 545, without ■pecial feeding. He bad next to cay a few words about butter. Grumblers will tay, "If we all go m for making cheese, what shall we Jo for butter, and bow will wo rear our :alvei ? " His own practice at Home was to feed the calf for tho first month on milk ; lfterwards with a little linseed or porridge. Calves would do well on this diet and thrive. He kept 150 cows at one farm and 60 at another, and his plan always succoeded. If they went m for making butter, and suppose they got 660 gallons of milk from a cow m a year, this would give 6 cwt of oheese or 2001 b of butter. If the butter could be sold at Is, this would give £10. He named Is per lb because be thought butter would settle down to a regular prioe of not less than la per lb. Taking the calf and the pig fed from the cow into account, it would be eeen that there was not much difference botween the return) from a butter and a cheese factory. The great advantage Now Zealand had over tho Old Country was that m the latter they had to feed the cows on hay, etc, for a great part of the year, whereas m New Zealand thero was no necessity to do tbie. There could be no doubt, however, that it would be most advantageous if farmers would make a little hay for the winter months, since the cow could not givo milk unless sho whb kept m good condition. There were many points be had not touched upon m his remarks, but a pamphlet on dairy factories was being printed by the Government, and would be ready for distribution m a few days. TMb pamphlet would contain plana, estimates and statistics of all kinds relating to dairying and supply much further information. In a butter factory » difliculty cropped up as to what was to he done with the skim milk. Of course a few calves or pigs could bo kept, but skim-milk cheeie was not good. The plan of separating the cream from the warm milk was now being practised by the Aylesbury Compiny, and 100 gallons of milk per hour could be treated m this way. The milk being put m, the cream passed out at one side and the skim milk at the other. A great storm of indignation was raised m London a few years ago on account of the Americans (co it was eaid) putting pork f»t into their skim-milk oheete, to supply the place of oream. He went over to America to enquire into it, and a gentloman was good enough to explain to him the whole process. A certain amount of cream was taken from the new milk and its place supplied by the kidney fat of tho bullock. On asking how they managed to make the fat mix with the milk, ho was shown a very ingenious machine m whioh a cylinder covered with innumerable small hair-like wires, revolved m a chamber and caused tho fat to mix. The cheese made m this way was very good. He bad been 46 years m the trade and could not have told, it from a cheese which m the trade was callsd half-and-half, or one m which some ekim-milk was used. It was a good passable cheese, and tho manufacturer had more orders than he oould supply. The lecturer then referred at some length to the disadvantages of the trunk system or tho system of barter. He then read extracts from two letters whioh he hud lately reoeived from England from two friends m the oheese trade, whioh would give some idea of the market. They were as follows : — " We have been expecting your Now Zealand oheeses. (He had said he would' send 100 tons.) What a pity, we oould have done with any quantity, and obtained good, prices." "No cheeses by British King. If they had come we could have sold 100 tons at from 74s to 84s per cwt. We have never had so bare a market." The great advantage of shipping cheese Home -would artte from the fact that our winter wai their summer, and cheese from New Zealand would arrive at Home at a time when the Home market was bare of oheese — that is, m the months of April, May, and

.Tune. He really thought the people of New Zealand would bo to blamo if they did sot avail thempelres of so pood an opening. No mntlcr how much cheese or butter they could m»kc, I hero was Mom for all. He would lay a plan of b factory upon tho table, a plan of a factory for 800 cows. Of course ibey could bo mudo any s : zo, for from 100 to 800 cows, nnd could bo erected at a cost of about £3 per cow. The price list and schedule were tutan at Wellington prices. The plan was drawn by a Government surveyor, who bad allowed for every contingency, and would undorlake the work at a cost of £3 per cow anywhere ; but ho thought they may safely say that the work could bo done at £2 10a per . cow. Mr Bowron then resumed bis Beat, which was the signal for loud and continued applause from the nudionco. Mr Colrman asked Mr Bowron whether he had m his travels met with a dairy at work m which the machinery m use was made m the colony. In reply, Mr Bowron said ho had teen three, a small one nt Greytown, another m Taranaki, nnd a third ono. From Mr Bowron's remarks it would appear that thora waa no reason why the machinery could not be made here, provided good material and a good model were obtained. He hud also seen the Edeadalo Factory at work. Mr Shiera : Have you e«en Ihe Aehburton factory at work, and what ib your opinion of the machinery ? Mr Bowron : Yes. The vati and presaea ire as good as any that can bo got. Ho had übtained some of the plant. They were made »'. Tarporley m Cheshire. The presses had taken several first piizes. In reply to the question, Are you nware whether wo can get a competent manager m ho colony ? Mr Bowron said that wasaquestion )ften aeked. He was of opinion it would be aecesjary to go Home and get out ten or a lozen men at first. These would be able to nstruct others, but m the meantime the lupply of managera must either be drawn : rotn Home, or from America if the American jrinciplo wero adopted. It would alto be veil to get out four or fire Wiltshire bacon mrera. In roply to Mr Coltman, Mr Bowron said rata at Christchuroh cost 30s, at Tarporley 15«, and that the horizontal press would be lecded if American cheese waa to be made. Tho perpendicular press would be used m the .nanufacture of Cheddar cheese. The American plant was tho cheaper. In reply to Mrßhiers he said he hai seen factories built of timber m the North Island. Indeed, it was necessary that the cheese room should be of wood. He liked wood for construction. Mr Firth's factory vu of conorete. The tenders for this factory of 600 cows were — wood £600, concrete £660. He had no interest m the matter, oioept that he felt certr.in the thing would pay. Mr Mundell asked what distance would Mr Bowron consider the maximum from which milk should be brought. Mr Bowron said he thought milk should not be taken more than four mile;, and it should all be m the factory by ten o'clock. If. would not do, either, to put cold and warm milk together; it would get sour. He also described the method m which the milk was tested. Mr Bh!ers : Do you think there is the slightest possibility of our getting a suitable manager iv tho colony ? Mr Bowron : There are men who could make cheeso on a small scale well, but the chances aro ten to one whether such a person would bo able to manage the steam appliances and work a large factory. Mr Mundell: What area of land would you consider necesiary ? Also, is a running stream a necessity ? Mr Bowron : Tho area of land would depend greatly on the number of cows ; five or ten acres might do, but the more room for tho pigs the better. It is a matter of detail. The Aabburlon Company hare ten acres, and they are sorry they did not get the whole paddock. A stream of water was not of great importance, as they must hare a well. Their first point to consider would be how many cows they thought would supply the dairy, and the probablo increase. If 600 cows, the cost of machinery and buildings, but not including the land, could be set down at the rate of £2 10s per cow. Mr Coltman hoped those preaent would tako note of the last statement, as it had been said that it would coat very much more than £1500, the cost estimated at the outset. It would seem that £3 per oow was the outside cost. In reply to another query, Mr Bowron (aid that for tho first six weeks it waa best to make only small cheeses, say from 12 to 20 or 30 lbs, and get these quickly turned into money. The cheese for the London market should be from 70 to 80 lbs, or from 56 to 84 lbs. These, by last mail advices, would realise 9d per lb. At the olose of the season, also, the cheese would not be 88. good, aa the graas was not so good. The quality of tho milk, too, differed considerably, from 8 per cent to 12, 13 and 16 per cent. Mr Coltman proposed, and Mr Maslin aeconded— " That a hearty Tote of thanks b* given to Mr Bowron for his lecture." Thiß was carried with acclamation, as waa also a vote of thanks to the chair, proposed by Dr Fish.