MEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1103, 17 April 1911, Page 8

MEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

' ADVERTISING ITS MERITS IN ENGLAND. . '.„..■ . - [To the Editor.]' ' Sir,—l would ask for space in your paper to just brieily refer to the want of some" means of bringing before the great British public the produce 'of our Dominion. As far as I can see there has been no concerted or sustained effort niatle to obtain for bur, goods a grip of this market. Our mutton and lamb are possibly , the best of the imported meats which reach England, ypt here little is known of their merits; here and there one finds . an' occasional shop selling, what is termed "foreign" meat; as all imported is' termed. In some localities, and especially the poorer ones, nothing but im T ported meat is sold, but no reference is made to tliis.fact, whereas the high-class •butchers go. to considerable trouble by advertisements and shop notices to inform the., public that nothing but English or Scotch mutton is sold, or, as it is termed, Home kill-ed. For instance, in the upper middle-classes, if' imported mutton be used and this fact became known, the offender would instantly lose cast, and it would be impossible to keep such knowledge within tho four walls of any house, because .jServantSii'.ehang© places 'and they most likely in unguarded moments may, give the information to others. As' a matter of fact, the average servant girl will resent the use of imported mutton or beef. I am simply mentioning this to show that even after the lapse of years from the commencement of the oversea moat trade there still lives the prejudice against anything that is not the product of English soil, especially as regards meat.. Coming to the question of butter and cheese, much tho same prejudice exists. I'find that many people, once they discover that butter or meat has been brought from such a distance as New Zealand, they consider that it cannot of uecessity be anything like as good as meat killed the previous day. I recollect recommending a lady, friend of ours to me ivow Zoalnnd. biitter; she expressed ■ groat Biirprise at being requested to use a but-' ter over six weeks old; she thought it must 'of necessity be stale. It is quite evident to me that tho-consuming public -are totally ignorant of the means of artificial refrigeration, as applied to the car.'■riage of meat and dairy produce; they will eat and relish tinned fruits from California and tinned meats' from Chicago, but meat and' butter brought here .tinder'.first-class refrigerated--conditions-is looked upon with, suspicion. At the present wo are using in mv home butter from the Thames Valley Factory, and a "better butter it. would be hard" tp find I regret, liqwsver, to say that'here and there one finds brands of New Zealand butter which are not a credit to our Dominion, nn.l," if getting into critical fhands, di much harm, to the general refutation of the butter. I would also mention that for.the last twelve months we. have been using regularly New ZeaJand lamb or mutton, and the quality is eminently satisfactory. There is no doubt that- in tho tens of thousands of eating ihouses, hotels, restaurants, and cafes, imported meat is used and unknown to tho consumers. You will, however, find that in many of the leading dining-saloons and Testaurants printed across the menu the "words:-"All meats used in this establishment are guaranteed Homo killed." Noiv, sir, poisiblv I havo said enough to weary you, but J feel keenly the want of sonie determined effort to create for our produce the name I think it deserves. I am not specially finding fault; I have lived long enough in London to feel the magnitude of this huge conglomeration of mankind, and the almost supreme effort that_ will bring a change among seven millions of people bound as they are by the cirstom of generations; I do, however, think that some means should be devised whereby the Government of our country should, make a commencement, and maintain right along the principle of advertising their own goods. 3fy belief is that the football team which visited England some few yeirs back did more to advertise the Dominion than anything el=e, and this is a country where "Rugby play only takes second place. Tf anyone in New Zealand,• has been under the impression that the colony's presentation of n Dreadnought was the means of bringing our colony to the front, well, all I have to say is that they are very much mistaken ; only once in the last fifteen months have I heard this referred to, t-o make an impression we should have sent at least half a dozen.—l am. etc. R. ELLISON.' Tooley Street, London, March 7.

That the potato grnb 'is proving a troublesome and serious pest" in South Canterbury, and to a greater extent in . North Otago, was endorsed by the Hon;T Mackenzie in conversation with a "Timaru Herald" reporter on Thursday. The Minister said that the officers of tho Department was studying the effects of the grub and would shortly have somethin? to say on the matter. Slaked lime was being nsed by several growers, and was proving fairly effective. It is reported that the root crops at Woodbnry, South Canterbury, have never suffered from insect pests as during the picsent year. The latest 'is a horde of caterpillars, some nearly a couple of inches long, which ire now doing miich mischief to the turnips. It is said tn be the same kind nf caterpillar that could be seen in thousands among tho corn. The young oats are looking very well, and more than the usual amount of autumn ploughing is taking place.