State Aid to Co-operative Factories.
Under a vote by Parliament the State makes advances to farmers to establish co-operative dairy factories. The loans extend over a period of fourteen years, and 4 per cent. interest is charged.
Condensed Milk.
The Preserved and Condensed Milk Industry promises to become important in the near future. Six factories are now in operation.
Messrs. Nestle and Co., the world-renowned firm, have invested $480,000.00 in their Preserved Milk Industry in Queensland. It speaks well for a country when an old-world firm such as this is prepared to invest so largely.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
A large area of South Australia is eminently adapted to successful dairying, and while the summer is dry, rendering it necessary to make provision for succulent feed for several months, the temperate nature of the climate enables the dairyman to keep his cows in the open right through the year, the natural shelter in timber country being sufficient, except on a limited number of days of extreme wet and cold. Stall feeding for weeks at a time is unknown; the necessary shelter sheds can be cheaply provided, while the labour of feeding is, under these conditions, reduced to a minimum. In the northern districts conditions are not so favourable as in the south, but even here dairying can be profitably carried on; the fact that land is much cheaper compensates for the shorter period during which the natural herbage supplies practically all the feed required. In some of the driest of our farming areas dairying has largely replaced wheat-growing, and, although the yield per cow is naturally not so high as under more favourable conditions, still low rents and large areas of natural pasture enable the farmer to make a fair profit.
The Cream Cart, North Coast, N.S.W.
The Dairy Industry, though of considerable magnitude, has not made as much progress as was anticipated. This is probably due to the fact that wheat-growing and sheep-breeding combined offer greater attractions to the farmer. These industries require a great deal less labour than dairying, besides which the work is not so continuous. So long as highly profitable returns can be obtained from the production of cereals and the breeding of lambs, the Dairying Industry is hardly likely to make the progress that would otherwise be possible, though there has of late years been steady and continued development in the industry, especially in the northern districts. In the south and south-east, where conditions are more suitable, there has, on the other hand, been very little extension.
Large quantities of butter are exported to Broken Hill and West Australia throughout the year, while during the spring months shipments are made to Great Britain.
Butter is exported in increasing quantities to Great Britain each year. In normal years from 1400 to 1600 tons are shipped.
Cheese is not made on such an extensive scale proportionately to butter; indeed, in some seasons sufficient for local consumption is not produced. Practically all the cheese is manufactured on the Cheddar system, and an article of very high quality is produced in the best factories.
Special facilities are afforded by the railways for the conveyance of perishable goods, and cream is forwarded by the dairyman to the city factories from districts 300 miles distant. Payment is usually made on the butter-fat percentages; and in order to afford suppliers an opportunity of checking the returns received from private factories the Government established a butter factory in connection with the export freezing works at Port Adelaide. At this factory every can of cream is sampled, and the quantity of butter it will produce is ascertained by the usual methods, and the supplier is paid accordingly.
A considerable number of butter factories have been erected in South Australia, and the butter produced is generally of high quality. The butter made from the milk of cows grazing on the natural herbage of the country is of splendid quality and colour. Hand separators are in general use, the cream being sent to the factories for treatment. The percentage of butter-fat in the milk of cows grazing on the natural pastures is unusually high.
Practically the whole of the midland, central, and south-east districts, excepting that portion east of the Murray, are suitable for dairying practice when carried out on systematic lines. The prices for such land for dairying would range from $24.00 to $240.00 per acre according to location, soil, and rainfall. No special terms are offered by the Government for the occupation of dairy lands. Most of the repurchased estates are in districts suitable for dairying, and these are allotted under covenant to purchase. The purchase money is paid off in seventy half-yearly instalments (the first ten bearing interest only at the rate of 4 per cent. on purchase money). Purchase money may be completed at any time after nine years. Reliable particulars of successful dairying are difficult to obtain. It is safe to say that there are many hundreds of dairymen making comfortable livings throughout the State.
Fodder Crops—Lucerne, Mangels, Rape.
Capital may be safely expended for dairy practice, especially by careful and intelligent men who have families, and they may depend upon making a good living, especially when they combine dairy practice with pig-raising. There are many instances where gross returns are obtained of from $38.40 to $72.00 per cow per annum, and this in districts where the milk is sold to the local co-operative or private factories, but where they are situated within forty miles of Adelaide, and are able to take advantage of a good train service, they can deliver their milk to the capital and obtain gross returns equal to about $76.80 to $96.00 per cow per annum.
