NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20415, 9 December 1931, Page 12

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

MARKET POSSIBLE IN INDIA. OPINIONS OF BOMBAY VISITOR That there was a definite opportunity for the opening up of a very large mav feet for New Zealand butter, frozei meat, fruit, and other produce in India provided the necessary arrangement: could be made for cold storage in th( principal ports, was tho opinion ex ' pressed by Mr Charles H. Partridge, a prominent business man from Bombay who is at present vißiting Christchuret fts a special foreign representative oi the Bemington Typewriter Company. Mr Partridge has been resident ia India for nearly 30 years, although he was born in Christchurch. He. is a "foundation member and a past-secretary of the Bombay Kotary Club, and throughout his life in India has made a very close study of Indian problems, both in relation to business and civil life. . "The meat that may be obtained m Bombay, for instance, is very poor," Mi Partridge said in an interview with a i representative of The Press yesterday. "They kill only old cows for beef, ana if you want mutton you more often than not get goat. If New Zealand 01 Australian mutton, lamb, and beef were sent to India's main ports, a thing that could bo made possible by the estab- " lishment of suitable large cold stores, a very extensive market could be opened up easily, as such products would be welcomed by all the people. It would require only the provision of cool storngo waggons on the railways, and the possibilities of extending the market would cover a tremendous area, and nerve a population of many millions. Apples Imported. "To-day such opportunities are being lo*t," he continued. "It does not apply only to frozen produce either. One market which I have seen lost during my stay is that for apples. Yearo ago there were importations of apples from Australia, but they have ceased for some time, and an. import very highly prized, especially by the European population of India, has been allowed to vacate its field. Quite recently African apples have made* their appearance to some extent, and the demand is great. Mvvr Zealand .Butter Available. "It is perhaps not generally known that oke New Zealand product, at any rate, is extensively advertised, and is greatly in favour in what is to-day a partially unexplored field for trade. I refer to New Zealand butter. In the native bazaars much publicity is given to. it by means of huge placards or'poston announcing that the stall in question has the New Zealand butter for sale, and where it can be thus obtained it is very popular. The market in Bombay, .;*• far as butter is concerned, is sup- *' plied by that product of English manufacture to a large extent to-day, while the district of Aligah, in the United Provinces, of India, produces an excellent butter which is tinned, or 'canned,' as it is termed, and distributed over the whole country. "In regard to eggs, it is a fact that it takes three Indian eggs to make one New Zealand egg,-although it has to be added that poultry and eggs are in abttndasee in India. However, there are possibilities for importation which are not realised. jPoor Mutton Supplies. "The principal reason for the very lamentable supplies of mutton available at such centres as Bombay is that the Indian agriculturist has given no attention to breed," the visitor concluded. "In the main goats hold the popularity. However, in the Punjab to the north, and In the districts neajr the Himalayas, tho. Mohammedans breed a fat-tailed sheep which produces fairly excellent mutton. ■ It is -not possible to Obtain tliis class of meat in any other centre than that'in which it is bred owing to the .fact that there is no cold storage method, of -transport on the railways or tn the centres.." Mr Partridge pointed out that at .presdirect shipping services « J."®,P rinc *Pal Indian ports were from England, the Continent of Europe, andAmenca. Even mail from Itadia - t0 P"?*?hurch, for instance, had to bo triri. ft l ? o '. Where U picked up with the Orient mail. 4 ' s building industry. ; decrease in chief characteristic of tlie statistics of this industry for November is the fact that never before has the industry been so slack since monthly 'statistics of building permits were first instituted, says the abstract of statistics. The total for the month was j Hy a figure 40 per cent, lower V tl»n in October, 1930, and 703, or 52.1 per cent,, fewer than the average ot tho month during the. previous fivfi years. Dwelling permits, although showing an increase of 3 per .cent, since September, are nevertheless down by <J4.B per cent from October, 1930. t In® cumulative figures for ten months 2 reveal a 66 per cent, drop in the . permits issued for the erection of residences, while the total for all purposes decreased by 33.5 per cent. * Uw cites and large towns have been primarily responsible for the abnormal slackness in the bulding trade, and of the. former Wellington has contributed .most towards the decline- Taking the figures for the four chief urban areas, it is found that as regards the erection of new dwellings during the ten months, Wellington shows a decrease of 81.'] per cent., Dunedin. 62.4 per cent.; Christchurch, 81.1 per cent. ; and Auckland, 54.9 per cent. The corresponding figures for all building permits were: Wellington, 58.4 per cent.; Dunedin, 45.9 per cent. ; Christchurch, 34.8 per cent.; and Auckland, 23.8 per <*©nt.