HANDLING N.Z. PRODUCE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 996, 10 December 1910, Page 4

HANDLING N.Z. PRODUCE.

We piibjjislvjthis^qrning^a:.portion of the report'of tHe New Zealand Committee.. which -investigated the methods followed of handling New Zealand frozen produce in London. Tho investigations centred around a. report on the subject prepared by Mr. W.. D. LysnaEj of Gisbofne, and it will be seen that Me. Lysnae's views are. generally supported by tho Committee. The questions involved are of very great and increasing importance to tho Dominion. With the growing competition of the Argentina, the producers. of Now Zealand cannot afford' to overlook anything that.- may handicap them in the placing of their produce on-their principal market on' terms at least'equal to' those' enjoyed ' by' their rivals. At the present time there''are'certain obvious weaknesses , in the handling of New Zealand produce at London. The vessels,- for instance, unload at tho Royal Albert Docks, on the river Thames, 12 or 13 miles by river from the uptown stores near Smithfield, and a greater distance by road. The carcasses are placed into barges or are' taken by carts to Smithfield. The barges take about 8 hours and the carts about 2| hours to make the trip. The time taken is, of course, an important factor, especially when the carcasses, as in the case of the carting, are to a largo extent exposed to the weather;_ but the medium of conveyance is perhaps even more important. As will be seen from the Committee's report, matters are in a most unsatisfactory state in this respect. Then again, the actual handling of carcasses is shown to be far from perfect, both at the ship's side and at Smithfield • while the cold storage accommodation at London 'is quite inadequate. It is not our purpose to go fully into the matter on the present occasion. Wo merely wish to direct attention to tho question and to point out one means of improving things which has presented itself to Me. JjYSNAE and others as desirable to adopt: Our readers will see from tho plan published in this issue that some distance higher up the Thames than the Royal Albert Docks, and so much nearer the Smithfiold Market and urj-tbwn cold stores, are the SouthAVest India Docks. It is suggested that steamers carrying New Zealand produce should unload here. If a satisfactory arrangement can be made, and this'is said to be possible, these docks could be equipped in a manner to ensure the most economical handling of our produce with a minimum of damage, and with much greater facilities for transport to Smithfield. To ensure a satisfactory arrangement with.the port authorities it would bo necessary, of course, that some understanding should be'arrived at as to the amount of produce that would be likely to pass through the docks. There should not be any serious difficulty in arriving at an understanding on this point. Producers generally could comp together and discuss the 'question in the light of the New Zealand Committee's report, and tho advantages of the proposition could then be gone into and something definite agreed on. We shall go into the question more fully at a later date, but in the meantime we would commend the Committee's, report to the serious attention of our readers with a view to promoting action ■likely to lead to practical and beneficial results, not merely to the producprs, but to the whole Dominion.