THE SECRETARY,
DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,
Collins and Spring Streets, Melbourne.
The suitability of Australia as a country for the dairyman is referred
to in the report of the Scottish Agricultural Commission,[A] who toured
the States of the Commonwealth in 1910-11, in the following terms:--
[Illustration: An up-to-date Milking Yard.]
"The practice of dairying, in a limited domestic sense, as applied
to the milking of a few cows and the making of a little butter and
cheese for family use, is as old as the history of mankind, and in
that restricted meaning dairying has been carried on in Australia
since the arrival of the first settlers. But the industry as
existing there to-day is a vastly different matter, being already
of great importance, and promising rapid and extensive development.
It is a young industry, so recently out of its infancy that if this
report had been written fifteen years ago the section on dairying
might have been almost as brief as the famous chapter on snakes in
Ireland.
[Illustration: Cream Carts at the Factory.]
"The live stock brought to Sydney by Captain Phillip in 1788, and
sent to propagate their kind at Farm Cove, consisted of one bull,
four cows, one calf, and seven pigs. Their descendants in 1908
included about ten and a-half millions of cattle, of which nearly
two millions were dairy cows. This is about one cow for every two
persons in the Commonwealth, which seems a large proportion, but as
it means only one cow for every two square miles in Australia,
there is ample room for expansion. In Great Britain we have about
twenty-six cows for every square mile, and only one cow for every
fifteen people. These figures indicate that in proportion to its
population Australia is much more of a dairying country than Great
Britain, but that in proportion to its area, it has developed the
industry much less extensively, and is still capable of making
enormous growth. Until within comparatively recent years there was
little dairying anywhere in the Commonwealth, and what little there
was appears to have been carried on by somewhat primitive methods.
Modern developments, the spread of scientific knowledge, the
fostering care of Government, and, above everything, the advent of
the separator, of the milking machine, and of the freezer have
changed all that. To-day the industry is prospering and full of
promise....
"There is no denying the fact that every State in the Commonwealth
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 provident
and industrious producer of milk.
"The most important advantage of all is undoubtedly the climate,
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:--(1) 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:--(1) 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 remarks are offered
here in regard to the four points mentioned as operating
disadvantageously.
(1) _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 successful 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.
[Illustration: A fine herd of Holsteins.]
There is no doubt that rapid as has been the expansion of this industry
in Australia, its development has been distinctly retarded by the want
of reliable milkers.
But what is the farmer's bane is the farm labourer's boon. The scarcity
of labour has checked the farmer's operations, but it gives the man
seeking employment a wider field.
Competent milkers readily find employment at $4.80 to $6.00 per week and
keep. In every important district good dairy hands also have facilities
extended to them for entering into arrangements for dairying on shares,
with profit to themselves (see pp. 16-18).
(2) _An Inferior Stock of Milk Cows._--The fact that while in many
districts there are to be found dairy herds averaging barely 300 gallons
per cow per annum, with a butter fat percentage of little over 3.5,
carried on the same class of land as herds which average over 500
gallons per cow, with over 4 per cent. butter fat, will enable any dairy
farmer to realise how much room there is for improvement in this
thriving young industry, and what scope there is for the man accustomed
to get the best results from his land and his herd. But the Governments
of the respective States afford special facilities by way of importing
and placing at the disposal of farmers stud cattle of the highest
standards. Private persons are also doing a great deal in importing and
breeding high-class animals. Herd-testing associations are becoming more
numerous. Farmers are learning that it is profitable to keep milk
records and to cull out of their herds the cows that do not give payable
yields, and pronounced advancement is being made in this direction.
(3) _Occasional Dry Seasons._--The effects of dry spells, which
sometimes occur even in the best-watered dairying districts, can be
greatly minimised by the conservation of fodder, by cheap and easy
methods of silage. So rich is the country in succulent natural grasses,
and so congenial is the climate, that farmers exhibit a tendency to rely
too much on the bounty of the seasons. This is what the Scottish
Commission meant when they referred to the friendly climate as being the
dairyman's most dangerous enemy. It is true that in normal years milch
cows may depasture the whole year long on the natural pastures, and on
this food alone yield milk of magnificent flavour, producing butter and
cheese of the highest quality. But there should be put by to supplement
the natural fodder during dry times a supply of food either as hay or
silage. The experts of the various agricultural departments strongly
advocate the use of the silo, but the advice has not yet been generally
adopted.
As the loss in the silo is insignificant, it can be realised how cheaply
ample stores of the best class of stand-by fodder can be conserved.
