For the New Zealand dairy industry, "the principal - one might say the only important disadvantage - was the obstacle of distance...." (Philpott, 1937:11) Although concerned here with the difficulties of overseas transport, (he suggested that time and invention had largely overcome the obstacles of distance) the comment is equally applicable to the difficulties of internal transport. Transport is an important element in dairying but appears to have attracted little attention from researchers. A review of the history of dairying reveals a series of development phases, each of which appears related to transport developments. The first part of this thesis, then, is an historical review of the period from before 1880 to the present day with particular emphasis upon transport methods and innovations. Emphasis has been given, however, to developments at tho factory rather than the farm level. From a consideration of these historical developments, it becomes increasingly evident that each phase has been associated with distinctive patterns of land use and the development of specialised dairying "regions"

Wishnowsky, Richard Earle

English

Massey Research Online

Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis.  Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only.  The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author.  TRANSPORT INNOVATION AND AREAL ASSOCIATION IN THE MANAWATU DAIRY INDUSTRY (The Role of Transport from before 1880 to the Present Day and the Impact of Innovation on the Areal Association between Supplier and Factory and between Factory and Factory) A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Geography at Massey University by RICHARD EARLE WISHNOWSKY Massey University 1972. ii PREFACE For the New Zealand dairy industry, "the principal - one might say the only important disadvantage - was the obstacle of distance •••. '' (Phiipott, 1937:11) Although concerhed here with the difficulties of overseas transport, (he suggested th~t time and invention had largely overcome the obstacles of distance) the comment is equally applicable to the difficulties of int ernal transport. Transport is an important element in dairying but appears to have attracted little attention from researchers. A review of the history of dairying reveals a series of development phases, each of which appears related to transport developments. The first part of this thesis, then, is an historical r e view of the period from before 1880 to the present day with particular emphasis upon transport methods and innovations. Emphasis has been given, however, to developments at the factory rather than the farm level. From a consideration of these historical developments, it becomes increasingly evident that each phase has be e n associated with distinctive patterns of land use and the development of specialised dairying "regions". The seqond part, therefore, is an investigation of the changing distribution of dairying activity in the Manawatu . Changes in the distribution of and in the areal associations between suppliers and factories are examined in terms of changes in transport technology . Although transport . is not the only variable contributing to change, its importance in contributing to development and change warrants special attention. iii This study is coacerned primarily with tPansp~rt developments, p~rticularlv with ta~ker transport, and the effects of these developments on the spatial organisation of dairy factories. Philpott (1937:12) noted, "··· there was not a decade which was not crowded with event ••.. " The decades since the 1930's have been equally crowded with event. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am ind ebt ed to many people for their ass i s t a nc e in the pr eparation of this thesis. In par ticular I wi sh to acknowledge: The following staff members of the Geo~raphy Department , Massey Un iversity: Professor K. ~ . Thomson for his ass i stance i n the negotiations for my l eave from teaching; Mr E.C . R . Warr who suggested the topic and who crit ic a lly a n d h e lpfully superv ised the r esearch; a nd Mr E . G. Thomas for writ ing the program for Populati on Po t en tial-Medi an -Mean and whose suggestions a n d c omment s we r e much a pprec iated. The followin g staff members of the Computer Unit, Massey University: Dr C.R. Boswell for the development of the Population Potential-Median-Mean program and Mr D. Wil son fo r writing the Ke ndall Rank Correlation program and his assis t an c e and instruction in the runni ng of both programs. The fol lowing general manag ers of the Mnnawa tu da iry compan ie s : Mess rs G.E. Baker (Ma n awatu C.D.C.), W. B. Southey ( Oroua Downs C.D.C .), A.D. Mackie (Glaxo milk powder factory), and D.S. Harris· (Milk Treatment St a tion, Palmerston North); a nd Miss E,3 . Forster, secretary Milk Producers ' Company,for their time a nd the provision of background and technical information. The Palmerston North Branch of the Department of Agriculture for access to their files of dairy company balance sheets. Mrs R. McGee for typing the final copy of the thesis. Above all I am grateful to my wife, Ngaire, for her forbearance and support during the two years of my masterate studies. CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables