Butter, Cream and Milk factories

In 1889, the Victorian Parliament allocated £233,000 to establish creameries, cheese and butter factories in the Colony and to aid other primary industries (1). By 1895 there were 174 factories and 284 creameries in Victoria, including a number in the Koo Wee Rup Swamp area. Up until the 1930s the area could sustain several factories for a number of reasons. Firstly, dairy cattle numbers were at their peak in the 1920s. It is estimated that the Parishes of Koo Wee Rup, Koo Wee Rup East and Yallock (essentially the area of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp) had 12,000 dairy cattle in early 1920s (2) Secondly, most farmers were still using horse and cart for transport, so local factories were necessary. Lastly, the factories had slightly different purposes. For instance, whole milk was received at Iona and Cora Lynn, whilst farms with a separator could deposit cream at Drouin, Lang Lang or Bayles.

My grandparents farm at Cora Lynn in 1928. I have written about their dairy farm, here.

At Iona, a Creamery run by the Fresh Food and Frozen Storage Company, was opened in 1897 and by 1900 it had 50 suppliers. The Creamery operated until around 1907. In 1906, the Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory established a factory in Iona on the corner of Little Road and the Main Drain. It closed in October 1928 and was demolished in 1930 (3). Another butter factory, owned by Holdenson and Neilson, operated in Iona from 1912 or 1917 (depending on sources). It closed in 1921 (4).  At one stage the Fresh Food and Frozen Storage Company operated 70 butteries and creameries in Victoria (5). Holdenson and Nielson operated at least 20 and in the early 1890s they produced over 2 million pounds of butter, most of it being exported (6). The two companies amalgamated in 1908 to become Holdenson and Nielson Fresh Foods P/L.(7).

The Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory was established in 1904 (8) and expanded under the leadership of their aptly named General Manager, Bill Kraft. This Company should not be confused with the Drouin Co-Operative Creamery, which was established in 1891, went into liquidation in 1895, and was taken over by the Victorian Creamery and Butter Company, who were another big player in the dairy industry, at this time.

Cora Lynn Cheese Factory, taken in 1998. I have written about the Cheese Factory, here.

The Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory began the work of establishing a factory at Cora Lynn in 1910, and it opened in November 1911. The factory was remodelled and extended in 1932, partially to compensate for Iona closing down;  in that year the factory had around 500 regular suppliers. It was closed in the late 1940s/early  1950s (9).  The building is still standing at Cora Lynn and was restored a few years ago. Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory took over the Bayles Butter Factory in 1944, which had been established in 1922. It was re-built and enlarged in 1966 and operated until January 1980. This gave Drouin access to the Melbourne market as Bayles had a City distribution license.  It was for this same reason that Drouin had obtained shares in the Cranbourne and Croftbank Dairies in Cranbourne in the 1930s (10). 

Bayles Milk Factory, 1943.

Image: Bayles Fauna Reserve collection.

Yallock Southern Creamery, which was situated on the corner of the Yallock Creek and the No.5 Yallock Drain Road (which was thus also known as Creamery Road) opened in 1897 as a Co-Operative, closed in 1898, re-opened 1899 and eventually sold to the owners of the Lang Lang Butter Factory (11).  A butter factory had operated in Lang Lang for a few years before it closed in February 1893. It re-opened around 1895 with Charles Wood (or his company Wood & Co) being listed as the owners until 1926, when it was sold to Southern State Produce.

 In 1928 it was purchased by Ivan Stedman, a butter merchant. The Factory was a major employer in Lang Lang. Part of the original factory was destroyed by a wind storm in August 1930 (12). In 1934 it was reported that Extensive additions and alterations are to be made to the Lang Lang butter factory, at a cost of £2000. It is proposed to build a brick milk factory adjoining the present butter factory, a commodious modern garage to hold six trucks, a fodder room, and greatly extend the present can rack (13).  Not sure if this ever came to fruition as this photo from the Weekly Times of June 1932,  looks very much like the later photo, shown below it. 

Lang Lang Butter Factory

Weekly Times, June 4, 1932 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223303581

Lang Lang Butter Factory,

Image: Lang Lang & District Historical Society.

Farm pick-ups were initially done by horse and cart, but the 1930s the Factory had a fleet of trucks which collected from farms as far away as Phillip Island (14). The factory was sold in 1940 (15). In 1946 Prestige Ltd, the lingerie manufacturers opened in the factory for  a time (16).  Lang Lang Butter Factory is now occupied by Larmax. 

