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

Five Years.

Ten Years

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.

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.