AUCKLAND MILK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 186, 1 May 1908, Page 2

AUCKLAND MILK.

PRICES KEPT HIGH BY CONTRACTS. Wo have' had some aniusing prophecies from Auckland-this' : seasbn as t0.,a.-,winter famine in butter, -and numerous plausible ■ V ■ oxcusos have comb down- from that city, to. oxplaiu away the high prices. But fact* have proved these excuses ;tim<? after-tinla , to bo untenable..-- ' ' :■■■ Now we ;havo tho Auckland telling us -that; though ..there is pletity of,.' grass on tlio farms,: and plenty : of. milk m .-. the : buckote, they cannot■:reduce- the• pnea ».,i because thev. have made contracts,, •. Con- v i sequentiy the:, public- will - buy less . milk, j and the'farmers,will have greater■ difficulty -, in getting their outputs disposed of. ■ ,Tha , .- -j natural development seems to be for-soma - of the farmers, /themselves>to come upon, the, Auckland market and, sell milk that.- is - 1 not- under contract. -'. '5 Our special Auckland correspondent tele- - ■ graphs: — "The fact that the drought con- * ditions have passed, and fodder is now plentiful, .would seem to justify a, reduction in the - price of milk. ; A prominent, milk vendor, speaking to a 'Herald' representative yesterday, stated that there .would not be any reduction for some" months to come, as the ■ local vendors had entered into ' a- contract with the farmers for the supply of milk until next spring, and' Under the conditions - . they could not "sell., the milk at. less than 4d. per quart. 1 Two contracts had been -■ ontered into; the\first 'bliq being -fixed -from; i ■; September last to March, , and tho second--from March to the end of August. - The inilk would be reduced in price at the end of August. 'In conclusion, lie' remarked that oven if the drought had not mado its appearance the prico of milk, would have oecn ■. raised just t-lie same." ...