Part 2

There is no doubt that rapid as has been the expansion of this industry in Australia, its development has been distinctly retarded by the want of reliable milkers.

But what is the farmer's bane is the farm labourer's boon. The scarcity of labour has checked the farmer's operations, but it gives the man seeking employment a wider field.

Competent milkers readily find employment at $4.80 to $6.00 per week and keep. In every important district good dairy hands also have facilities extended to them for entering into arrangements for dairying on shares, with profit to themselves (see pp. 16-18).

(2) An Inferior Stock of Milk Cows.--The fact that while in many districts there are to be found dairy herds averaging barely 300 gallons per cow per annum, with a butter fat percentage of little over 3.5, carried on the same class of land as herds which average over 500 gallons per cow, with over 4 per cent. butter fat, will enable any dairy farmer to realise how much room there is for improvement in this thriving young industry, and what scope there is for the man accustomed to get the best results from his land and his herd. But the Governments of the respective States afford special facilities by way of importing and placing at the disposal of farmers stud cattle of the highest standards. Private persons are also doing a great deal in importing and breeding high-class animals. Herd-testing associations are becoming more numerous. Farmers are learning that it is profitable to keep milk records and to cull out of their herds the cows that do not give payable yields, and pronounced advancement is being made in this direction.

(3) Occasional Dry Seasons.--The effects of dry spells, which sometimes occur even in the best-watered dairying districts, can be greatly minimised by the conservation of fodder, by cheap and easy methods of silage. So rich is the country in succulent natural grasses, and so congenial is the climate, that farmers exhibit a tendency to rely too much on the bounty of the seasons. This is what the Scottish Commission meant when they referred to the friendly climate as being the dairyman's most dangerous enemy. It is true that in normal years milch cows may depasture the whole year long on the natural pastures, and on this food alone yield milk of magnificent flavour, producing butter and cheese of the highest quality. But there should be put by to supplement the natural fodder during dry times a supply of food either as hay or silage. The experts of the various agricultural departments strongly advocate the use of the silo, but the advice has not yet been generally adopted.

As the loss in the silo is insignificant, it can be realised how cheaply ample stores of the best class of stand-by fodder can be conserved. Silos to hold 100 tons cost about $480.00 to construct, and a cutter and elevator about $144.00. To this would have to be added the cost of a horse-works or engine, but until a settler is in a position to indulge in the most up-to-date outfit, he can follow the usual practice of serving his greenstuff in the form of stack silage, which entails a very moderate outlay.

Many crops excellent for silage are easily grown, and the cultivation areas need never be idle for a day at any time of the year. As one crop becomes fit to use, the land can be replanted irrespective of weather conditions. For instance, in spring (September) maize or sorghum can be sown, either over the whole area at once or at intervals of a week or a month up to January. In three to three and a-half months, during which time the pastures are at their best, and there is no need for supplementary fodder, the first of the areas will be ready for use as green fodder, or for conversion into silage to serve as a cheap and juicy winter fodder. In many districts as soon as the earliest-sown maize crop is harvested a second maize or sorghum crop is planted, and by the time that is ready to cut, barley and vetches or field peas can be planted to come in to supplement the stores of winter fodder.

Maize is harvested for silage when the cobs are well filled, and the grain is beginning to glaze; at this stage a normal crop will yield about 20 tons greenstuff per acre. Sorghum will produce about 15 tons, and barley and vetches or peas about 10 tons per acre. Wheat and oats are often grown in order to be cut for hay, and make an excellent fodder.

Another most valuable crop to the dairyman is lucerne, which will keep in a well-built stack for an indefinite time.

(4) The Farmer's inexperience and ignorance of Scientific Dairying.--To this last point the Scottish Commissioners furnish a reply in their report.

"A great many," the report states, "of those engaged in producing milk have had no training in the business. If a man can milk a cow, or is willing to learn, he thinks himself quite able to run a dairy farm. In time, if he is intelligent and observant, he becomes as expert at his trade as if he had never done anything else; but his experience has certainly cost him a good deal. The men who are neither intelligent nor observant learn little from experience, and their dairy methods leave much to be desired. It is they who breed their cows anyhow, who keep no kind of milk records, who think it economy to bring in their cows to the calving as hard as wood, who depend entirely on pasture for food, who make no provision for drought, who have nothing to learn from anybody, and who are keeping the reputation of the Australian cow at a level much below respectability. By-and-by, no doubt, this type of man will become scarcer. The State Governments are doing what is possible to spread abroad scientific knowledge in dairying matters, and a younger generation is growing up that has been made familiar both with the practice and the theory of milk production. When their time comes it is certain they will make dairying highly profitable. The fact that, with an average milk yield of 'something under 250 gallons per annum,' the industry as a whole is in a prosperous condition affords the most remarkable testimony possible to the excellence of Australia as a dairyman's country. What will happen when the average doubles itself, and attains, as it surely will, the moderate figure of 500 gallons per annum?"

A Phenomenal Growth.

Starting out with splendid natural advantages--a wide range of soils of great fertility, indigenous grasses of high food value, and a congenial climate--the dairying industry in Australia has made phenomenal strides.

The establishment throughout the chief districts of co-operative factories, owned and managed by the farmers themselves, and the introduction of cold storage greatly stimulated its growth. During the last decade its advancement has been remarkable. The Australian dairy industry is based on the world's markets. Every year the demand in various countries for Australian and other dairy and farmyard products increases, and the large home market is also expanding.

