NEW ZEALAND'S DAIRY EXPORT TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8483, 6 February 1891, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND'S DAIRY EXPORT TRADE.

PROM OUR ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL CORRES' PONDENT.

London, January 27. A visit from Mr. Henry Reynolds, well known as the principal owner of eight butter factories in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and as the winner, with his Anchor brand, of the first prize for butter at the Melbourne Exhibition, has directed my attention afresh to the dairy export trade of New Zealand with this countrya subject in

which I bare token keen interest: from the first. That this trado has a great future before it there is every reason to believe, and that the visit of Mr. Reynolds to this country and to Denmark will do a great deal to develope the enterprise seems to be equally obvious. The results of his visit, I am glad to say, s have more than equalled his expectations. He has been well received by leading 'members of the butter and cheese trade in the principal centres of business in England and Scotland, and he has succeeded in making arrangements which will bring his firm into close connection with retailers in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glas- j gow, and other large towns. His negotiations have been materially assisted by the opportune arrival, in excellent condition, of a large consignment of butter shipped by his firm. One of the most important firms of butter brokers and merchants has pronounced this butter nearly equal in quality to the best Danish, and has assured Mr. Reynolds that there is an opening here for an (unlimited quantity of such butter. I understand that it has been sold at only 7s per cwt less than the top price for Danish. hat tho precise figure is I have not been informed, and of course the price of Danish varies from week to week; but the top price last; Monday was 13'2s per cwt. I regret to say that a sample of his butter which Mr. Reynolds directed to be sent to me has not arrived at the time of writing, the Christmas holidays, no doubt, having prevented his instructions from being carried out. Therefore, I cannot give my personal opinion as to the quality of the butter on the present occasion, but hope to be able to do so in a future letter. Although Messrs. Reynolds and Co. have j not yet begun to manufacture cheese, it is ' their intention, I believe, to go into this branch of enterprise shortly; and 1 fancy that it is not at all unlikely that they may develop© their business in another direction, although, as I have no authority for saying this, I will not go into detail. Mr. Henry Reynolds has the -strogest faith in the future of New Zealand as an exporting country, and declares that within a fewyears the value of the exports of meat and dairy produce will amount to a very largo sum. There is no limit, he says, to the production of these articles, and it is clearly proved that good prices can be realised in this country for butter and cheese of good quality. His visit to Denmark has taught him that the great secret of that country's success as a butter exporter lies in the great care taken as to cleanliness, sanitary arrangements, and uniformity of quality for a given brand. But there is something more to be secured than the ready acceptance of exports. They must be made to pay the producers, and one of the most important of the arrangements made by Danish manufacturers is that of insisting upon a good standard of quality in the milk supplied by farmers to their factories. Upon the Danish industry I shall have more to say presently ; but for the moment I wish to point out the most important lesson which Denmark gives to New Zealand. Importers have assured Mr. Reynolds that there is so close an approach to uniformity of quality in the Danish supplies of any particular brand that it is scarcely necessary to sample the consignments. This gives confidence to buyers, and nothing increases demand and keeps prices up like confidence. Mow it is clear that this uniformity is only to be attained under the creamery or factory system, and for a country as distant from our markets as New Zealand is there are many necessary precautions to be taken besides those essential to the production of butter of uniformly good quality. This important qualification has .to be insured, not only in butter made, and not only in butter shipped, but also in butter landed here. It is well known in New Zealand that, hitherto, a very large proportion of the butter made, if good to begin with, has been spoilt during transmission to the shippers, while in their keeping, or on the voyage to this country. The result has been that a great deal of New Zealand butter has been sold in London at the price of cart-grease, and a good deal more at the price of the lowest grade of Irish butter. All this is preventible, and must be prevented. »

