FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



The following years were very dry, and in consequence there was 

 no great rush of butter. In April, 1869, Mr. Hardy sent a Mr. Brewer 

 to buy for him. Then Mr. Budd commenced buying -for a Mr. Grif- 

 fiths. In May of the same yeur Mr. John Dymock was on the scene 

 buying for the Melbourne market, and Mr. Robsm bought a few 

 casks for a Mr. Allpress, of Sydney. 



In 1869 Messrs. John Colley and George Grey commenced shipping 

 butter to various parts on their own account. By some of these ship- 

 ments fairly good profit was realised, whereas in other instances a 

 loss was sustained, owing to the enormous freight charges and other 

 incidenital expenses. In one of Mr. Colley's shipments was a cask of 

 butter for India. By some accident in the address this cask of butter 

 -was not landed on its arrival at the port in Tndia, and was returned 

 to Mr. Colley in the following year. On its arrival in Kiama it was 

 examined and found to be in sound condition. It was, therefore, re- 

 shipped to England, and real : sed is. per Ib. 



In 1870-1 several attempts were made to form butter companies 

 among the dairy farmers, and several small local companies were 

 formed during the seventies. It would appear, however, that when 

 each company carried on for a season or two successfully a serious 

 loss would be sustained, probably or\ the largest consignment; then 

 a few would have to put their hands into their pockets. In other 

 words, in the majority of cases all unity and enthusiasm died out of 

 the enterprise owing to one-half of the speculators having to pay 

 for any losses that were sustained by the whole. The worst feature 

 of this export business was that the dairy farmers who had the most 

 money often or nearly always reaped the benefits without taking any 

 risks whatever. 



The want of ice was much felt in the summer months for reducing 

 the temperature of water for churning purposes. Mr. D. Waugh, a 

 young engineer and a native of the Kiama district, conceived an idea 

 that he could make ice in large quantities cheaply by utilising the 

 Jerrara Falls, near Kiama. His idea was to collect the water as it 

 rushed over the falls, and (by a process which the writer never could 

 grasp) cortvert it into ice immediately it reached the bottom. How 

 it was to be stored never even reached the stage of conjecture. An 

 experienced Scotch engineer named Jock Taylor visited the scene of 

 operations ome morning and carefully surveyed the whole situation. 

 He remarked to his friend, Mr. Waugh, whom he had known from 

 childhood : " David, you may make snaw, but you'll ne'er make hail- 

 stains !" The experiment fizzled out, without even the snow or hail- 

 storms, with loss to those who put their money into the company. 



In 1877 a patent was granted to Le Feldt and Lentsch for a ma- 

 chine to separate cream from milk by centrifugal force. This first 

 centrifugal separator consisted merely of buckets hung on arms 

 swinging from a central axis. The idea, in the first instance, was ob- 

 tained by examining the milk which a thoughtless boy was seen 

 carrying by passing it round his body from hand to hand as he 

 walked -from the cow bail to the kitchen. When the machine was 

 at rest the buckets assumed a vertical position, but in motion they 

 were thrown out horizontally from the arms. The milk was placed 

 in these buckets, the machine set in/ motion until the cream was 

 separated from the milk, and when the machine was allowed to come 

 to a standstill the buckets assumed a vertical position, and the cream 

 was removed from the top by a skimmer in the same way as under 

 the old pan setting system. 



The idea, however, of having the cream separated from the milk 

 as soon as it was drawn from the cow caught on with the public ; 

 and* from this simple patent an improved machine consisting of a 



76. 



