NEW ZEALAND BUTTER AND CHEESE IN THE LONDON MARKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9142, 25 August 1888, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER AND CHEESE IN THE LONDON MARKET.

.: [FROM OCR OWN CORRKSPOHDKifT.] London, July 14. Messrs. Miles Bros, and Co. remark that the first consignments of New Zealand batter that were placed on the Home market arrived in bad condition, and were of inferior quality, bub last season's shipments showed a great improvement. They do not consider it necessary to pack the butter in specially prepared cases, enamelled inside, but say that it comes quite as well in kegs if properly packed. The weight should be from 60lb to 751b net,, the 601b neb being preferable, and the kegs should hot-.b? filled, half an,inch left all the way round between t|ie butter and the keg. The cask should then bo headed up, and a hole made through which pickle (strong brine) should be poured in until full, when a bung (wood) should be inserted, to provent the liquor running out. The butter should be made with as little salt as possible consistent with its keeping sound. Unless butter is perfectly sweet and good to eat it should not be sent to this country. If ib has "gone off" at all or is in the least tainted it brings a miserable price, as ib can only be used for cooking purposes, and the market is flooded with such kinds. Directly the batter is made it should be packed and sent off to/thb refrigerator, ana it would then in all probability arrive here in good saleable condition. ; The trade, say Messrs. fMiles Brothers and Co. is growing very as find they hope to make 120s per cwfc. for really good New Zealand butter. With regard to cheese the same firm report that by the Aorangi in December of last year they received a consignment lof thirteen cases of loaf and eleven cases of large cheese., By the R&ikourft, which arrived in February of this year, they also received 20; .and by the Rimutaka,. Which arrived in May, lScAsea C; The first shipment, they say, was not of* fin*, quality, bat happened to ( arrive at a time when loaf cheese was scarce, so that they were sold for 48s. They;' however, proved so hard that the buyers could not dispose of them, and they were resold for considerably less money. The large cheese made 365. The second shipment consisted principally of loaf cheese. This is a kind not much liked on the English market); it is too wasteful and has too much rind. The quality was poor, with a total absence of richness, and the cheese only sold for 39s and 40s. The four cases of large cheese were also of poor quality, and very crumbly. They made 435. The consignment per Rimutaka was nob of one quality, some of the cheese being good and Bome indifferent. Eight cases were sold in London at 465, and seven oases in Bristol for 40s.

The larger the cheese the better it is liked here, and Messrs. Miles consider from 601b to 651b a good size. New cheese is preferred to old ; and new cheese, if made in the hot weather, should be placed in the steamer's refrigerator within about ten days after it has been made. The best time to make it would be in the cool of the New Zealand autumn, about March. New Zealand cheese has been selling in the shops in London at 6£d to 7§d per lb, according to quality. The wholesale price is ruled principally by American, which is usually of better quality than the New Zealand kind.

The Secretary of the British Dairy Farmers' Association confirms what I have said in a previous part of the letter as to very mild fresh butter commanding the largest sale in London, while in the north of England the popular taste requires rather heavily salted butter. The best imported fresh mild butter comes from Normandy, and the best imported salt butter from Denmark. Well made butter —i.e., completely free from buttermilk, and containing the smallest possible proportion of water, is best kept in good condition by refrigeration. Badly made butter will not keep long. The wholesale prices for butter of good quality may be roughly stated at 9d in the summer, and 12Jd in the winter. The cheese which finds the readiest sale in the English market is fine, mild, nutty Cheddar. These vary in weight from 60lb to 1201b.