Australia: The Dairy Country. 5 



machine, and of the freezer have changed all that. To-day the in- 

 dustry is prospering and full of promise. . . . 



" There is no denying the fact that every State in the Common- 

 wealth has extensive districts where dairying could be carried on 

 very profitably. Indeed there must be very few parts of the world 

 where Nature does so much to help and so little to hinder the provi- 

 dent and industrious producer of milk. 



" The most important advantage of all is undoubtedly the cli- 

 mate, and that, like many another thing of value, is a good servant, 

 but a bad master. It would not be easy to overstate the benefit 

 a dairyman receives from being relieved of the need for housing, 

 hand-feeding, and tending his cows during a long winter. His cows 

 are healthier, their feeding costs less, there is no cleaning of byres, 

 no washing of floors, no preparing of food, no never-ending carting 

 of turnips, no filling of sheds with hay or straw. His anxiety, his 

 work, and his expense are reduced by half, through the simple 

 agency of a friendly climate. And yet this same climate is also his 

 most dangerous enemy. 



" There are certainly also adverse influences which must not 

 be forgotten, but a careful examination of the whole position will 

 probably lead to the conclusion that Australia is, on the whole, a 

 good dairyman's country. 



" The advantages include: (i) Cheap land, (2) cheap cows, 

 (3) inexpensive buildings, (4) a climate permitting cows to be in 

 the open all the year round, (5) a convenient market and a fair price 

 at the factories, (6) helpful Government supervision. 



"The disadvantages are: (i) Dear and scarce labour, (2) an 

 inferior stock of milk cows, (3) occasional dry seasons, and (4) 

 the farmer's inexperience and ignorance of scientific dairying." 



These several points are touched on in this pamphlet in the 

 chapters dealing with the individual States, but some general re- 

 marks are offered here in regard to the four points mentioned as 

 operating disadvantageously. 



(i) Dear and Scarce Labour. Every young country at times 

 experiences the difficulty of procuring sufficient skilled assistance 

 to keep pace with the rapid expansion of its industries. Australia 

 is no exception. Dairy farmers there have not always been able to 

 obtain experienced milkers. The farmer with children old enough 

 to assist him is at a great advantage, and some of the most success- 

 ful dairy farms in the Commonwealth are worked mainly by the 

 owners and their families. But where the herd is too large, or the 

 family too small, the milking machine, which is really a valuable aid 

 to the dairyman, has been pressed into use, with satisfactory results. 



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