The facilities for supervision, handling, and transportation are improving, and Australian dairymen to-day obtain high prices in both local and outside markets for their produce. It is stated that in South Australia dairymen who delivered good cream were able to secure from the factories an average of $0.22 per lb. from the butter made therefrom.

The following table shows at once the advance of the dairying industry (including poultry farming and bee culture):--

TEN YEARS. +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ | | 1902. | 1912. |Increase.| +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ |Dairy Cows No | 1,113,911 | 2,086,885 | 87.34 % | |Pigs No | 777,289 | 845,255 | 8.88 % | |Hives No | 80,111 | 167,441 |109.01 % | |Production (quantity)-- | | | | | Butter |79,572,327 lbs. |187,194,161 lbs.|135.25 % | | Cheese |10,005,787 lbs. | 16,160,491 lbs.| 61.50 % | | Bacon and Ham |30,608,345 lbs. | 54,192,175 lbs.| 77.05 % | | Honey | 2,873,763 lbs. | 8,007,492 lbs.|178.63 % | | Beeswax | 68,243 lbs. | 130,959 lbs.| 91.90 % | +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+

FIVE YEARS. +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ | | 1907. | 1912. |Increase.| +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ |Production (total value) |$74,803,200.00 |$97,344,000.00 | 30.13 % | +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+

TEN YEARS. +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ | | 1902. | 1912. |Increase.| +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ |Exports (Value)-- | | | | | Butter | 1,820,371.20 | 16,044,681.60 | | | Cheese | 20,592.00 | 27,648.00 | | | Condensed Milk | 55,689.60 | 92,308.80 | | | Bacon and Hams | 37,060.80 | 328,814.40 | | | Lard | 6,100.80 | 177,902.40 | | | Frozen Pork | 70,339.20 | 79,972.80 | | | Honey | 7,891.20 | 9,235.20 | | | Other items | 269,246.40 | 78,859.20 | | |-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+ | Total |$2,287,291.20 |$16,839,422.40 |636.21 % | +-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+

The United Kingdom purchases the great bulk of Australian butter--about 88 per cent.--but considerable quantities also go to Canada, Ceylon, China, the Dutch East Indies, Egypt, Hongkong, the Islands of the Pacific, Japan, Philippine Islands, the Straits Settlements and South Africa.

Besides the co-operative factories there are many proprietary concerns, and the farmer is benefited by the keen competition between them. The establishments in the Commonwealth where the manufacture of butter, cheese, and condensed milk is carried on number several hundreds. They are distributed throughout all the States, but they are larger and more numerous in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.

Cream separation and butter-making are often carried on together under the co-operative system. The creation of large central butter factories, supplied by numerous separating establishments or "creameries," has resulted in a considerable reduction in the cost of manufacture, since improved appliances, such as refrigerators, may be profitably worked at the larger establishments. The product is also of a more uniform quality. The number of farmers who adhere to hand processes is rapidly diminishing. Formerly the average quantity of milk used per lb. of hand-made butter was about 3 gallons, but separator butter requires only about 2.6 gallons.

State Supervision.

Each of the State Agricultural Departments exercises considerable supervision in regard to the industry. Dairy experts are employed to give instruction in approved methods of production, to examine animals, to inspect the buildings used for milking, separating and butter-making, and to examine the marketable produce. A high standard of dairy hygiene, cleanliness of personnel and materiel and purity of produce have also been insisted upon under State laws. Financial assistance has been given to facilitate the economic handling of dairy products, and much benefit has resulted, the advances having generally been promptly repaid.

For the maintenance of the purity and quality of Australian butter and other dairy produce, the Commerce Act passed by the Commonwealth Government requires that each of these articles shall conform to certain standards. Butter intended for shipment oversea must be covered with a true trade description, and that the following information should appear on each box:--The word "Australia," the name of the State in which it was produced, net weight, manufacturer's or exporter's name or registered brand, and the words "pure creamery butter," "pastry butter," "milled butter" (that is, butter which is a mixture or blend of two or more butters ordinarily packed alone and under separate names or brands), or "repacked butter," as the case may require. Other matters may be added, but must be true, and not liable to mislead. Margarine must be so stamped or marked. All butter and other dairy products intended for export must be sent for inspection to appointed places. The inspecting officer issues a certificate on the authorised form that it is up to the standard.

The regulations now in force contain important provisions in regard to the standard for export dairy products. By means of these provisions purity and quality are guaranteed. Trade is also facilitated, since quantities of butter are purchased solely on the certificate issued, without inspection. The standard for butter, the most important dairy article, is as follows:--Butter which contains only--No fat other than butter fat, not more than 16 per cent. of water, 3 per cent. of casein, 0.5 per cent. of boric acid, 4 per cent. of salt, or less than 82 per cent. of butter fat; or any colouring matter deemed by the Minister for Trade and Customs to be harmless.

Subsidiary Industries.

Pig-Raising.--Not least among the rural industries awaiting a far wider development in Australia is that of pig raising. For very many years the number of these animals raised in the different States showed no appreciable increase, though of more recent years improvements in this direction have been noticeable. Yet the rate of progress is quite unequal to the requirements of local demand and of the export business.