Opening of the Prestige factory in the Butter Factory premises

Dandenong Journal, March 20 1946 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/214792914#

Yannathan Butter Factory was established in 1900 or 1905 (depending on sources) and was purchased by Ivan Stedman at the same he purchased the Lang Lang Factory. According to the article from April 1929 (17) below, the plants from both factories were dismantled and re-assembled at Lang Lang.  The closure of the Yannathan factory is confirmed by the Cranbourne Shire Rate books as from 1929/1930 they list the Yannathan factory as the “old Butter Factory." Factory Road, off Heads Road, is all that is left to remind us of the Yannathan Butter Factory. 

Amalgamation of the Lang Lang and Yannathan factories.

Great Southern Advocate, April25, 1929, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254596341

Yannathan, Catani and Bayles dairy farmers could also send their milk to Melbourne on the train, after the Strzelecki Railway line opened in 1922, and in 1923 the milk train carried over 1000 gallons of milk per day from those stations (18). Read about this Railway line, here.

Yannathan Butter Factory

Image:  More Mickle Memories of Koo Wee Rup by David Mickle, published by the author, 1987.

Incidentally, Ivan Stedman (1895-1979) was a champion swimmer and led the Australian team at the opening ceremony of the Antwerp Olympics in 1920. He won a silver medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay team at those Olympics and also competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics. This is an achievement, made even more remarkable, by the fact that Ivan spent over three years in the A.I.F. during the First World War and was wounded at Passchendaele (19). 

Before we leave this subject there was a private cheese factory,  constructed in 1892 by John Henry Smethurst on his property Glen Avis in Yannathan.  Smethurst was a pioneer in the use of machines. His dairy had a four horse-power boiler and a three horse-power Tangye engine which worked a 90 gallon separator and 200lb butter churn. He milked 75 cows at Yannathan and also had another cheese factory on his other property Lang Lang Park, at Athlone, where he milked 260 cows (20).

 

Glen Avis, Yannathan, in 1979

Image: Shire of Buln Buln by Graeme Butler (Shire of Buln Buln, 1979)

Footnotes

(1) Godbold, Norman Victoria: Cream of the Country – a history of Victorian Dairying (Dairy Industry Association of Australia, 1989). p. 18.
(2) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968), p. 195.
(3) Nest, Denise Call of the Bunyip: History of Bunyip, Iona and Tonimbuk 1847-1990 (Bunyip History Committee, 1990), p. 17
(4) Ibid.
(5) Godbold, op. cit., p. 58.
(6) Godbold, op. cit., p. 75.
(7) The Argus, June 26, 1908, see here.
(8) Godbold, op. cit., p. 142.
(9) Opening - https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/cora-lynn-cheese-factory.html; The Argus, September 29, 1932, see here.
(10) Godbold, op. cit., p. 144.
(11) Gunson, op. cit. p. 146.

(12) The Age, August 18, 1930, see here.

(13) Dandenong Journal, September 6, 1934, see here.
(14) Protector's Plains: history of Lang Lang Primary School No.2899, 1888-1988 and district compiled by Barbara Coghlan (CBC Publishing, 1988), p. 12.

(15) Sale of Butter factory

Advertisement for the sale of the Lang Lang Butter factory

Dandenong Journal, August 14, 1940 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/216062604

(16) Dandenong Journal, March 20 1946, see here.

(17) Great Southern Advocate, April 25, 1929, see here.
(18) Gunson, op. cit. p. 196.
(19) Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, written by Harry Gordon https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stedman-ivan-cuthbert-11754

(20) Butler, Graeme Buln Buln: a history of the Shire of Buln Buln (Shire of Buln Buln, 1979), p. 181-182.  

This book is now, unfortunately, out of print, but if you have an interest in the area it worth trying to track down a copy from a library or a second hand book dealer. Yannathan was part of the Shire of Buln Buln until 1893 when it was annexed by the Shire of Cranbourne. 

A version of this blog post, which I wrote and researched, also appears on my work blog - Casey Cardinia Links to Our Past and has appeared in the Koo Wee Rup Township newsletter, The Blackfish.

Growing up on a dairy farm in the 1940s and 50s.

Small family dairy farms used to be the predominant farm on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp until the 1970s or so. In the 1920s, for instance, it was estimated that there were close to 12,000 dairy cattle in the Parishes of Koo Wee Rup, Koo Wee Rup East and Yallock (approximately Koo Wee Rup to Bunyip and south to Bayles, Caldermeade and Catani) at the same time the human population would have been maybe 4,500.

