1 Ava., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 195 
Mr. J. Manon (Agricultural College) : It is rather a big order to reply to 
Mr. Rogers’s paper in five minutes,. but I must compliment Mr. Robinson on his 
very excellent paper on the pig. No doubt Mr. Rogers meant well in preparing 
his paper, but I am quite satisfied that other dairymen who are here will be with 
me when J say that he knows nothing whatever of the requirements of the 
dairying industry. His paper is nothing more nor less than a copy of the evidence 
that was given before the select committee at the Legislative Council in 1897— 
that is, the evidence given against the Bill. Mr. Rogers referred to myself, and 
I may tell you that I was called upon to give evidence before this select 
committee. I did so in the interests of the dairying industry, and, before doing 
so, interviewed many of the leading dairymen of the colony, each of whom 
was satisfied that something in the way of legislation was necessary to protect 
the industry. At that time this Bill met with no opposition from the right 
direction, all the opposition coming from the proprietary men in Brisbane. Why ? 
Simply because the proprietary men were afraid that the industry would get into 
the hands of the Government, or that the Agricultural Department would have 
control over the export. These gentlemen admitted right through that it was 
necessary something should be done in the way of legislation for the 
appointment of inspectors to control the dairying industry, but the fear of 
the proprietary men that the Agricultural Department would get a control 
over the export explains the whole drift of the opposition to the proposed 
measure. Mr. Rogers states that the inspectors have too much power, but so 
have policemen, and would the people tolerate any Government that allowed 
them to abuse it? Mr. Rogers spoke of the cleanliness of the Scandinavian 
and Danish dairies, but what is the reason of this? The Government enforces 
cleanliness there. In New South Wales it is enforced, and if you ride through 
the dairy districts of New South Wales you will see each man has his name 
registered over his door. The dairyman is not asked to build an elaborate 
dairy. All he is asked to do is to keep his dairy clean, and this Bill asks 
nothing more. I maintain the dairyman would not suffer under this Bill. 
Some clauses may appear rather stringent, but otherwise the dairymen would 
not suffer one iota, and a first-class and cleanly product would be the result, an 
article that would quickly make a name for itself on the foreign markets. In 
Brisbane now you will find inferior butter, and where does it come from but 
those dirty, filthy dairies which the Bill is intended to suppress. Mr. Rogers 
says we ought to educate the farmers to be clean. T shall not say farmers are 
not clean, but some are careless, and one careless one is enough to spoil the 
cream or butter of a district. We have educated the farmer. We.have sent 
men round and preached to him that the most essential point in dairying was 
strict cleanliness. The farmers know that, yet nothing will compel a farmer to 
clean milk but an Act of Parliament. As for this Bill, it is purely a copy of 
the Local Health Bill. It gives exactly the same power as at present possessed 
by the local authorities, and nothing more. The local authorities have the 
power, but we know they will not enforce it. It can only be done by independent 
inspectors, and I think Mr. Rogers is very rough when he says an inspector can 
be gotat. I think it says very little for Queensland if an honest inspector 
cannot be found. Again, Mr. Rogers refers to the manager of the Silverwood 
Company. He says that under the Act the farmer was prohibited from sending 
sour milk to the factory. I say that if he knew his business he would not 
accept sour milk. ‘That is absurd, and proves to you that Mr. Rogers has no 
knowledge of the industry. Again, Mr. Rogers stated that the Bill compe led 
each man to have a certain cart. There is nothing of the sort in the Bill. I¢ 
only provides that the farmer shall send his milk to the factory in a good and 
clean condition. At the present time you often see a man perched on the top 
of a milk can, contaminating the cream it contains, and I ask if this is a proper 
state of affairs? Then; as for machine » we do not ask farmers to have 
elaborate machinery, but simply that he shall keep his place clean, and use a 
little time to destroy all impure germs. Mr. Rogers sear to me as saying 
that 6 inspectors could enforce the Bill, and I still maintain I was right. We 
