Chapter 3

For the past twenty years dairy farming in Victoria has been steadily advancing. The industry has proved very successful, so that thousands of farmers are not only making a comfortable living from it, but in many cases it has raised hard-working families into positions of comparative wealth. The principal markets supplied are those of Great Britain, South Africa, India, and the East. At present the industry is only in its infancy. It is capable of almost unlimited expansion. So far, farmers have confined their attention almost exclusively to butter, but the first steps have also been successfully taken to manufacture cheese and condensed milk, and to open up a regular market for fresh pork, hams, and bacon.

A large portion of Victoria is suitable for dairy farming on account of the suitability of soil for the production of pasture and fodder crops, and the mild climatic conditions. For the most part the cows are fed solely on the natural pastures, little provision either in the way of food or shelter being thought necessary. Progressive farmers, however, find that it pays them to grow fodder for their herd and to shelter the animals in the winter, and anyone beginning in Victoria is advised to make up his mind to cultivate a certain area of his land from the first, instead of trusting to grazing alone.

The southern half of Victoria is divided, roughly speaking, into the Western District and Gippsland. Two-thirds of the dairy cows are kept in these portions of the State. The Western District is famed for its rich soil of volcanic origin. Every town and hamlet has its butter factory.

Gippsland is a district of rolling hills and downs, and of a comparatively heavy rainfall. Many parts were once covered with dense forests, but these are rapidly passing away before the pioneer. Practically every railway station has become a centre of the dairying industry, and cans of cream are always in evidence on the platforms. Owing to its suitable climate Gippsland has become the centre of maize growing in the State, and much of this crop reaches the market in the form of butter and pork.

In the north the summers are warmer and drier, but the soil is perhaps even more prolific than in the southern parts of Victoria. Large areas are suitable for dairy farming under ordinary conditions, and extensive water storage works have been provided for the irrigation of large tracts of country which is being made available in suitable areas for dairying under very liberal conditions.

The manufacturing and marketing of the butter is carried on, to a very large extent, on a co-operative basis, the factories being owned and managed by the farmers who supply the cream. Two hundred factories are scattered throughout the State, the largest of them producing upwards of 40 tons of butter per week in the height of the season. Where the farm is close to the factory the milk is taken to the creamery, where it is separated, and the corresponding quantity of skim milk is returned to the farmer. In other cases the farmer owns his separator, the milk is passed through the machine as soon as the cows are milked, and the cream is sent to the factory by road or rail every day or two, according to the size of the farm.

Government Assistance to the Farmer.

Every branch of the producing interests is steadily fostered by the Government of Victoria in a way that may sound strange to the British farmer. Besides the facilities for acquiring farms and homes, the Government employs dairy supervisors, who assist the farmer with information and advice on matters relating to the farm and herd. The produce is conveyed by the railways (which belong to the Government) at special low rates. It is received into the Government cool stores, where it is graded and frozen ready for export. The State has contracts with the principal lines of steam-ships, securing regular despatch, a minimum temperature, and a very low rate of freight for the British markets. It costs less to send butter from a farm in Victoria to London than it does to send it from a farm in Ireland.

QUEENSLAND.

Queensland as a Dairying Country.

Queensland, especially in its southern portions and along its coastal areas, is particularly well adapted for dairying. Large areas of magnificent soil exist, such as the Darling Downs, Lockyer, Stanley, Rosewood, Fassifern, Logan, Albert, Wide Bay, Burnett, and other districts, which, in addition to being well watered by rivers and creeks, enjoy a perfect winter climate. It is in these localities that dairying principally flourishes.

While in Southern Queensland and on some of the northern tablelands it is desirable to rug milch cows during the winter months, up north, along the eastern coastland, it is not necessary.

Along the eastern seaboard, which is well watered by running rivers and creeks, the Blackall Range is becoming an important dairy centre. This district lies to the north of Brisbane, and is a mountainous region containing exceedingly fertile soil.

Further north again, on the coast, there are large areas in the Burnett, Gladstone, Rockhampton, and Bowen districts suitable for dairying, and in these localities it is rapidly extending. Despite this, there still remain immense tracts as yet untouched by the dairy farmer, which are capable of being successfully brought under the Butter Industry. Considerable portions of the northern tablelands, and parts of Central Queensland, are also suitable for dairying, and a beginning has already been made in these localities. Large numbers of dairy cattle are being imported into the Atherton district in the North.

As yet, only a fractional part of the country able to support a large dairying population has been touched.

Dairy Land and Stock.

The class of land chiefly used for dairying is open forest country, plain scrub land, and rich alluvial flats. The scrub lands have first to be cleared by felling the scrub and burning it off when dry. When cleared, scrub soils are more prolific than any other. Cost of clearing is about $7.20 to $9.60 per acre, and in some cases more.

The price varies according to locality. Remoteness or proximity to market have to be considered. It is essential for the dairy farmer to be near a railway. The intending settler can either select Crown lands from the Government, at prices varying from $0.60 to $4.80 and upwards, or if he has some capital he can purchase a freehold farm. Good dairy freehold land can be bought from $14.40 to $24.00 per acre, but close to the railway in the older farming districts it reaches up to $96.00 per acre.