My father, Frank Rouse (born December 1933) grew up on a small dairy farm on Murray Road at Cora Lynn and this is his story.  Family farms relied on the (generally unpaid) labour of family members and Dad, his brother Jim (born November 1931) and their two older sisters, Nancy and Dorothy, were expected to take part in the daily chores on the farm.

The family milked cows and separated the cream which they sold to the Drouin factory to make butter; the rest was fed to the pigs, which when they were fat enough were sold at the Dandenong Market. This wasn’t especially profitable and around 1949 when Jim was 18 and Dad was 16, Jim got the family a milk contract.  This meant they no longer had to separate the milk; it was sold as whole milk for the Melbourne market for a much higher price and thus the family income increased by 250 per cent.  Jim had arranged the contract through Campbell Buchanan, of Cora Lynn, who was also the carrier.

Lucy Rouse (Dad's aunty) and the little girl is Daphne Rouse (Dad's sister), c. 1938. 

When they got the milk contract the family began the change from Jersey cows, which produced less milk but more cream to Friesians, they were bigger cows, had less trouble calving and produced more milk.

However, this contract meant that they had to build a new cow shed. The original cow shed had been built by Frank and Jim’s grandfather when he took up the block in 1903. It had six single bails, 25-30 cows were milked daily by hand, before school and after school.  Neighbours, including Joe Storey and Johnny King, had milking machines. Maybe not everyone did but Dad feels fairly sure that they were the last dairy to become mechanised.

Rouse family farm, 1928.  Dad remembers it as 'acres of mud'

The new cow shed was built by Frank and Jim and, because of the conditions of the milk contract, the shed needed concrete floors and walls. For the concrete they needed sand, so they had to take the horses and dray up to the end of Dessent Road to the Main Drain. There was no levee bank then so they walked the horses, attached to a scoop, down into the drain where they pulled the scoop along, filled it up with sand and pulled it up the bank where Dad and Jim shovelled it onto a flat section then later shovelled it all into the dray, which belonged to their neighbour the aforementioned Johnny King, take it home and shovel it out.

They had purchased a second hand 2hp Rosebery petrol engine which powered the concrete mixer, thus the floor and lower wall (five feet high) were built (using formwork, not bricks) and the rest of the walls were timber, with a corrugated iron roof. The dairy, connected by a 6 ft wide breezeway also needed to be concreted.   Once the shed was built, Joe (Jim and Frank’s dad) purchased a second hand Mitchell milking machine plant from a farm in Koo Wee Rup. It took 90 minutes to get to Koo Wee Rup with a wagon and three horses – then Frank and Jim had to take the plant apart, load it and then they had to put it back together and install the machines. The plant was powered by the Rosebery engine.  After this, the family milked 45-50 cows. The Rouse family had four horses, which Dad describes as ‘3 reasonable and one mongrel’ – the best two were called Ned and Rats.

Dad had been used to working with horses as when he was 15 he worked a team of horses for Sandy Priest who lived near Bayles. He used to plant crops, scuffle potatoes etc. Sandy was also a top cattle breeder and often topped the sales at Newmarket. Dad was actually paid for this work which was a bonus as they never got paid at home.  Sandy Priest, who lived somewhere on the Bayles - Longwarry Road had hundreds of acres, his land backed up to the Railway Line, but he lived in a small shed.  His bed was two spud bags stretched over poles, there was a stove in the shed and a windmill outside which filled a trough for water.  When Dad was about 16 he grew some potatoes on Sandy’s land and which he rented and then paid the rent in labour.

Rouse farm at Cora Lynn, early 1950s.

Around the time of the construction of the cow shed, Jim and Frank also began growing potatoes together at home. Initially, all the work was done by horses but it wasn’t long before they purchased a brand new grey Fergie tractor - it was petrol, 16 hp and even though they were only aged 19 and 17, the Company financed them.  

In 1955, Jim and Frank purchased 60 acres of land from Johnny King, in Sinclair (now Bennetts) Road at Cora Lynn. It was, we believe, about £6,000 but he allowed them to pay it back a certain amount per year – he had always been a good support to them. Jim and Frank milked cows for a year or two after that, then other family members took over and the Rouse dairy farming came to an end on June 22, 1960 when all the cattle and plant were sold at a clearing sale. Jim and Frank by then were concentrating on growing potatoes.

Rouse Clearing sale held June 22, 1960. There was also some machinery sold at the sale from another owner. The advertisement is transcribed below.

Pakenham Gazette, June 10, 1960 p.7

CLEARING SALE

MURRAY'S ROAD

CORA LYNN

Wednesday, June 22nd

AT 12 NOON

80 DAIRY CATTLE AND PLANT 80

GIPPSLAND & NORTHERN CO-OP CO LTD.