Silos to hold 100 tons cost about $480.00 to construct, and a cutter and
elevator about $144.00. To this would have to be added the cost of a
horse-works or engine, but until a settler is in a position to indulge
in the most up-to-date outfit, he can follow the usual practice of
serving his greenstuff in the form of stack silage, which entails a very
moderate outlay.
[Illustration: Silos, Victoria.]
Many crops excellent for silage are easily grown, and the cultivation
areas need never be idle for a day at any time of the year. As one crop
becomes fit to use, the land can be replanted irrespective of weather
conditions. For instance, in spring (September) maize or sorghum can be
sown, either over the whole area at once or at intervals of a week or a
month up to January. In three to three and a-half months, during which
time the pastures are at their best, and there is no need for
supplementary fodder, the first of the areas will be ready for use as
green fodder, or for conversion into silage to serve as a cheap and
juicy winter fodder. In many districts as soon as the earliest-sown
maize crop is harvested a second maize or sorghum crop is planted, and
by the time that is ready to cut, barley and vetches or field peas can
be planted to come in to supplement the stores of winter fodder.
[Illustration: A fine growth of Sorghum--Victoria.--An excellent fodder
crop.]
Maize is harvested for silage when the cobs are well filled, and the
grain is beginning to glaze; at this stage a normal crop will yield
about 20 tons greenstuff per acre. Sorghum will produce about 15 tons,
and barley and vetches or peas about 10 tons per acre. Wheat and oats
are often grown in order to be cut for hay, and make an excellent
fodder.
Another most valuable crop to the dairyman is lucerne, which will keep
in a well-built stack for an indefinite time.
(4) _The Farmer's inexperience and ignorance of Scientific
Dairying._--To this last point the Scottish Commissioners furnish a
reply in their report.
[Illustration: A typical Australian Dairy Farm.]
"A great many," the report states, "of those engaged in producing milk
have had no training in the business. If a man can milk a cow, or is
willing to learn, he thinks himself quite able to run a dairy farm. In
time, if he is intelligent and observant, he becomes as expert at his
trade as if he had never done anything else; but his experience has
certainly cost him a good deal. The men who are neither intelligent nor
observant learn little from experience, and their dairy methods leave
much to be desired. It is they who breed their cows anyhow, who keep no
kind of milk records, who think it economy to bring in their cows to the
calving as hard as wood, who depend entirely on pasture for food, who
make no provision for drought, who have nothing to learn from anybody,
and who are keeping the reputation of the Australian cow at a level much
below respectability. By-and-by, no doubt, this type of man will become
scarcer. The State Governments are doing what is possible to spread
abroad scientific knowledge in dairying matters, and a younger
generation is growing up that has been made familiar both with the
practice and the theory of milk production. When their time comes it is
certain they will make dairying highly profitable. The fact that, with
an average milk yield of 'something under 250 gallons per annum,' the
industry as a whole is in a prosperous condition affords the most
remarkable testimony possible to the excellence of Australia as a
dairyman's country. What will happen when the average doubles itself,
and attains, as it surely will, the moderate figure of 500 gallons per
annum?"
A Phenomenal Growth.
Starting out with splendid natural advantages--a wide range of soils of
great fertility, indigenous grasses of high food value, and a congenial
climate--the dairying industry in Australia has made phenomenal strides.
The establishment throughout the chief districts of co-operative
factories, owned and managed by the farmers themselves, and the
introduction of cold storage greatly stimulated its growth. During the
last decade its advancement has been remarkable. The Australian dairy
industry is based on the world's markets. Every year the demand in
various countries for Australian and other dairy and farmyard products
increases, and the large home market is also expanding.
The facilities for supervision, handling, and transportation are
improving, and Australian dairymen to-day obtain high prices in both
local and outside markets for their produce. It is stated that in South
Australia dairymen who delivered good cream were able to secure from the
factories an average of $0.22 per lb. from the butter made therefrom.
The following table shows at once the advance of the dairying industry
(including poultry farming and bee culture):--
TEN YEARS.
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
| | 1902. | 1912. |Increase.|
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
|Dairy Cows No | 1,113,911 | 2,086,885 | 87.34 % |
|Pigs No | 777,289 | 845,255 | 8.88 % |
|Hives No | 80,111 | 167,441 |109.01 % |
|Production (quantity)-- | | | |
| Butter |79,572,327 lbs. |187,194,161 lbs.|135.25 % |
| Cheese |10,005,787 lbs. | 16,160,491 lbs.| 61.50 % |
| Bacon and Ham |30,608,345 lbs. | 54,192,175 lbs.| 77.05 % |
| Honey | 2,873,763 lbs. | 8,007,492 lbs.|178.63 % |
| Beeswax | 68,243 lbs. | 130,959 lbs.| 91.90 % |
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
FIVE YEARS.