Interior of a Cheese Factory.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
The Dairying Industry has not developed as rapidly as other branches of farming in the State during recent years. The cause of this is attributable to various reasons, one of the number of which has been the difficulty of obtaining suitable farm labourers. The majority of young men who have embarked in farming in the Western State during the last decade have favoured the lightly-timbered belts more suitable for wheat and sheep raising in preference to the heavily-timbered land suitable for dairying situated in the coastal districts of the south-west. That there is in the State an enormous area of land which is eminently adaptable to the growing of fodders necessary for successful dairying has been amply demonstrated. Since 1905 indefatigable efforts to advance the Dairying Industry have been made. An estate at Brunswick, in the vicinity of Bunbury, about 100 miles south of Perth, was purchased by the Government, and 800 acres of it was vested in the Department of Agriculture for the purpose of a State Dairy Farm, on lines that could be copied by a practical dairy farmer; also—
(1) For supplying stud stock of the best strains procurable at reasonable prices to dairy farmers.
(2) To demonstrate that with the assistance of irrigation a small acreage of land can be made to carry a large number of stock.
(3) Where a variety of fodder crops can be introduced, and experimented with so as to ascertain their value for feeding-off, both in a green state for curing into hay or for preserving into big silos in a succulent form.
Capacious cow and calf stables, suitable sheds, and piggeries were designed and constructed as an example to be followed in starting an up-to-date dairy farm. A herd of dairy cows, of some of the best Ayrshire strains in Australia, was collected, as well as a fine number of Berkshire pigs, purchased from the most successful breeders and importers. Three large tub silos, capable of holding 250 tons of fodder, were erected in which to store winter-grown crops as well as the summer crops under irrigation.
"Crown Prince," Guernsey Bull.
An irrigation scheme was carried out, and the results have been most successful. The following dairy fodder crops have yielded prolifically:—Oats, rye, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, vetches, field peas, cow peas, lucerne, mustard, Jersey kale, field cabbage, turnips, swedes, mangel wurzel, silver beet, buckwheat, potatoes, linseed, pig melon, paspalum, Italian canary grass. The0 irrigation plant is capable of dealing with 80 acres of land in the summer months. Some of the land thus treated is the rich dark alluvial on the river bank, while a portion is on the higher clay plateau, and consists of land typical of many thousands of acres in the same locality. The land in its virgin state was timbered with red gum and flooded gum, and cost about $38.40 an acre to grub and clear, and on such land with irrigation in the summer two heavy crops a year can be depended on.
Milking Shed.
Shortly after the State Farm was established the Government purchased over 500 dairy cows in the eastern States, and these were sold to Western Australian farmers in lots of ten at cost price on two-year terms, with 5 per cent. interest added.
The Government engaged a highly-qualified dairy expert in the person of Mr. Kinsella, of New Zealand, to visit the districts most likely to give attention to the dairying industry in the immediate future, and by means of personal interviews, addresses, leaflets, and concisely-written pamphlets, Mr. Kinsella did valuable work in distributing information and directing the beginner on the right road to successful dairying. Mr. Kinsella subsequently severed his connection with the department, and he has been recently succeeded by Mr. Abernethy, who has obtained the very highest diplomas in England in connection with dairying. Mr. Abernethy recently arrived from Great Britain, and has now entered upon his duties, and it is confidently believed that his efforts will result in a number of farmers being induced to embark in the industry on sound and practical lines. The new selector will also have the benefit and the advice of the Director of Agriculture, Mr. McNulty, on all matters concerning his soil, his stock, and the marketing of his produce.
Lands for Dairy Farming.
With a view to settling practical farmers with limited means on the rich and heavily-timbered lands in the southern portion of the State the Government have a large number of surveyors at work surveying the land into suitable sized blocks, ranging from 200 to 700 acres each. Main roads have been cleared to serve these areas, and a proposal to clear 10 acres on each block for the plough is now under consideration. Railways will be pushed through this country as rapidly as possible. The annual average rainfall over this country averages from 35 in. to 40 in., and the land contains some of the richest soil in the State.
Price of Land.
The price of land ranges from about $4.80 to $19.20 an acre, and each new selector over sixteen years of age will have the right to practically a free grant of 160 acres, additional land being available at approximately the prices quoted, the payments for which will be spread over twenty years without interest. The selector will also have the privilege of borrowing from the State Agricultural Bank for ringbarking, clearing, water conservation, and subsequently for stock and implements, the loan being repaid over a term of thirty years, for the first five years of which interest only at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum will be payable. Prior to the blocks being thrown open the prices will be advertised and the amount of loan the bank is prepared to advance to suitable applicants on each block will be fixed.
Devon Cattle in Australia.
Prime Herd of Jerseys.