38 Australia : The Dairy Country. 



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 con- 

 veyance of perishable goods, and cream is forwarded by the dairy- 

 man 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). Pur- 

 chase 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. 