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
| | 1907. | 1912. |Increase.|
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
|Production (total value) |$74,803,200.00 |$97,344,000.00 | 30.13 % |
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
TEN YEARS.
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
| | 1902. | 1912. |Increase.|
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
|Exports (Value)-- | | | |
| Butter | 1,820,371.20 | 16,044,681.60 | |
| Cheese | 20,592.00 | 27,648.00 | |
| Condensed Milk | 55,689.60 | 92,308.80 | |
| Bacon and Hams | 37,060.80 | 328,814.40 | |
| Lard | 6,100.80 | 177,902.40 | |
| Frozen Pork | 70,339.20 | 79,972.80 | |
| Honey | 7,891.20 | 9,235.20 | |
| Other items | 269,246.40 | 78,859.20 | |
|-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
| Total |$2,287,291.20 |$16,839,422.40 |636.21 % |
+-------------------------+----------------+----------------+---------+
[Illustration: In the Butter Factory.]
The United Kingdom purchases the great bulk of Australian butter--about
88 per cent.--but considerable quantities also go to Canada, Ceylon,
China, the Dutch East Indies, Egypt, Hongkong, the Islands of the
Pacific, Japan, Philippine Islands, the Straits Settlements and South
Africa.
Besides the co-operative factories there are many proprietary concerns,
and the farmer is benefited by the keen competition between them. The
establishments in the Commonwealth where the manufacture of butter,
cheese, and condensed milk is carried on number several hundreds. They
are distributed throughout all the States, but they are larger and more
numerous in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.
[Illustration: In the Cheese Factory.]
Cream separation and butter-making are often carried on together under
the co-operative system. The creation of large central butter factories,
supplied by numerous separating establishments or "creameries," has
resulted in a considerable reduction in the cost of manufacture, since
improved appliances, such as refrigerators, may be profitably worked at
the larger establishments. The product is also of a more uniform
quality. The number of farmers who adhere to hand processes is rapidly
diminishing. Formerly the average quantity of milk used per lb. of
hand-made butter was about 3 gallons, but separator butter requires only
about 2.6 gallons.
State Supervision.
Each of the State Agricultural Departments exercises considerable
supervision in regard to the industry. Dairy experts are employed to
give instruction in approved methods of production, to examine animals,
to inspect the buildings used for milking, separating and butter-making,
and to examine the marketable produce. A high standard of dairy hygiene,
cleanliness of _personnel_ and _materiel_ and purity of produce have
also been insisted upon under State laws. Financial assistance has been
given to facilitate the economic handling of dairy products, and much
benefit has resulted, the advances having generally been promptly
repaid.
For the maintenance of the purity and quality of Australian butter and
other dairy produce, the Commerce Act passed by the Commonwealth
Government requires that each of these articles shall conform to certain
standards. Butter intended for shipment oversea must be covered with a
true trade description, and that the following information should appear
on each box:--The word "Australia," the name of the State in which it
was produced, net weight, manufacturer's or exporter's name or
registered brand, and the words "pure creamery butter," "pastry butter,"
"milled butter" (that is, butter which is a mixture or blend of two or
more butters ordinarily packed alone and under separate names or
brands), or "repacked butter," as the case may require. Other matters
may be added, but must be true, and not liable to mislead. Margarine
must be so stamped or marked. All butter and other dairy products
intended for export must be sent for inspection to appointed places. The
inspecting officer issues a certificate on the authorised form that it
is up to the standard.
The regulations now in force contain important provisions in regard to
the standard for export dairy products. By means of these provisions
purity and quality are guaranteed. Trade is also facilitated, since
quantities of butter are purchased solely on the certificate issued,
without inspection. The standard for butter, the most important dairy
article, is as follows:--Butter which contains only--No fat other than
butter fat, not more than 16 per cent. of water, 3 per cent. of casein,
0.5 per cent. of boric acid, 4 per cent. of salt, or less than 82 per
cent. of butter fat; or any colouring matter deemed by the Minister for
Trade and Customs to be harmless.
[Illustration: Lucerne Hay.]
Subsidiary Industries.
