WINTER BUTTER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 21 July 1909, Page 7

WINTER BUTTER.

ENGINEERING THE PRICES

AUCKLAND, July 19.

As soon as the dairying season closes there is always talk of speculation on the butter market, and at the close of the last two seasons, at any rate, attempts have been made to establish "corners." Last year the spring make came along in time to teach the wouldbe "corner" engineers that gambling in food products can mean the loss of a lot of money sometimes. This year there have been rumors of speculation in many quarters,, and it is certain that heavy buying and selling took place a few months ago- in Auckland, and that stocks are being held in some quarters in expectation of a substantial rise. There is even a rumor that an attempt is to be made shortly to force up the. price again. Some of the £peculators hay« gambled on the weather, and once more the weather promises to beat them. Factories were enabled to continue a limited output till a very late date, and some factories have never ceased operations, and they will now .run right through the winter.

From many country districts in Taranaki and Auckland come reports that the exceptionally mild winter being experienced is resulting in a very early growth of forage. Waikato, Northern Wairoa, Thames Valley, Whangarei, Tauranga, and various other Auckland stations are reporting an exceptional abundance of feed for this time of the year, and, as a consequence, there is a good steady cream supply — greater by far than ever experienced in this province before. Factories that did close for the winter are busily preparing for the re-opening, fresh cows are already onming in, and it is now certain that dairying in the more favored districts will not cease at all this year. Supplies of butter in cold store are equal to those available at this time last year, and while the factories are not making sufficient to meet the rate of consumpt tion, still they are providing a wholesome check on the diminution of supplies, and there is every prospect of the output increasing from now.

Under these circumstances, there is no warrant for the attempts to force up local prices, and, in fact, the retail price of butter in Auckland during the winter, compared with the price paid to the^ country factory, is too high. There is too large a margin going somewhere. The remedy for the recurring trouble over winter supplies is a regular system of winter dairying through ensilage and feeding of dairy herds For winter dairying the Auckland province is pre-eminently adapted.