AMERICAN BUTTER MARKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15548, 4 March 1914, Page 8

AMERICAN BUTTER MARKET.

The attitude of the United. States federal authorities in condemning butter because it contains a trace of boric acid, probably discoverable only by a chemical test, and which in no way diminishes the value of the butter as a food or destroys its flavour, may appear arbitrary, but there is no appeal from their decisions. The only course open to New Zealand manufacturers is to exercise the most scrupulous care to avoid a recurrence of the incident. It is apparently very easy for traces of boric acid to get into butter intended for the American market, either through its use by suppliers or through being gathered from machinery previously employed for the making of butter containing the preservative. If an arrangement could be made for the officers of the United States Government to accept certificates from the New Zealand factory and the New Zealand Government guaranteeing consignments to be free from preservatives the heavy loss resulting from the condemning of butter at an American port would be avoided. However vexatious the American regulations may be it is necessary to observe them to the letter if the market already established is to be held and enlarged. The potential value of this market can hardly be over-estimated, and with the removal of certain handicaps Auckland dairy farmers will secure an increasing proportion of the trade. The representations made to the Prime Minister yesterday for a rearrangement of the rates for the carriage of dairy produce from New Zealand ports to North American ports should result in the removal of an obvious anomaly. The Wellington merchant can ship butter to either San Francisco or Vancouver at an inclusive freight charge of Id per pound; the Auckland merchant can send butter direct to Vancouver at the same rate, but to reach the San Francisco market he is mulcted in an extra coastal charge : of one-fifth of a penny or Jd per pound. This represents in the aggregate a heavy tax on the dairying industry of Auckland Province. With the removal of' freight anomalies and the provision of more refrigerating space on the Pacific steamers, Auckland butter should in the immediate future reach the American and Canadian markets in much larger quantities than in the past.