It is amusing to notice that the visit of Mr. Reynolds to Denmark was regarded very much as that of a hostile invader. His coming was announced beforehand in Danish papers, and manufacturers of butter were warned not to ijllow him to see over their factories. New Zealand, he learned, is the only country whose competition the Danes fear, because it is the only butter-exporting country in which cows can be fed on .English grasses all the year round. For my part, I do nob blame the Danes for endeavouring to guard any trade secrets which they imagine they possess from the prying eyes of any " chiel" from a competing country who goes among them to " tak' notes." Fortunately, however, Mr. Reynolds has a good friend in Denmark, who is connected with some dairy factories, and who does not believe in the possibility of binding such arrangements as a visitor desires and tries his utmost to find out. This gentleman, with good grace, showed his visitor everything that was to be seen in his own and some other factories, and gave all needful information about the arrangements. Beyond the important lessons above alluded to, Mr. Reynolds did not learn much in Denmark. As far as the actual manipulation of . the milk, cream, and butter is concered, there is nothing very remarkable about the Danish system. The fact is that a great deal of nonsense is written about Danish butter and its manufacture as I have mere than once pointed out. For instance, it is said the Danish butter make a higher price than ! English. Possibly the average price of the prime Danish sent to this country the Danes take care not to spoil their market by sending any rubbish—is higher than the average of all classes of English ; but it is absurd to state that the average top price is higher than that of the best English. You can buy the best Danish butter in retail stores and shops at Is 3d and Is 4d a pound, when the best English sells at Is 5d to Is 6d. The top wholesale quotation this week for Aylesbury is at the rate of 1403 per cent, as compared with 132s for Danish. Then, as to the making of butter, the Danes use their hands most objectionably, and this would tell seriously against the keeping quality of their produce if it had to be kept many days. In other respects besides this use of the hands the Danish system is unsuitable to New Zealand, as it is only proper for butter which will not have to be kept as many days as the weeks for which New Zealand butter must be kept. When people read about the merits of Danish butter they should remember that nothing more has been needed in the past to establish a high reputation for butter in this country than regular freedom from rancidity. : Normandy butter obtained .its great fame in this country, not because it was nice, but because it was nob nasty. It is pretty well devoid of flavour, and that was deemed a merit among consumers who had been never certain of not getting strong butter so long as they were dependent upon the supply of English. The best English and Irish fresh butter is not beaten by any butter made in the wotld, but, unfortunately, until recently very few English or Irish makers sent out uniformly good or even tolerable butter. Every now and then the butter from the best of dairies would be strong, and consumers were disgusted accordingly. Great improvement ■ has been and is being made in butter-mak-ing in this country, and in Ireland, and from hundreds of big dairies, whether factories or large farpihouse dairies, the most delicious butter is now regularly supplied. But there is not a tenth part of the quantity that is required, and thus there is an opening for colonial and foreign supplies. In my opinion it will not be at j all difficult for New Zealand makers to beat i the Danes in quality arid flavour. The i great difficulty is that of preserving these j good qualifications until the butter is sold | here. I

I have read the report of the dairy expert employed by the [New Zealand Government, and it appears to me a good one, .though I doubt whether, i; ib is necessary to lay much stress. upon the feeding of cows in a country possessing pastures as good as those of New Zealand. There is no ; b utter like that of grass-fed cows, though, of course, on poor, pastures, or where feed is short, supplementary food is necessary to ensure a fair supply of rich milk. But my point is that a good butter-maker can make fine butter from almost any milk that has not been contaminated after being drawn from the cow, unless well-known and commonly observed rules as to the feeding of dairy cows have been flagrantly outraged. Next, I assume that there are, or will bo, factories or creameries enough in the colony to make all the butter for export, and that the product will be skilfully made | with the bosfc modern appliances, and in a | scientific manner. Then the great crux of success will bo the safe packing and prompt shipment of tho butter under the best of safeguards as to keeping during the voyage. In order to obtain tho opinions and suggestions of the bcsb authorities as to what New Zealand dairymen should do in order to obtain better results than they have yet attained, as a rule, in shipping butter and cheese to this country, I addressed a letter to the leading merchants in London, asking for their views upon tho subject. Only two have sent replies worth quoting, while others have requested me to call upon them, which I could not do before despatching this letter, but hope to do shortly. As it is impossible to say all that is to be said upon this important subject in a single article of ordinary length, I will conclude for the present with a quotation of the excellent remarks and suggestions of the two leading firms above referred to, ■and a few comments upon them. Messrs. Henry Pago and Son, of Waterlane, London, write as follows :—

