ITEMS.

Waipa Post, Volume III, Issue 147, 20 September 1912, Page 4

ITEMS.

NOTES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Mr J. P. Stuart, of Eketahuna, manager of the Dairy Union butter factory for the past nine years, has, says an exchange, accepted a position on the Dairy Commissioner’s staff, with his head-quar-ters at Palmerston North. Some idea of the labour conditions obtaining in Canada is given in the following paragraph taken from the “ FaTm and Dairy” to hand by the last ’Frisco mail: Unless labour conditions improve or the milking machine comes into more general use, the cost of living in so far as dairy products are concerned, is almost certain to go higher. During the past two years milk and cream have advanced fully 25 per cent in the cities of Canada, while good butter and cheese have kept all through the year and would have gone higher for the former product had not the demand been relieved by importations. The advance is not due to inferior cows, or lack of feed nearly so much as to a deficiency of suitable labour. Women milkers (and these were not always most satisfactory) have gone out of. the business,*ind men who will drive a team on the arm and milk 10 or 12 cows properly morning and evening, are becoming harder and harder to find, and whenfound have to be paid a good stiff price for their labour. Many a herd that the owner would like to increase has to be kept down to a number that can be handled by one man or boy in addition to the farmer’s family. A prominent milk producer near Ottawa owning a large herd of excellent cows recently found it necessary to sell off the entire lot to make way for beef cattle. To keep milkers seemed impossible even though the highest wages were offered. Except in purely dairy sections where most people grow up to milk, the situation is constantly becoming more acute until the adoption of the mechanical milker seems to be the only relief in sight. Referring to a suggestion made by Mr T. McPhillips at the annual meeting of the Kaupokonui Dairy Company that it would be a right step to x'ecommend the Government to brand cull cows which gave only a small yield, Mr Fulton, of the Dairy Commissioner’s staff, is reported as having assured the meeting that testing would work out their salvation. Farmers would not go to ordinary stock sales to buy culls —these would not be got rid of except as stores or fats. Farmers would not go to get heifers from good strains. Continuing, Mr Fulton said he felt certain the country was not half well enough off for bulls. There were plenty of common animals to be seen — bulls without lineage. What they needed were good sires to get good heifers. Some farmers had, at great expense,' gone to Jersey and the States to get bulls with authentic records. This was a dairying country, and it was high time that something more was done to supply this want of bulls with records of butter-fat to recommend them.

The London judging of the fat stock classes at ourvarious shows, in order to be of any value at all, must be above suspicion of error. The possibility of error, however, has been suggested by Mr Basil Thompson, of Awahuri (says an exchange). He was an exhibitor of fat longwool lambs at the last Feilding show, and won first and second prizes in his class. The various exhibits were sent Home, and there re-judged in the usual way on the basis of their commercial value. The details reported on in London included the dead weights, which, in the case of Mr Thompson’s two winning lambs, were returned at the light weights of 371 b and 381 b. lie considered that these weights could not have been correct, or the New Zealand judge would not have awarded him first and second prizes. Discussing the matter, members of the Feilding A. and P. Association suggested that, owing to the strike disorganisation, there had been a mix-up at Home, and more prominent branding of exhibits in future was advocated. It was decided to inform Mr Thompson that the members considered an error had occurred.