Cheese Factories.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1884, 15 September 1886, Page 2

Cheese Factories.

Whilst we read of the success of various factories recently established throughout the colony, notably at Wanganui, Woodvill* and Taratahi, it is a matter for regret that our own is not in a more flourishing condition. The cheese turned out of the establishment has been pronounced by ooncoiseurg to bo equal if not superior to any in the market; there is consequently a ready sale for it at n satisfactory figure, out the worst of it is tho supply of irilk has been so limited that tho directors have not been able to get a sufficient quantity to enable (hem to manufacture the requisite quantity of cheese to make it payable. It will be readily admitted by anyone who has thought the matter over that tho larger the quantity manipulated at the factory the less the cost of the cheese per lb proportionately, tbqt is to say the present manager with the help of labor saving machinery (probably about to be introduced) oould work up a great deal more than he does now if ke had the wherewith to do it. It is a lamentable state of affairs when after tradespeople and other* have so very liberally come forward and taken np shares in order to benefit tbs district (more especially the farming oommuuity) that there should be such an amount of apathy displayed by the farmers themselves. Why is it they will not assist ? If ysu ask a nonsupplier the question he will tell yon " It won't pay to sell my milk at that price, what am I going to do with myjoalves, and so on.” Now it has been conclusively shown over and over again that it pays better to eupply the milk to the factory at 3sd per gallon than it does either to make batter or feed calves ; let any one try the experiment. Very few oowg will yield milk rich enough to produce lib 0| batter from 2) gallons of milk, a price equal to about 9d at the factory,; and again take the cost of milk given to the ealf, the labor of feeding it, the grass it will eat; reckoning this up you will find that it will pay you to buy your oalf as a weaner (if you want one) and meantime take the milk to the factory, and let more cows have the grass which was intended for the calves ; or would it not pay to set aside some of the inferior oowe, and give their milk to the calves—-keeping only the best cows for the factory supply. I think so. When the butter is made at home, what an amount of drudgery it entails upon the wife (generally), who, by- the way, has plenty of other things to engage her attention. By supplying the factory all this is avoided, besides which the money is paid by cheque at the end of eaoh quarter, equal to from £6, to £S per cow for the teuton ; tbe better the oow the bigger the cheque of coarse, therefore get good cows. Whereas if the butter is taken to tbe shops to be retailed, the producer has to take whatever tbe current rate is, let it be 4d or Bd, and in all probability has to take the greater portion of it out in goods, which is not always oonvenient. Doubtless tbe reason why many adopt tbe latter course is that they are impressed with the fact that if they abstain from supplying tbe factory there will be a better market for their butter ae there will be fewer producer* of that commodity. I will admit that to an extent it is true, but this state of affairs will not obtain for long ; it is already on the tapis that on* or two large dairymen contemplate starting a butter factory in (he immediate neighbourhood, north of Greytown. Should anything come of it it will at one* be seen what effect it would hare. Batter oonsamen would very quickly show their appreciation for an article which had been manufactured by the “ separator ” process, and abtoluttly freed from any impurity ; and these people who hold aloof from our factory would find their market gone, and be glsd to come in with (heir milk, bnt they must remember this fact, a very important one too, that unless they rally round next month and send in a plentiful supply of good milk, it will be impossible (or the director to carry the thing out to a successful issue. In my opinion the course hitherto pursued by dairymen living in oloie proximity to tbe factory has been anything but a wise one. Tbe mere fact of having such an institution in our midst adds to the value of every acre of adjacent land suitable for dairying purposes to the extent of fully £1 per acre. I hope that in future a little more of theepirit of our American cousins will be displayed, and that our farmers will show by their action that they appreciate the effort* of those who were liberal enough to lend their assistance in a pecuniary way in establishing such an important industry in this little village of ours. THE WHET.

It is much to be deplored that the whey cannot be turned to better account. Two years ago the directors tried the experiment of pig raising; some expense was incurred in erecting piggeries, fencing and so forth, but the venture proved to he anything but a profitable one, the greater portion of the pigs dying through having been fed on whey which had not stood for 48 hours,

Last year tenders were called for the purchase of the whey ; the price paid for it was something like I-BUI of a penny per gallon ; yet even at this low figure I was assured by the contractor it was not a paying spec, due principally to the fact that the factory ceased operations too soon in the season, and contrary to the general rule there was absolutely no sale at all lor porkers, either here or at Wellington and bacon coring time was “ not yet” It appears to me that the practical solution of the difficulty would be for some two or three enterprising men of capital to put their heads together and their hands in their pockets and go in for the bacon curing business. A piece of good arable land somewhere near the factory would need to be purchased ; this might be divided off iuto paddocks, one or more of which should be put down in root crope, peas and beans. By feeding the whey, mixed with a little pollard and roots, to the pigs kept iu the adjoining paddocks until the factory closed, then hardening them off with the peas and beans they would be in prime condition for bacon at the proper time, and under these conditions 1 believe the thing would pay well. i( ig almost, if not quite, a disgrace to a district like this that such a quantity of bams and bacons should have to be imported into Wellington from Canterbury and other places when there is nothing to prevent their being manufactured so much closer home. Ibid,