THE AGRI U LT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



529 



endeavoured not only by practical demon- 

 strations and experiments to teacli the 

 farmers the advantage of combining 

 science with practice in Dairy work, but 

 also to prove to them, by practical results, 

 the advantage of so doing. 



I made ilitferent kinds of cheeses at 

 nearly all the farms I visited, in order to 

 get some idea as to what quality of cheese 

 could be produced in the different locali- 

 ties. All these cheeses were put on the 

 Klip River Show held in Ladysmith on 

 June 28th, 1899. 1 was thus enabled to 

 test the several cheeses from each locality ; 

 and having made notes as to how each 

 cheese was made, and knowing the con- 

 ditions under which they were ripened, 1 

 could form some idea as to which dis- 

 tricts were the most suitable for the pro- 

 duction of first-class cheese. Most of the 

 cheeses had matured in fairly good con- 

 dition, but the cheeses made in the Acton 

 Holmes acd Upper Tugela Districts were 

 superior to those made in the immediate 

 vicinity of Ladysmith, as the climate and 

 veld of the above districts seemed emi- 

 nently suitable for the production of 

 cheese of first-class quality, while the 

 nature of the veld round Ladysmith, com- 

 bined with the high temperature prevail- 

 ing during the summer months, leads me 

 to the conclusion ihat cheese of good 

 quality cannot be produced in that dis- 

 - trict ; at any rate, not with the usual 

 facilities that most farmers have at their 

 disposal. 



As the Acton Homes and Upper Tugela 

 Districts are some distance from any 

 Jnarkei and without any railway facilities, 

 it seems ,i great pity that cheese-making 

 is not more largely taken up, especially as 

 the cliaiate and veld are so suitable for 

 producing cheese of good quality. The 

 chief reasons why cheesemaking in Natal 

 does not progress to the extent it should 

 are (1) the amount of time that has to be 

 devoted each day to making the cheese, 

 and {2) .the time a farmer has to wait be- 

 fore he receives any return, as the cheeses 

 generally have to be kept four or five 

 months bafoie they are fit to place on the 

 market. But still, allowing for these dis- 

 advantages, it seems a great pity that the 

 farmers do not seem inclined to avail 

 ^ themselves of the splendid market that 

 they have ut their doors for the sale of well- 

 made cheese. We are annually sending 



large sums of money out of the Colony 

 for imported cheese, when an equally 

 good article, if not a better, can be 

 produced in the Colony, and it has already 

 been proved that well-made Colonial 

 cheese finds a ready market in Natal. 

 Another fact worth noting is, that nearly 

 all the districts tnat are out of touch with 

 either railways or markets are very suit- 

 able for cheese-making ; and as cheese- 

 making is practically the only way in 

 which farmers away from the markets can 

 profitably utilize their milk, it is to be 

 hoped that the cheese-making industry in 

 Natal will develop, and in the near future 

 assume a more progressive aspect. Co- 

 operation on a small scale would seem to 

 be the best way for producing cheese in 

 larger quantities, but here, again, this 

 method is fraught with many difficulties. 

 To start a co-operative cheese factory on a 

 very small scale, acsuming that the cheese- 

 making season ranged from six to seven 

 months, it would be necessary to collect 

 at least 250 gallons of milk per day to 

 make it worth while to engage a man to 

 make the cheese. If the above quantity 

 of milk could be doubled so much the 

 better. 



To procure this quantity of milk daily 

 it would be necessary tc draw it from a 

 very large area ; and when one considers 

 the distance most farms in Natal are 

 apart, the absence of railways, and the 

 prevailing rough roads that are usually 

 found in out-lying districts, this problem 

 of collecting the necessary quantity of 

 milk seems somewhat difficult to solve. 

 At the Trappist Station, Reichenau, Polela, 

 a fairly large quantity of excellent cheese 

 is being turned out, and their cheese- 

 making and curing rooms have been re- 

 constructed, and their cheese plant en- 

 larged, so that they are now able to pur- 

 chase any milk from those farmers in the 

 neighbourhood who care to send it to 

 them. A few farmers who are not in a 

 position to deal with their own-milk have 

 availed themselves of this offer, and it is 

 to be hoped that by next summer these 

 outside supplies will be largely increased. 



There is still a good demand for the 

 fancy varieties of cheese, such as " Ger- 

 vais" (^cream cheese / and " Coulommiers" 

 (new milk cheese . Since I introduced 

 into the (Jolony about three years ago 

 these two varieties of Continental cheeses, 