Some of the principal shortcomings of the New Zealand butter and cheese sent to this market are of quality under one mark; mottled colour; roughness of packing; bad condition of butter owing to shipment as ordinary cargo, instead of in the refrigerator; and of cheese owing to shipment as ordinary cargo, instead of in the cool chamber. The remedies we suggest for the above defects are contained in the letter we enclose herewith :—

We think it will be well to impress upon shippers of New Zealand butter and cheese the following points, namely: — That all butter under the same mark should be of uniform quality, and that each package of the same mark should be of the same weight, and made of the same kind of wood, to ensure regularity of tares, as some wood absorbs more than others. That the most suitable packages are kegs of about 601 bs, casks 1121b net, and Pond's patent boxes. That if butter be ot mottled colour, however good the quality, buyers will only take it at much less money than that which is regular in colour, and colour should be yellow, not red. That butter in rolls should not be shipped here. That kegs or casks should be pound with galvanized iron hoops, as ordinary iron becomes rusty and looks unsightly. That stencil plates should always be used to mark the packages, as appearances go a long way, and that the packages should be marked only on the top, and that the words "pure butter" must appear on each package. That there should be no cloth all round butter, but a muslin cloth sprinkled with salt on the too only. That butter of tine quality should contain not more than three per cent, of salt, but anything of doubtful keeping quality may be salted four per cent. That the London market cannot have

quality too good. That after March prices of New Zealand butter must be expected to decline very much, because supplies of fresh made European become plentiful. With reference to chcese, the principal things to bear in mind are that they should be of upright Cheddar shape, 501b to 701b each in weight,—rich in quality and clean flavoured, straw coloured, and uniform in colour, not mottled. There should be a space between the staves of the crates and a thin board between each cheese, also a scale-board or thin veneer of wood at the top and bottom of each cheese. We assume that shippers will, before long, adopt the American mode of packing cheese singly in light boxes instead of several together in a crate, as they are more easily handled. Having disposed of the bulk of New Zealand cheese and butter from its earliest importation, we have watched with great pleasure the development of the business, and are confident that very good results will continue to be obtained on this market for the butter, especially of the choicest qualities, from October to March, and there is no reason why the cheese trade should not he carried on all the year round. In conclusion, we strongly recommend that butter be always sent in the refrigerator and cheese in the cool chamber.

Messrs. Reynolds, Sons, and Co., of Char-' terhouse-street, London, write :—" We would strongly advise the New Zealand farmers and factorymcn to send only their finest and freshest-made butter to this country, never to send it except in the cold chamber, and to take care that the package is scrupulously clean. In our opinion the new patent cases, to contain about 561b of butter, are the best packages to use, as there is more economy of space in shipping, and the butter seems to travel very satisfactorily. There is so much common butter about from America and other places that New Zealand produce is much handicapped, ui.less the quality is exceedingly line. The same remarks apply to cheese. The best makes ought only to be sent, and in the cold chamber. The packages in which they are at present sent would do.

I am glad to learn from Mr. Henry Reynolds that there is no danger of a repetition of the misfortune of last season, when large quantities of butter were kept waiting for room in steamships, and spoiling in the meantime. As far as the packing and shipping of butter and cheese are concerned, the letters of Messrs. Page and Sons, and Reynolds, SonsJ'and Co., appear to me to cover the ground.

In' my next letter, 1 shall have something to say about the cream and condensed milk industries, as well as about the oxample of Denmark in connection with the interests of the farmers who supply milk for the export butter and cheese trade.