Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. "MEASURES NOT MEN." LAWRENCE: "WEDNESDAY, 9th OCT., 1901. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4898, 9 October 1901, Page 2

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. "MEASURES NOT MEN." LAWRENCE : "WEDNESDAY, 9th OCT., 1901. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Is writing of the progress of the dairy industry in this colony there is only one solitary cause of regret and that is that the farmers and people generally of this district are not sharing as they might be, had they shown a little more enterprise, in the wealth produced by this the greatest and most stable of our national industries. At the present time New Zealand is more than holding her own in opening up th 9 British market to the industry, despite the keen competition which has to be faced from so many quarters. Up to comparatively recent years the Danes and Swedes were the great exporters of butter to the Home aaarket, and still hold the first and second place, respectively ; but the development of the cold storage system and the fitting up of ocean steamers with refrigerators enabled Canada, New South Wales and Victoria to enter this most profitable field and gradually to become noticeable competitors. In 1899 the United Kingdom produced 85,000 tons of totter, but it imported 169,492 toas more. As this colony at that time only supplied 6,800 tons, it must be clear, considering her present position in the market, that she has little to fear from any of her rivals. In 1898 this colony only exported some 4,800 tons i but for the ten months ended October last we have been able to land in British ports 50 per cent, more than the record shipments of 1899 ; so that when the returns for 1900 are completed it is certain the progress shown should be of a most encouraging kind. Only New South Wales showed greater increase last year than this colony. Victoria, our greatest Australian competitor, advanced 45 per cent, ; but the other States of the Commonwealth have been long since outstripped.

Pew people imagined less than a dozen years ago that tfie British breakfast table would be supplied from the dairies of this the remotest of all the British colonies. And probably fewer still imagined that dairying for the British market would provide one of the most profitable occupations for the mass of the settlers in this colony. Yet so it is. The values of the colony's dairy exports are already half the value. of its gold exports, without reckoning the large amount of batter

and cheese which is consumed within the colony. The export figures for the past dozen jears are very instructive. They show, briefly, that in ]888 the value of the dairy produce" exported was £197,170 ; in the following year it was £213,945 and from thence onwards it went up by leaps and bounds until in 1899 its value was £711,647. In 1900 the dairy expoifta should reach close on a £1,000,000 sterling ; for UDtil the end of October the British markets absorbed £500,000 worth of butter alone. During the same ten months Victoria received £1,000,000 sterling and New South Wales £215,000. All Canada took was only £1,113,956, so that the Australasian

colonies have left Canada far behind. ' Strange to say, though little Denmark ] is still easily king of the dairy coun- , tries of the world, carrying away in , 1900 tho enormous sum of £6,800,000 for the splendid article, superior to that : of all her competitors, with which she supplied the British markets. She is tbe smallest of all the butter-producing countries, but she exports the most and also the best. It should be the ambition of this colony to oust; her from that commanding position and to win for herself the profitable laurels of a worthy and honorable industrial battle. The Danes and their North Sea neighbor^ are the only competitors there should be any difficulty in excelling, bub possibly we may accomplish that feat in time. Victoria is handicapped to the extent that she cannot rely on regular rains to keep her pastures up, while Canada's capacity is affected by the fact that she has to feed her dairy stock through the long and gevera" winter months. Russia, it is to be noted, is becoming a most vigorous butter producer, though the quality is not very hioh. ; and France, which sells £2,000,000 worth of butter annually in Britain, is a competitor of note, though it is thought she has now at. tamed something like her full powers of production. And if that be the case New Zealand should certainly be able ia the near future co pass her oa the list. Our butter export trade is only barely 15 years old and yet it is an important factor in the world- market of London. In this connection it is of interest to remember that this colony exported less than 14 tons of butter in 1875 and speedily rose to 1,000 tons in 1889. With such facts before us there need be no hesitation in confidently assuming that this colony must in time outrun all her rivals in the great competition now in progress. This great industry must, of course, always be associated with tbe factory system. At the close of 1899 there were 152 butter factories in the colony, of which 85 were in Taranaki, 18 in Wellington province, 16 in Otago, and 14 in Auckland province. Much of , . our superiority in the X/ondon market ia without doubt due to the system of j grading introduced by the Government, which has had the effect of ensuring uniformity and inspiring confidence in customers. That the farmers of the colony realise the value of the industry may be gathered from the fact that a year ago Auckland had 80,000 cows and heifers for dairy purposes ; Taranaki, 77,458 ; Otago, 72,223 ; and Wellington 72,527. We can only again repeat our regret that this district is shut out from ail participation in this profitable industry and entirely, let us add, because of the lack of spirited enterprise among the farmers themselves.