_Pig-Raising._--Not least among the rural industries awaiting a far
wider development in Australia is that of pig raising. For very many
years the number of these animals raised in the different States showed
no appreciable increase, though of more recent years improvements in
this direction have been noticeable. Yet the rate of progress is quite
unequal to the requirements of local demand and of the export business.
Pig raising for years has been a kind of subsidiary industry to
dairying, and as such has seldom received the attention warranted by the
returns yielded. To some extent it has been the ease with which these
profits have been obtained that has brought about the condition of
affairs existent to within a few years ago. Pig raising now, instead of
being regarded merely as an adjunct to dairying, is being looked upon
much in the same light as is a main line whether connected with dairying
or general farming. This is indicated by the fact that where previously
any description of boar or sow was good enough to produce a litter, now
both farmers and dairymen are using chiefly the pedigree stock, and are
giving attention to the different crosses most likely to give the
largest litters suitable for bacon production, which can be brought into
condition for market in the quickest time. The introduction of these
businesslike methods has naturally resulted in greater gains, and has
further given a stimulus to the pig-raising industry.
The policy of closer settlement which is entering freely into the rural
development of the various States is furthermore causing farmers and
settlers to give more careful attention to any side industry which can
be made to return a good margin of profit on the labour expended. In
other words, the modern farmer is becoming more alive to the business
possibilities of what may be termed specialised production. It is in
this fact that the future development of the pig-raising industry
depends. A dairyman, general farmer, irrigationist, and even the
fruitgrower finds the pig of inestimable value in using up the waste
produce, and turning it into a commodity which will return high interest
in a remarkably short space of time.
This turn of events is making itself felt in other directions.
Bacon-curing establishments and co-operative factories are coming into
existence where formerly supplies would never have justified their
presence, and the result is that those who have suitable classes of pigs
to dispose of find no difficulty in turning them over at lucrative
prices.
This, however, can only be regarded as a commencement in the turn of
affairs, for with the increased demand and added facilities of
marketing, the sound establishment of the industry is each year becoming
more assured.
[Illustration: 1. A Modern Piggery.]
[Illustration: 2. Feeding pigs with corn grown on the farm.]
As an instance of the value of this side line to the settler, the
experience of a Victorian irrigated block owner, as related in the
columns of the Melbourne "Argus," is worth recording. Writing from
Rochester, Vic., the local correspondent reported as follows:--"The pig
industry is becoming of great and growing importance on our irrigation
holdings, and that settlers are recognising its great value as an
adjunct to dairying is proved by the fact that there are now on the
settlements four times as many pigs as there were a year ago. A leading
auctioneer estimates that, with improved facilities, the sales in
Rochester would in the near future amount to 1000 a month. The methods
adopted on the irrigation farm of Messrs. Jacob and Kennedy, at
Nannulla, show that pig raising is a leading factor in their success.
Mr. Jacob demonstrated that $192 per acre a year can be realised from
pigs reared almost wholly on lucerne, for half an acre suffices for the
sustenance of a brood sow and her progeny of about 20 per annum till
they are fit for market. Well-bred animals pay best, especially in the
case of the sire, for which a Yorkshire is recommended. Mr. Jacob is
prepared to submit his books and returns to those interested, as he did
to the writer.... It has to be observed that pig raising does not
require either the capital or experience demanded in the case of sheep."
These facts relate in a general way to the industry as it is possible to
be carried on in all parts of the Commonwealth. A dairy man or mixed
farmer finds that the carrying on of his work at a maximum of profit
involves the growth of a number of different crops with which to
supplement the rations of his dairy herd. Peas, barley, wheat, maize,
pumpkins, carrots, mangolds, lucerne, rape, and other crops are more or
less used for a succession. Each one of these is of special value from
the pig-raiser's standpoint. Both peas and barley have a high value for
fattening purposes, and some of the successful breeders maintain that
the addition of wheat contributes largely towards rapid development.
Similarly the root crops play an important part in the general rations,
whereas lucerne and rape make an admirable pasture for the running of
stores and breeding sows. General experience has shown that when pigs
which are being fattened for market have the run of a good pasture of
these crops they do better and fatten on much less food. Consequently
with some one or another or several of these crops to supplement the
skim milk provided by the dairying operations, no more favourable
conditions could well exist for the development of this adjunct to the
dairying industry.
With suitable root and pasture crops there is no reason why pig raising
should remain merely as an offshoot of dairying and farming operations.
It is sufficiently remunerative even when all food has to be purchased
on the open market to justify attention being devoted to raising alone.