Have been favored with instructions from MRS E.E. ROUSE
to sell on the property, situated on Murray’s Road 2½
from Cora Lynn, 2½ miles from Vervale, her Cattle and Plant,
as under –

 
Cattle:
45 MILKERS, mainly Friesian and Friesian Cross Cows,
a good percentage freshly calves, balance rejoined.
21 SPRINGERS, Friesian and Jersey, calving August,
September.
2 FRIESIAN HEIFERS, well grown, joined to Short-
horn bull.
9 HEIFER PODDIES, Friesian and Jersey.
1 SHORTHORN BULL, 2 years.
Approximately 700 Bales Grass Hay.

Plant:
4-unit Mitchell Milking Plant, Cooler, Vat and Stand;
Braemar 55-gallon Hot Water Service; Brook 2 h.p. Electric
Motor: Lister 2 h.p. Stationary Engine; 15 Milk Cans; Smith
Spin-type Broadcaster (truck-mounted); ¾” Centrifugal
Water Pump; Dehorners; Kebrol Branding Outfit; Rubber-
tyred Trolley; Milk Trolley and Lines; 50-gallon tank;
quantity of Old Milk Cans; Buckets and Sundries

A/C Another Owner:
1954 Ferguson 18 h.p. Petrol Tractor (good order);
New Holland Hayliner 68 bailer (1600 bales); International
G.L. Hay rake (good order); Lundell Economy 60 Forage
Harvester, with Fordson Attachments (as New).

The herd is in great condition and consists of mainly
young cows which show type and quality. They are proven
producers, having maintained a large contract, and are regu-
lated for round-the-year calving. Mrs. Rouse is retiring
from dairying and buyers can attend with confidence.
LIGHT LUNCHEON AVAILABLE.
NOTE DATE.- WEDNESDAY, 22nd JUNE, at 12 noon.

Gippsland & Northern Co-Op. Co. Ltd. 
35 THOMAS STREET, DANDENONG.
Phone 2-0401, 2-0402 and 2-0403.
J. HUNTINGFORD, District Representative. Ph. Cora Lynn 42

Cora Lynn Cheese Factory

Cora Lynn Cheese Factory, 1998.

Image: Heather Arnold

The Cheese Factory at Cora Lynn is  a prominent landmark, and as you can see by the date on the factory, it was established in 1910. This photograph was taken in 1998 and it has since been refurbished. I have tried to find out the exact date of the opening, but can only conclude from the following newspaper reports that it was in November 1911. The factory was was established by the Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory.  The factory was remodelled in 1932 and at that time had around 500 regular suppliers. (1) The factory appears to have closed in the late 1940s and then re-opened for a short time time in the early 1950s. (2)

In August 1910, it was reported that the shareholders of the proposed cheese factory at Cora Lynn asked the Lands department to sell them some land on which to build a factory. The initial price of the land  was £50 per acres, which was considered too high and it was later reduced to £30 per acre.

Proposed Cheese Factory at Cora Lynn

The Argus,  August 3 1910 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10449147

The land was acquired and a tender was accepted in October 1910 to build the factory from W. Hughes for £290. 

Tender accepted from W. Hughes.

The Argus, October 15 1910, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10469183

   The Factory was under construction in December 1910.

Factory under construction

Berwick Shire News,  December 7, 1910, p. 2

In January 1911, it was reported in the Bunyip and Garfield Express that -

The local cheese factory is now approaching completion, and the floors are now being put in. Within the next few weeks the company expect to have the building ready for the machinery, which will be  installed immediately.

Approaching completion

Bunyip and Garfield Express, January 24, 1911, p. 2

There were a number of 'optimistic' newspaper reports which noted that the factory had been completed, such as this one in January 1911 - 

Cora Lynn making rapid strides

The Argus, January 31, 1911, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10875263

However, in March 1911, The Leader reported - The dairy farmers around Cora Lynn are complaining of the delay in completing the new cheese factory, as they are missing the flush of the season. (3)  On April 8, The Leader reported - The new cheese factory at Cora Lynn, on the Kooweerup swamp, has been completed. (4)  The building may well have completed, but it was still a long way from being opened.

In August, the factory still had not opened, but they were apparently planning something extra special, as the Bunyip and Garfield Express, reported -

Speaking of the cheese factory reminds this writer that there is no official mention of the opening date, but when the matter is fixed, I understand that the opening  is to be something extra special, and it is expected that Mr. Newton of the Gippsland Co-operative Butter Factories Company will attend, and several other public speakers. 

