N.Z. BUTTER

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 3238, 4 December 1930, Page 2

N.Z. BUTTER

SUPPLIES FOR INSTITUTIONS. At a meeting of the Cornwall Public Assistance Committee at Truro the question of supplies of butter for Poor Law institutions came up to discussion. It *was seated that New Zealand butter was to be provided by a London firm for the inmate instead of Gornish butter. It was alleged that this w’as a reflection on Duchy farmers, but the answer to this allegation was that very few Cornish agriculturists had sent in tenders, * and that the price of New Zealand butter at Is 3*4d a pound compared with those of Is 8d and 2s 4d for Cornish, the saving between the farmer and the lowest priced Cornish butter being £llO to £l2O on the halfyear. Mrs. J. Carah Roberts expressed the opinion that to obtain supplies of butter from London was no credit to Cornish farmers, or the County Dairy School, which was trying to raise the standard of butter. To have butter from London was a great rereflection on the country. Mrs. Pease pointed out that for years they tried to get decent butter at Bodmin, but they could not get tenders. - Some of the butter was almost uneatable. The chairman explained that at the committee meeting a feeling of regret was expressed that Cornish butter could not be supplied. The clerk, kfr. King, said there was a considerable difference in the prices, and the com- - mittee did not feel justified in accepting local tenders. Mrs. Carah Roberts, who observed that if the institutions had obtained butter for potting in the spring, as they used to, they could have had it for the winter, suggested that as so much butter was required the County Dairy School might be asked to s*et up a Cornish factory to make butter for Cornish institutions.

WHAT IS “FRESH BUTTER.” The chairman was asked by Mrs. Blackwood, of Camborne, whether they would ever be in a position to have Cornish butter. She considered it a slur on the country as things were. They said there was no butter like Cornish, and was it not possible to make some arrangements by which they could get Cornish butter at a reasonable price in the future? —Mr. T. A. Webber (late chairman of the Falmouth Board of Guardians): What was the lowest price for Cornish butter?—Mr. King replied that the price for New Zealand butter was Is 3%d, and for fresh butter supplied by a London firm, Is 4%d. The lowest Cornish tender was Is 8d; in one instance Is 9d, in several cases it was Is lid, and other tenders were 2s. 2s 3d, and 2s 4d. According to the estimates, 76001 b. would be wanted during the coming half-year. If they accepted the price of Is 4%d, as compared with the lowest Cornish price, they would during the six months, save between £llO and £l2O. Mr. Bowhay said New Zealand butter was certainly preferable to “fresh” butter which came somewhere from abroad and was re-made. Mr. Choak explained that fresh butter was butter in bulk made in creameries or co-operative factories. —Mr. Henry Grylls 6 asked whether the price depended upon what this sort of butter was made of. Were there any means of ascertaining what they were ’ buying whent they were sold butter? It seemed to him that price was not the only element.—No action was taken.