But such circumstances do not enter into the operation of the industry
as managed in Australia. The close proximity of separating factories
would in many districts make it possible for a breeder to entirely
ignore the dairying side of the question. From these sources such
supplies of skim milk as were considered an advisable supplement to the
ordinary rations might easily be obtained. With only very limited
supplies of skim milk pig raising and fattening affords wide scope for
the investments of men with limited capital. F. C. Grace, of
Warrnambool, Victoria, who recently went into the matter of the cost of
producing pork, indicates the possibilities of the bacon industry in a
report furnished to the State Department of Agriculture. In this account
he states:--"Over 6 tons of live pork have been produced, and the
average cost per pound for all rations with pigs of all ages has been 4
cents. The actual selling price has been 10 cents per pound, but a
number of the pigs were sold as studs, somewhat above market price.
Taking the average of all pigs sold in the open yards for bacon
purposes, about 4-1/2 tons, the selling price was 10 cents per pound--a
margin of over 6 cents per pound over and above the cost of feed."
This statement is of interest as showing the position of the industry
when everything has been paid for at well above market rates for the
produce, and in a degree serves to emphasise the much-improved position
of the breeder who, with root crops and pasture land, is able to
dispense with the costs incurred in purchasing foods for fattening
purposes on the open market.
[Illustration: A Happy Family.]
Throughout the Commonwealth there is a difference of opinion regarding
the relative value of the manner in which the predominating breeds, the
Berkshire and Yorkshire, are crossed in raising pigs for market. This no
doubt will always exist, owing to predilection of breeders towards
particular types, and to the relative merits resulting from the various
crosses. The main point is that both breeds are wonderfully well suited
to Australian conditions, and that they are prolific. Brood sows will,
if kept in an ordinarily thrifty condition, farrow two litters of pigs
in the year, which will number from eight to twelve pigs to the litter.
If anything, the predominating cross favours the use of the Yorkshire
boar with the Berkshire sow. The cross has this advantage that the
litters will consist of all white pigs. The boar used should be pure and
the sow of good type, preferably three-quarter bred. The average litter
from such a cross is eight. These, if kept until about five months, will
weigh out at about 140 lbs., and at 12 cents per lb., the ruling price,
will return approximately $16.80 apiece, or $268.80 per year from each
sow. In some instances as many as five litters may be obtained during a
period of two years, but when this is done too much is taken out of the
mother.
Another aspect worth considering in the choice of crossing these two
breeds is that the Yorkshire sow is a better mother than the Berkshire,
and the litters produced are larger. In this case there is a lack of
uniformity in the colour of the litters, a fact which no doubt must
often cause slight depreciation when the marketing of large numbers of
pigs is taken into consideration. From experience in the Commonwealth
the middle Yorkshire of a pure strain is more favoured for breeding
purposes. He is a quicker grower, of hardy constitution, and as a rule a
better shaped pig for market requirements.
[Illustration: Typical Dairy Country.]
But while there are differences of opinion in the matter of breeds for
crossing purposes, it is clear that this subject has never been
exhaustively determined. For example, while there are advocates for the
maintenance of pure strains, and the crossing of the Tamworth with both
the black and white pigs, the large white Yorkshire is practically an
unknown quantity. Both in Great Britain and in Denmark this breed has
done more to establish the bacon industry than any other breed. Its
value is indorsed by experience at Dookie College, where the only pure
strain of the breed in Victoria is located. The Berkshire sow used with
the large white boar produces a shapely offspring, which takes on the
short snout of the sow with the pure white colouring of the boar. The
cross is a longer pig than the Berkshire, cleaner in the shoulder, but
with much the same conformation elsewhere. A common plan is to use all
the longest and deepest sows of the first cross for breeding baconers.
The pure large Yorkshire is not as economical as the Berkshire if
growing pigs for the pork trade, as it takes longer to mature. The sows,
however, average about ten to the litter, and some have fifteen or
sixteen. Only the fine-haired ones seem to scald, otherwise they stand
the sun as well as the Berks. They are good doers under a wide range of
conditions, prolific, vigorous, and more likely to do well under the
rough circumstances to which they are accustomed on most farms than the
more delicate Berkshires. When sold at the same time as other breeds and
crosses, they always top the market; and a half-truck realised over
$20.00 per head when sold in Melbourne under six months old.