List of Figures Abbreviations and Terms PART I Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five PART II Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Appendices Bibliography An Historical Review of Transport Developments in the New Zealand Dairy Industry with Particular Reference to Tanker Collection Introduction The Pioneering Phase: before 1882 Responses to Refrigeration: 1882 to World War I Responses to Motorisation: World War I to 1950 Responses to Tanker Collection: 1950 to the Present Day Areal Distributions of Suppliers and Factories and the Relationships between Supplier and Factory and between Factory and Factory Introduction and Assumptions The Distribution of Suppliers and Factories (Non-continuous Distribution Patterns and Nearest Neighbour Analysis) Areal Association (Centrality Analysis) Conclusion Page ii iv V vi viii ix 1 2 8 16 41 67 68 ?4 84 97 102 124 V LIST OF TABLES Table I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI Dairy Exports: 1868 to 1881 Provision of Special Refrigerated, Insulated and Ventilated Trucks on New Zealand Railways : 1883 to 1904 Regis ter ed Motor Trucks: 1925 to 1930 Milking Pl~nts and Cream Separators: 1919 t O 1950 Scale of Fa ctory Op e ration in New Zealand: 1905 to 1949 Introduction and Spread of Tanker Collection: Taranaki Introduction and Spread of Tanker Collec tion: Manawatu Operational Techniques: Tanker and Can Collection Compar e d Manawatu Companies' Milk Tank e rs: 1970-71 Season Total Collection Costs (Cents p e r pound Butterfat): 1951-52 to 1970-71 Wholemilk and Cream Collect ion Costs (Cents per pound Butterfat) Compared: 1957-58 to 1970-71 XII Volumes of Wholemilk and Cream Collected by Manawatu Companies : 1960-61 to 1970-71 XIII XIV xv XVI Scale of Factory Operation in New Zealand: 1950 to 1969 Scale of Factory Operation in the Manawatu: 1950-51 to 19'70-71 Scale of Dairy Far~ Operation in New Zealand: 1951 to 1969 Average Distance to Nearest Neighbour: Taranaki and Manawatu Factories Compared Page 13 23 29 32 ~3 44 46 48 49 51 53 57 63 75 vi Table XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII B I C I H I Percentage Distribution of Supply and Suppliers by Percentage Distance from Factory Suppli e r Distribution Patterns by Nearest Neighbour Analysis: 1960 to 1970 Supplier Distribution Patterns by Nearest Neighbour Analysis with Altered Area Base: 1960 to 1970 Manawatu Factory Distribution Patterns by Nearest Neighbour Analysis: 1908 to 1971 with Two Projected Figures Taranaki Factory Distribution Patterns by Nearest Neighbour Analysis: 1909, 1949 and 1969 Peak Values of Factory and Supplier Potential: 1908 to 1970 Growth of Co-operatives in New Zealand: 1894 to 1934 Distance Distribution of 683 Suppliers by Road-Miles and Air-~iles from the Longburn Factory Dairy Production Statistics: 1884 to 1969 JI Wholemilk and Cream Collection Centres Operating in the Manawatu by 1907 with Season of Closure J II ~holemilk and Cream Collection Centres in the Manawatu whose Operations Commenced after 1907 with Season of Opening and Season of Closure vii Page 77 78 79 Bo 81 106 108 119-120 121-122 123 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Location Wholemilk and Cream Collection Centres, 1908 to 1971 Cheese Factories, Creameries and Skimming Stations, 1908 Distribution of Factories by Numbers of Suppliers, with Type of Production, 1908, 1920, & 1940 Changing Transport Links in Dairying Distribution of Factories by Pounds of Butterfat Coll e ct ed , with Type of Production, 1950-51, 1959-60, & 1970-71 Amalgamations, 1950 to 1971 (Manawatu Co -op erative Dai ry Co.) Decision-Making and Innovation in the Co-op. Dairy Industry Factory and Supplier Median and Mean Centres, 1908 to 19 70 Factory and Supplier Potential, 1920 to 1970 Coefficients of Areal Association, 1908 to 1970 Page 3 19-20 22 35 52 60 62 88 90-91 93 viii ix ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS Abbreviations A. & P. Stats. A.J.H.R. Annual List of Creameries Annual Reports C.D.C. M.T.S. N.Z.F.D.U. N.Z.O.Y. Terms Cheese Factory Before 1921, Statistics of the Dominion of New Zealand (sections referring to agricultural and pastoral production). 1921 to 1954, Agricultural and Pastoral Production Statistics of New Zealand. 1955 to the present day, New Zealand Farm Production. (Note: each of these three series of publications are presented with variations of publishing authority and title.) Appendices to the Journals of the House of ~presentatives. New Zealand Department of Agriculture, Annual List of Creameries, Factories, Private Dairies, and Packing Houses. The Annual Reports, Balance Sheets and Accompanying Accounts of dairy companies only. Annual Reports of other organisations such as the Department of Agriculture and the New Zealand Dairy Board are specifically referred to where used. Co-operative Dairy Company. See under Terms. New Zealand Farmers' Dairy Union. New Zealand Official Yearbook(s). A dairy, the milk supply of which is manufactured into cheese.• Creamery "Creamery System" A dairy , the milk or cre arn supply of which is manufactured int o butter.