No official opening date yet....

Bunyip and Garfield Express, August 29, 1911, p. 3

On September 5, 1911 the Bunyip and Garfield Express reported on a speech from Mr A. Jeffers, a director of the Drouin Butter factory, where he mentioned a possible reason why the Cora Lynn factory wasn't yet opened - 

He hoped to see the local cheese factory started in a fortnight, or, at the latest, on October 1. If the suppliers could guarantee 200 gallons of milk daily, it could start immediately, but one thing they must remember that the running expenses of the factory would amount to £3 per week, and that would be debited against the local factory; therefore the full supply should be forthcoming before the factory opened. 

Part of Mr Jeffers' speech

Bunyip and Garfield Express, September 5, 1911, p. 3

One month later, on October 3, 1911 the Bunyip and Garfield Express reported again on the Cora Lynn factory, and it still had not opened -

Speaking generally, fodder is not too plentiful, consequently, the opening of the cheese factory had been delayed beyond the date first anticipated. Referring to the factory, it is considered locally that once supply comes forward this industry will be the support of the district, since we are situated at a distance from the railway line. This means a considerable time on the road with consignments, whilst the cheese factory is right in the district.

The factory is still delayed 

Bunyip and Garfield Express, October 3, 1911, p. 3

Three weeks later on October 24, there was another report on the progress of the Cora Lynn factory in the Bunyip and Garfield Express -

The local cheese factory will be opened at an early date, and the manager (Mr Sherridan) is busy making preparations. Only 200 gallons daily are required to keep the factory working, but it is expected that the supply will greatly exceed this once the season starts. A number of farmers are adding to their dairy herds, and judging from the number of cattle in the district the supply should not be far short of 600 gallons of milk daily. The factory is a commodious building consisting of a vat room, engine room and cheese room, and should prove sufficient for the requirements of the district for some time to come.

Cheese factory to be opened soon.....

Bunyip and Garfield Express, October 24, 1911, p. 3

The manager noted in the above article was John Robert Sheridan, listed in the 1913 Electoral Rolls as a Factory Manager of Cora Lynn, also listed was his wife, Emily Florence. Their two children, Raymond and May,  were enrolled at the Cora Lynn State School in 1911. In the 1914 Electoral Rolls, the family had moved to Milawa,

I cannot find any report of the official opening of the factory, however the November 21, 1911 edition of the Bunyip and Garfield Express could finally report that the Cora Lynn Cheese factory was actually open -
The local cheese factory is now opened for business, and the supply coming forward is very satisfactory and is increasing daily. It is estimated that the district is at present capable of supplying 500 gallons per day which will be close up to the full capacity of the factory.

The Factory is opened

Bunyip and Garfield Express, November 21, 1911, p. 3

In December, the Bunyip and Garfield Express reported on the good progress of the Cora Lynn factory -

Since the opening of the cheese factory there has been a great increase in the milk supply thereto. On the opening day 80 gallons were supplied, now it has reached 400 gallons and there is a large daily increase, and it is expected that the supply will reach 500 gallons daily this week. The machinery is working to full capacity at present, and will shortly have to be supplemented. General satisfaction is expressed amongst the farmers with return from the factory, as they are much higher than the home separator. 

Cora Lynn Factory going well

Bunyip and Garfield Express, December 5, 1911, p. 3

The factory was remodelled and enlarged in 1932 and it was officially re-opened on September 28, 1932, by the local M.L.A., Matthew Bennett. The Age reported - 

The Cora Lynn cheese factory erected on the latest designs, has been officially opened. It will have a capacity of more than treble the present output. During the past fortnight the milk received at the factory was 319,110 lb., three times the quantity received at the two factories operating at Iona and Cora Lynn for the corresponding period thirteen years ago. At the Royal show the factory gained third prize for cheese over six mouths old. The company is entirely co-operative. The new factory was opened by Mr. Bennett. M.L.A., in the presence of a large gathering of suppliers, shareholders

and others interested. (5)

It would be interesting to know, how much if nay, of the original building was retained. 

The Cora Lynn Cheese factory opening ceremony

Weekly Times, October 22, 1932 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224466396

Trove list - I have created a list of articles on Trove, on the Cora Lynn Cheese factory. Access it here.

Footnotes

(1) The Argus, September 29, 1932 see here; The Age, September 29, 1932, see here.

(2) See articles on my Trove list, here.

(3) The Leader, March 4, 1911, see here.

(4) The Leader, April 8, 1911, see here.

(5) The Age, September 29, 1932, see here.