So far as Australian experience has gone there is everything to indicate
that pig raising, while an extremely profitable occupation, has not yet
attained the results which may be expected to follow as more attention
is given to the choice of breeds, the selection of the hogs, and
fecundity on the part of the sow. These are all matters which from the
ordinary farming standpoint have never been gone into thoroughly. That
pig raising will pay and does yield handsome returns is admitted, yet
when so many avenues of improvement are open, it cannot be said that the
industry is receiving the attention it deserves. Up to the present
farmers and dairymen have been chiefly concerned with raising the pigs,
disposing of them perhaps at two months, or, as more often is the case,
of keeping them on till four months, when they are topped off and sent
to market to bring what can be realised. Many send away their pigs too
fat, and few engaged in the general branches of agriculture really give
the animals full attention over the growing period.
[Illustration: Dam, Western Australia.]
With the advent of the factories which are springing up in all the
States, this condition of things will no doubt give place to better
methods. In the first place breeders will be assured of markets for all
the pigs produced, and, secondly, the differences in values of prime
baconers will direct more attention to the greater profits for this
class of produce.
[Illustration: A well-established Dairy Farm, New South Wales Coast.]
That there is opportunity for a great increase in pig raising is shown
by the fact that Great Britain pays annually to foreign countries
$91,200,000.00 for pig products. Statistics show that two great sources
of supply to the British market (United States and Canada) are gradually
but surely declining, and before long must cease altogether on account
of the rapid increase in population, and the consequent increased food
requirements in those countries. In Denmark we cannot expect to see any
great increase in production, as the limit also has been nearly reached.
Holland and Sweden are the only other European countries from which we
may anticipate competition. The rapid growth of the population in
Central Europe increases the food requirements of those countries, where
there is already a short supply of animal foods generally. The present
condition of the industry shows that there is a possibility of the
Commonwealth building up a large export trade, even though local demands
are increasing, at prices which are higher than they were ten or twelve
years ago, when the number of pigs in the Commonwealth was scarcely a
thousand head more than at the present time. At the Franco-British
Exhibition the grand champion prize against the world was secured by
Australia for pig products in the form of frozen pork, as well as in
hams and bacon.
_Poultry-farming._--The fact that Australian hens and ducks have broken
all records in laying competitions serves to indicate the suitability of
the country for poultry-raising. On general farms, where the birds live
on food that may otherwise be wasted, poultry are a source of
considerable profit. The opinion of the Scottish Commission was that
"Australia possesses natural conditions of almost unequalled value for
the profitable keeping of poultry. In climate, soil, shelter, and in
natural food she has the essential attributes to success."
Poultry-farming is carried on together with wheat or dairying or pig
farming, but in many places the raising of poultry is carried on as a
single line. Poultry for consumption is extensively reared, and the
egg-producing qualities of the birds have also been greatly improved by
careful breeding. Egg collecting circles have been formed in some
country districts, to develop (under Government supervision and with
Government aid until the organisation is self-supporting) the industry
on co-operative lines. A member of the circle is elected to act as
secretary, and he receives all the eggs from the members, tests, packs,
and forwards them to the metropolitan depot for shipment. Only clean and
fresh eggs are to be delivered to the secretary under penalty of fine
and expulsion from the circle. Another method of collecting and
marketing the eggs is through the local butter factories, where eggs are
delivered by the suppliers of milk and cream a number of times each
week.
[Illustration: Government Farm.--Pens at Burnley, Victoria, for
Egg-laying Competition.]
_Bee-farming._--Bee-farming has ordinarily been an adjunct to the
agricultural or dairying industries, and can hardly yet be said to have
been organised as a distinct industry. There are many prosperous bee
farms in the Commonwealth. The indigenous flora is rich in nectar, and
the quantities of honey stored in single hives are astonishingly large,
sometimes reaching 400 lbs.
[Illustration: White Leghorns.]
With the farmyard and dairy products of the Commonwealth standing now at
over $96,000,000.00 per annum, the industry may be said to be well in
its infancy.
Under the large irrigation projects being carried out in several of the
States there are splendid opportunities opening up for the carrying on
of all these industries, either separately or in conjunction.
Share Farming.
The system of farming on shares is common in several branches of
Australian farming, including dairying. To the intelligent and
industrious man with a limited amount of capital, the system offers many
opportunities for success. Practical dairymen, and especially those with
children over fourteen years of age, may obtain a farm on shares. The
arrangements made between landlords and their tenants on shares are not
uniform. They differ considerably in individual cases, but the following
broad outlines of the arrangements made between the parties may be set
down as having a more or less universal application.