* (Note: there is much confusion in th e use of this term. It should be us e d only in regard to bu tter manufacture, and not, as is often the c ase , to the skimm in~ of cream from wholemilk at a skimmin g stat ion.) The practice, wh e r eby wholemilk is received by~ skimming station, is sepa r a t e d and the cream sent to a cr eamer y for manufacture into butter. X (Note: there are vari a tions to t h is general pattern . Transport me thods were such, that before 1920, the usu a l radius of supply was two to four miles. If cow densities were low, it was necessary to draw suppl y for a single creamery from a numb er of similarly sized coll e ct i on areas. Suppliers would send their whol emilk to a skimming station and the cream was then sent on to the cream ery, Whe re cow densities were high , however , a cr eame r y could draw sufficient supply from a single collection area about the creamery in which case there was no ne e d for associated skimming stations,) Collection Centre Any f a ctory , creamery or skimmin g station r e ceiving whol emil k or cream either by supplier delivery or by f a ctory collection. Dual-plant factory A dairy, manufac turing both butter a nd cheese. Dairy factory A collectiv e t e rm denoting all d a irie s manufacturing da iry products . 3kimming stations are specifically excluded. M.T . S . Milk Treatment Station. Milk Producers' The Manawatu Co-opera tive Milk Producers' Company Company Limited. The Milk Producers' Company is concerned with the production and collection of wholemilk for town supply. Wholemilk is collected by a contractor (the tankers are owned by the company) and is delivered to the M,T.S. for treatment and bottling. Multi-factory compa ny Multi-plant factory Packing House Skimming Station Tanker (milk tanker) Tractor tra ile r I'anker trail e r xi Any dairy compa ny opera ting mor e than one f a ctory for t he manu f ac t ure of da iry products. A dairy manuf~cturing a varie t y of dairy products. A dairy in whi c h butt e r man ufactured e lsewhere is mixed or bl e nd ed into mill e d butter,* A dairy, th e milk supply of which is separ 3. ted only. * A coll e ctive term denoting any unit o r combinat ion of units designed for the transp ort in bulk of wholemilk a nd milk by-products. A milk tank e r cons i st i ng of a tractor unit a nd a trailer unit which mav be towed only by a tra ctor unit. A uni t wh ich mav b e towed eithe r by a tra ctor tr~il e r or a conventional truck, * Definition of t er~ based on Annu~l Lis t of Cr e~meri es, 1go6. PART I AN . HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEW ZEALAND DAIRY INDUSTRY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO TANKER COLLECTION 2. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Although many of the observations in this thesis are applicabl e to dairying anywhere in New Zealand, and some of the examples have been drawn from Taranaki, Haikato and North Auckland, the main area of investigation has been the Manawatu . County and Riding divisions have formed the initial basis for the boundaries of the a rea to be studied. 1 Consideration of the distribution of suppliers to the Manawat u C.D.C. indicated that some areas should be excluded, particularly areas of forest reserve along the eastern margin of Pohangina, Kairanga and Horo whenua Counties, while the supplier map for the Nhangaehu C.D.C. suggested that suppliers along the Whangaehu River to wards Mangamahu should be included. The northern limits were demarcated by a combina-tion of County, Riding and Cadastral Map divisions. The are':l. thus defined (fig. 1) comprises 1810.07 square miles and will be referred to 2 as the Manawatu area. Two main avenues of invest i gation have been followed, i.e., a) historical and b) statistical. Part I, the historical section, deals with the role and importance of transport in dairying. Emphasis has been given to the phases of development and to the changing relation-ship between supplier and factory. In Part II, the nature of the changing distribution of dairying is investigated. Variations in the areal association between supplier and factory are discussed in terms of changing transport technology. As was noted in the preface, the main themes of this study fig. 1 LOCATION Mangaweka . ~/ Mangaonoho }, • Rangiwahia • Sandon Block I Road Apiti • • Rcwa / • Ridge Road Norsewood Road ( Utuwai • • Waituna West • f Kimbol ton Sanson • Ohakca . Pi.lrewanui • Kai rnaterau • C.irn;irvon7 \ Makowai • Glen Orou2 . / T;i ikorca . Orc,u,1 Downs /• , Ma~Jawhata • Bainl'SSC Rang1<1tu • 20 miles • Kimbolton Road • Cheltenham • Junction Road I 1 Kauwhata 2 Rangitikei L ine • Towns • Localities - - - Railways -Main Roads R.E .W. 4. are concerned with the transport of wholemilk and cream from supplier to factory, and with changes in the spatial organisation at the factory level. Inter-fa ctory transport and changes at the f a rm level, however, form a relatively minor part of the total investigation, Transport is an essenti a l link between supplier and factory, between factory and port, a nd between New Zealand a nd her overseas markets. Obstacles with in these flows can be seen to have impeded progress in the dairy industry, while the overcoming of these obstacles by transport innovation has been follo wed by periods of rapid develop-ment and change , Refrigeration was the fir st of these major transport innovations. It enabled dair ·, produce to be shipped t o distant markets in l a rger quantities and with gr eater success t han previously. Refri geration also facilitated the interna l transport of produce fro m factory to port. The resulting changes in the organi8ation and scale of dairying, particularly the adoption of the factory system of manufacture, led to rapid development. Inadequacies in int e rnal transport facilities for raw materials , however, were an impediment to progress , The "creamery system" can be se e n as partly a r esponse to internal transport limita tions under conditions of hi gh external demand. 