FALL IN BUTTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23085, 9 July 1938, Page 11

FALL IN BUTTER

NEW ZEALAND AT 121/LONDON MARKET QUIET SHARP SETBACK FOR DANISH A further decline is shown in the price of New Zealand butter on tho London market, the latest quotation, at 121s per cwt., being 2s below tho value a week ago, Australian suffered a similar setback. The market is reported to be quiet, according to a Press Association message sent from London on Thursday. Danish butter has'experienced an even sharper decline than tho Empire product, pricos having fallen from 125s to 126s a week ago to 121s to 122s per cwt. There is a premium of 2s on unsalted Empire butter, New Zealand selling at 123s and Australian at 121s per cwt. The cheese market is also .reported to bo quiet. Both Now Zealand whito and coloured, however, are still at last week's rates of 68s 6d per cwt. Australian is quoted at -6(3s 6d. Recent quotations and those of a year ago compare as follows: July 7 July 1 June 10 July 0 Butter— ]!)HH 11)38 J ti;J7 New Zealand 121/- I'Sil- i l/- 110/Auslralian . 110/- 121/- 118/0 101)/Danish . . 121/G 12fi/fl l'J'2l- 115/Cheese —N.Z.: lr White .. <JB/t< WIG (>B/0 70/8 Coloured .. liH/U GB/6 (>M/U 00/Canadiun: White .. 7!)/. 70/- 7f»/- 70/Coloured .. 70/-' 70/- 70/- 70/Tho basic rates fixed under the New Zealand guaranteed price scheme, subject to quality differentials, are 123s 8d for butter aiu} 70s 4Jd for cheese per cwt., f.0.b., New Zealand currency. The equivalent landed price for butter in London is 112s and for cheese 675. The guaranteed price for butter is equal to 13.20 d per lb., f.0.b., and the current London quotation is caual to 14.43 d. New Zealand ports. Tho equivalent price for cheese is about 7.75 d per lb., compared with the guaranteed price of /.old. A. .S. Paterson and Company, Limited, quotes:—Butter: The market is quiet. New Zealand. 121s; .Australian! 119s; Danish, 1235. Cheese: The market is slow. New Zealand, 68s 6d.

WATER GARDEN PACIFIC EXPERIMENT REMARKABLE RESULTS VEGETABLES AND FRUITS [fhom our own correspondent] VANCOUVER, Juno 8 Wake Island, in the Pacific, 19 degrees north of the Equator, until three years ago uninhabited, and devoid of all but the hardiest forms of vegetation, is now the scene of one of tha most unusual gardens to' he found anywhere —a Mid-Pacific experiment in the new science of hydroponics. The gardens, which are a group of liquid-tight boxes, filled with chemic-ally-treated water, in which a wide variety of crops are flourishing, were designed by the University of California to supply vegetables to the personnel of Pan American Airways and United States Navy at Wake Island, which is of growing significance in American defence in the Pacific. The agrobiologist in charge of the experiment, Mr. Lamory Laumeister, who successfully overcame a series of [ initial handicaps, now finds, like President Roosevelt, that one of his chief problems is crop control. Many , plants tend to flourish too abundantly, growing to stalk and leaf too rapidly, to fruit too slowly, as a result of the extraordinary light intensity of . the Wake latitude. This over-generosity of tropical sun is being combated by newcombinations and additions to the chemicals used in the water gardens. The experiment has led to one of the most important possibilities which haa yet been offered by hydroponics, namely, that the taste and quality of the fruits and vegetables produced by this newest branch of agriculture can be controlled.

Mr. Laumeister has produced garden, truck of many kinds; including lettuce, beans, carrots, squash, corn, cucumbers and tomatoes, using the same original supply of fresh water. Lately he hris put in water a crop of melons, pineapples and pawpaws. He says he expects also to grow strawberries out of season.