DAIRY PRODUCE NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1157, 4 May 1894, Page 7

DAIRY PRODUCE NOTES.

Frwn Our Own Corespondent. London, March 9. The fine open weather which has prevailed during the past fortnight, combined with heavy Colonial arrivals and an increased supply from the Continent has naturally led to a falling away in prices during the period. On March Bth Finest Colonial was a quiet trade at 114 s, and a weakness set in with the arrival of the Eimmtaka, which vessel’s quantity came in for sale at a re-auction of six shillings per cwt. In the following week the Valetta and Oruba put on the market 38,274 boxes, and in spite of the lower range of rates slow trade continued to prevail. During the past week there has been a further fall owing to the holidays, and the top quotation for Colonial is now 106 s—a price that has not often been made during the three days preceding Good Friday. The Maori King, which docked on Monday, brought her quantity in first rate condition, but some of the stuff shows signs of having been subjected to high temperature before shipping. In view of the weakness of the market the shipping company offered to keep the butter on board until the Easter holidays were over, but to the disgust of several large consignees, who would have been particularly pleased to leave their quantities in safe keeping till the Easter merrymaking had passed, one or two minor owners of butter aboard demanded their lots, and to satisfy these peoplo the vessels had to be discharged. Ihe Duke of Westminster, which should have been cleared by this time, is detained, I understand, at Teneriffe, owing to leaking boiler tubes, and hor arrival in London is problematical. I have been told that she will be delayed in Teneriffe for a very considerable period. It is not known yet how far her defective boilers will affect the rofrigeration or her dairy produce, but if the butter by her suffer at all, it would be a good thing if matters were so bad that the lot had to be discharged into Davy Jones* warehouse. NEW ZEALAND’S POSITION.

I have so often remarked upon the inferior position occupied by New Zea land in the Home butter market compared with Victoria, that I scarce like to salt the sore again. However, it must be done since the mischief Arises from causes it is in the power of New Zealanders to eradicate. The great evil is the improper treatment of butters prior to putting them aboard ship. I have pointed out again and again that to ensure the arrival of butter in England in first-rate order it i 3 absolutely necessary to keep the stuff at a uniformly low temperature from the time of making This is impossible under the present condition of things, but the impossibility must be removed if New Zealanders wish to attain the utmost benefit from this trade with the Old Country. Refrigerating cars must be provided on the railways, coasting steamers carrying dairy produce must be fitted up with cool chambers, and at every port there must be cold storage. When butter has to bo carted any distance the removing of it should be done either before the sun has thoroughly warmed the atmosphere or else in the cool of the evening. On a hot day a couple of hours exposure is sufficient to knock a couple of shillings off the value of the best of butters, and in round figures the loss to New Zealand exporters this season through not observing the primary condition of low temperature prior to shipment alone is fully LSOOO. This indeed is, I think, a very low estimate. Irregularity of quality in factory butters has also been a very serious drawback to the trade, and none of the factories which last season topped the market have this year came up to the standard shown in the season 1892 93. Then again the biggledy piggledy order of ships arriving with butter from New Zealand lias told heavily against the sellers of your butters at this end. To alter this irregularity will require tho strongest representations on the part of your government to the shipping companies, and before those representations can fairly be made there most be cohesion amongst exporters. They must one and all agree to a certain range of temperature for their butters

and contrive to put the shipping companies in the position of the P. and O. Orient lines, of knowing exactly the space required in each vessel. In short, you must copy the Victorian system as closely as possible. New Zealand, as you well know, should be at the top of the tree in the Home butter trade—not in quantity, of course, but in quality. But unless an improvement takes place next season, the “ finest jewel in England's colonial crown M will find herself not only be hind Victoria, but playing second fiddla to South Australia and New South Wales as well. South Australia has sent some very high-class butter Home this season, but it lias been rather badly handled at this end. The exporters sent it mainly to three firms, one getting some ont week, the other next and so on. Through this, the brands being held by different firms, competed each brand against itself. The quantity sent, being small should have been coacentrated in the hands of one agent. TEMPERATURE. A deputation formed of Mr Henry Reynolds, Mr Trengrouso, Mr Henry Gray (Ooey and Co, Limited,) and Mr Lowe, approached the shipping companies last week on the old subject of temperature of butter chambers. Their object was to especially press upon tho New Zealand Company the necessity of carrying the butter* from the Colony at a lower and more uniform temperature than the company has hitherto achieved. Hitherto when approached from this side the companies, though hearkening to the deputationists with patience and making a note of their views, have always sent them away with the intimation that the temperature question should be threshed out on the other side of the world. But this time it was shown to the companies that the knowledge of New Zealanders as to the best temperature for the safe carriage of their butters must necessarily be founded upon the reports and advices received from consignees at this side. And it was shown moreover that Mr Reynolds, Mr Lowe and Mr Gray bad made a special study of the temperature question and that their experience justified them in speaking most authoritively on the subject. Their advice to tho companies was in brief, “ establish one butter chamber and keep it between 20 degrees and 30 degrees.” It has now I think been conclusively proved that absolute aafetv lies between those v limits. For a long time it was held that freezing would have a very baneful effect upon all but tho highest grado butters, but the experience of the past season h&B shown that second quality butters are not injured in any way by subjection to the low tempemture given above. The question of cheese carriage was briefly touched upon, but the deputationists apparently agreed to leave the range of temperature as formerly, i.e., from 40 degrees to 50 degrees. Now, in my humble opinion this is too low. To my uneducated mind there seems no reason why, with the improved appliances of the present day, cheese should not be carried at a temperature of between 55 degrees and 60 degrees. We cannot expect the ships to become ripening chambers of course, but I believe that the refrigerating engineer of the Gothic considers a range of 5 degrees wide enough to work to, and the higher temperature is much better for cheese than the lower one.

Trade in cheese is quiet at present. Finest New Zealand may be quoted 54s with 55s occasionally. Some of the Rimutaka’s consignment has turned out very fine, but much of it is too strong to be favourably received on this market.