3 Motorisation and home separation, transport and transport-modifying innovations comparable in magnitude to refrigeration, eased some of the limitations on internal transport. In response to these innovations the relationships between supplier and factory were modified, The amount of change is indicated in Part II of this thesis by the variations in areal association . Between 1920 and 1950, dairying became more localised and regional specialisation, evident before 1920, became increasingly apparent. By 1950 the advantages of larger-scale factory operation were evident but developments in this direction were slow. Limited quantities of milk by-products, mainly buttermilk, were being transported in bulk between factories. It was not until the 1960 1 s however, following the lead of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, that tanker collection of wholemilk (and transport of milk by-products) was adopted on a wide scale. Tanker collection made practicable larger-scale factory operation and facilitated company amalgamation with subsequent closure of uneconomic factories. · These changes may be summarised in terms of the varying relationships between supplier and factory and between factory and · factory. Prior to the 1920's, supplier delivery of wholemilk pre-dominated. Motorisation was largely accompanied by a change to factory collection of cream. 4 Limited inter-factory movements of by-products were initiated and the dairy industry became less specialised. Whereas butter and c~eese had been the predominant products before the 1920 1 s, during the 1930's and particularly after World iar II, casein and dried milk powders gained an important position. In addition, individual factories became less specialised while dual-plant factories, and the production of buttermilk powder and whey butter in creameries, because increasingly common. The introduction of tanker collection, a third major transport innovation, has resulted in an increase in wholemilk collection with a corresponding decrease in cream collection. Inter-factory movements of wholemilk and milk by-products have also expanded . While some companies continue to specialise in the pr oduction of a single 6. commodity (particularly cheese factories) the general pattern is now one of multi-plant factories and multi-factory companies producing a wider range of dairy products. It is expected, in view of the importance of the transport link between supplier and factory, that changes in transport technology will be associated with changes in supplier - factory relationships. Poor t~ansport facilities are expected to be accompanied by a close areal association between supplier and factory. As transport technology is improved, increasing the potential supply area and often giving rise to greater competition for supply, the areal association is expected to become more tenuous. It is postulated, therefore, that there is an inverse relationship between transport technology and the areal associa-tion between supplier and factory. This postulate is the basis for the working hypothesis considered in Part II. Notes 1 The counties and ridings considered were as follows: Waitotara County - Brunswick Riding only Wanganui County - Upokongaro, Kaitoke, Kaikatea, and Purua Ridings, and part of Mangamahu Riding Rangitikei County - Otakapu, Rangitoto, Pukepapa, Porewa and Rangitira Ridings, and parts of Otaire, Te Kapa, Awarua and Wangaehu Ridings Pohangina, Kiwitea, Manawatu, Oroua and Kairanga Counties - all ridings Horowhenua County - Toknmaru Riding only. 7. 2 The Manawatu area as defined must be distinguished from the supply area to the Ma~awatu C.D.C. although the two correspond closely and for most purposes are taken as the same. Less than one percent of the suppliers to the Manawatu C.D.C. lie outside the Manawatu area, these being either west of Kai Iwi, or in the vicinities of Raetihi and Taihape, or south of Shannon. 3 Differences in . cow density must also be considered as important causitive factors in the development of the "creamery system". ( See definitions of abbreviations and terms, page ix). 4 Supplier delivery of wholemilk to cheese and casein factories continued in most areas until the adoption of tanker collection although some of these factories did adopt factory collection during the 1920's and 1930's. 

Transport innovation and areal association in the Manawatu dairy industry : the role of transport from before 1880 to the present day and the impact of innovation in the areal association between supplier and factory and between factory and factory : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography at Massey University

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