FARM AND DAIRY.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8081, 18 December 1906, Page 1

FARM AND DAIRY.

When Mr J. Gilruth was lecturing at l'arkvale he laid great stress on the importance of thorough cleanlim ss and sterilisatiou iu lite use of daiy uten-iis. ihe veterinarian referred | especially to the importance of keep- ' ii.j; i lie lulling of miking uiucbiu-'S free from ah oacttria by scalding in boiling water followed by immersion in ice cold water. l'iie fact that milking machines have come to stay, ■ like shearing nir.chinfs, lihs led to a pioposal tlia: all milki:,g uiicliiues on ) fauns should be subjected to G.over.i j iurt.t inspection, riven now many farmer!) do not realise the necessi^ of keeping the machines absolutely clean, and ihe proposal tor inspection appears to be a very wise one. Experiments iu the cool curing of cheese, which have been discontinued for various reasons by the powers thai be, are about to be taken up again, this tune under Government supervision. For the past two years efforts have been made to deuioustia'e that curing is desirable to enhance tl e value of cheese, and experiments were conducted at the Dalefield factory. ihese experiments were not a success, the reasou being the lack of definite figures caused h\ the factory staffs inability to give the necessary time to the work, coupled with the apparent unconcern of the Dairy Commissioner, Mr Kinsella, who was opposed to any experimental work. The refusal of the then Minister to countenance any subsidy for experiments was possibly a reason for the late Commissioner's seeming negligence ; but little progress was made. Now this is to be changed and Mr Cuddie, the new Commissioner, has decided to carry on experiments this summer, which will demonstrate to a certain extent the advantage or otherwise, of the cold curing of cheese. The Hou. 11. McNab, the Minister in charge of the Department, has consented to the expenditure of a small sum of money as a subsidy, and the work will be started as soon as Mr Cuddie has procured a suitable man to take charge of the necessary plant.

In view of the great interest aroused by the practical demonstration of the L.-K.-G. milker at the recent Auckland Summer Show, it is interesting to record the opiuions of dairy authorities outside of Auckland province with regard Co the present and future relationship between this machine and the dairying industry. Speaking to Mr T. L Jo!!, of Okaiawa, who turns out 1000 toua of butter annually from his factory, and consequently holds the proud position of making the largest output of butter in Taranaki, a .New Plymouth Daily News reporter ascertained that those of Mr J oil's suppliers who have gone in for the machines are delighted with them them. "I hope to see," said Mr Joll, " machines on nearly every farm in my district next year." The cows, he says, take readily to the niHchiues; in fact they appeared to like the machines better than the hanti-inilking, and so far as the teats are concerned, there is no diminution at all in the machine article, and equally good results are being secured wherever th« machines are employed. With the introduction of the machines commences a new era in dairying. Farmers will be able to rid themselves of child labour (which will be a great bleaaing), and conduct operations themselves where they are now working on the aharea principle. The machines, in fact, will put the industry on a sound economic basis for the first time, and allow of good profits being made out of dairying even wht . the prices now ruling recede to a much smaller point. In view of the great commercial success Mr Joll haa achieved in the dairy business, his opinion is a very valuable one, coming as it does, from a practical man who has had many years' experience, not only of dairying matters, but also of the labour problem.