In ordinary times $24.00 to $38.40 is paid for a good average cow; heifers up to $21.60. Similar prices rule, generally speaking, in regard to all the States. An ordinary cow would earn from $2.40 to $4.20; and a good cow from $4.80 to $6.00 a month, whilst in profit, on an eight months' average milking.

Dairy Breeds in Use.

The milking breeds most in use in Queensland are the Ayrshire, Jersey, and Milking Shorthorns. Herds of Holsteins, Guernseys, and other breeds have also been established. Some fine specimens of these dairy cattle are to be seen throughout the State, and at the large annual shows of pure-bred stock, held at Brisbane, Toowoomba, and other centres.

The Queensland Agricultural College, a State institution, breeds high-class dairy bulls for sale to farmers, and herds are being also raised on the State Farms.

Cows should bring in not less than $3.00 per month, or be turned out as useless. The average is about $3.72. Up-to-date men will not keep a cow who does not average this for her milking.

Cost of Starting on 160 Acres.

This, of course, varies with the circumstances of the case, and depends largely on whether a man has the capital to push forward his operations, or is content to gradually get his land into working order. A man with $720.00 to $1032.00 could make a good start. If the land was taken up at $2.40 per acre from the Crown, his first year's deposit would be $18.24, and he would have sufficient to fence the land, buy some cows, and put up some sort of a house. Necessarily a settler does not spend much on his house at first until he has made some money. On the other hand, many of the most prosperous farmers in Queensland have started with only a few pounds, sufficient to pay their first year's rent. By fencing his land himself, the settler can save a good deal of expense. And by working for neighbouring farmers, he can gradually acquire money to buy stock from time to time.

On the other hand, if he wishes to begin straight away, and has a little money, he can get assistance from the Agricultural Bank, a Government institution, which advances $0.60 in the $ towards improvements, and $0.50 in the $ for stock, machinery, and implements, charging 5 per cent. simple interest.

COST OF STARTING A DAIRY FARM ON 160 ACRES. $ Rent--1st year's deposit and survey fee 18.24 Fencing--2 miles at 96.00 per mile (posts 12 feet apart and 3 barbs) 192.00 12 Cows at $28.80 per cow 345.60 2 Horses at $72.00 144.00 Plough 28.80 Harness 24.00 Swingle bars and chains 6.00 House--24 × 12 feet, slabbed and floored, at $4.80 per foot 115.20 Milking-shed 24.00 Yard 48.00 30-gallon Separator 60.00 Cart (second-hand) 24.00

Some small items, such as rations, milk-room, tinware, &c., have not been included in the estimate. If the fencing were erected personally, the cost would be materially reduced. If the settler built his own house, it would cost him little more than his own labour and the iron for the roof.

Many beginners put up cheap sapling yards for a start, and at a nominal cost. This would materially reduce this estimate.

The Average Herd.

The average herd is about thirty head, but many farmers milk from 80 to 150 cows daily. The number of cows that could be kept on an average farm of, say, 160 acres depends entirely on the land, and the amount of cultivation or area under artificial grasses. From thirty to eighty head would be about a fair estimate that good land would carry.

One dairy farmer in the West Moreton, who landed in Queensland twenty-five years ago with $0.36 in his pocket, now has 160 acres of freehold, of which he cultivates 50 acres for feed for his cows and pigs. He began by working for his neighbours for the first few years, and thus gained both cash and experience. He now milks thirty to fifty cows the whole year round, and he makes from $720.00 to $864.00 a year from his pigs. His income from all sources is from $1920.00 to $2400.00 per annum. Six or seven years ago he paid $5280.00 for the place, but to-day he would not take $14,400.00 for it, and there is not a penny of debt on the property.

Grasses.

The natural grasses of Queensland are sufficient in ordinary seasons during the summer months for the dairy stock, but no farmer can successfully carry on dairy operations in dry times, or in winter, by means of the grass alone. He requires to supplement the grass by growing fodder for the winter months.

Splendid results have been obtained by sowing artificial grasses, such as Paspalum dilatatum, Rhodes, Prairie, Guinea, and Giant Couch grasses.

Winter Feed.

Barley, lucerne, wheat, rye, sorghum, &c., can be grown for winter feed. On land which will grow lucerne, a certain supply of fodder can be conserved. Lucerne (or alfalfa, as it is called in America), once planted, will last from five to ten years.

The butter factories were first started by proprietary companies, and their cream depots were scattered all over the farming districts. Competition was exceedingly keen, and in some of the townships there were four or five rival cream depots, all endeavouring to get the biggest shares of the cream.

Of late, a number of co-operative factories run by the farmers have started, and proved very successful, enabling their shareholders to get a higher price for their cream than hitherto. They are admirably managed, are essentially popular institutions, and have done splendid work.

The farmers establish, manage, and work them, and the profits, instead of going into the pockets of the middlemen, are distributed among the shareholders.

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 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.

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.

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.

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. The 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.

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.