LONDON PRODUCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10361, 16 May 1895, Page 4

LONDON PRODUCE.

, ■ -, -» —. - ■, (From Oob Own CoehespondbntO ■ .'. London, March 29. NOTES ON PBODUCE. . The. Gothic :on her; last Homeward trip brought, it will be remembered, a consignment of cheese ■ cold-stored on the Hall carbouicanhydrideßysteni, which is coming largely into use in London. The Agent-general has obtained from a; firm of experts the following report on the Gothic s cheese :—"ln reply to your favour of the 7th inst., we have much pleasure in stating that the cheese brougbt-by s.s. Gothic arrived in splendid condition. •■" From a careful examination of her chambers in which the cheese was brought we find an almost entire absence of moisture. The trays fitted to catch »ny moisture that, might condense on the brine pipp acted well. Owing to the suitable temperature at which the brine was circulated through the chambers, the cheese was not; subjected to variations of temperature such as are inevitable in the case of ships refrigerated with cold-air machines., In our opinion this is undoubtedly the best system in operation on board any vessels maintaining a suitable and uniform temperature in cheese rooms during the voyage." .'.. '■•■*■.'■• The frozea meat trade is stagnant, the demand slack, and the serious proportion of inferior sheep—such as stale, off-colour old ewes, which should never have been sent Home at all—has had an exceedingly unfavourable effect'on the market. It has given/New Zealeand mutton a bad name.' These miserable wretches of old ewes will hardly fetch enough to repay Freight; and charges. Why are people j iQ New Zealand so foolish as to send Home! these, aged:'female veterans of the aheepfold ? Surely they - cannot expect Londoners to by them ?• At all events the Cockneys won't. They know better, and the result is a lowering of prices all round, and the sale of the poor old things at a heavy loss. ■ This year's lambs, too, are as a rale inferior. ; The consequence of all this is that best New Zealand-mutton is now quoted at 3|d to 3£d and ordinary at 2£d; A nice price, isn't.'it ?' But what can'you expect? New Zealand lamb is at V4£d 'down to'3£d or evenriower.'. That's for lamb, mind ! ■ "■' • The mild weather has made the grass grow fast, and the Home production of disiryproduce will soon ba large. This is against the colonial product,' and the season will soon be over. "The fall in the value of'colonial butter" (write Messrs W; Weddel and Co. to me to-day) "which" took placa last week, caused by the eagerness of some importing agents to try and clear their'stocks at any pricejhgs turned the attention of thegrocers to the great profit that is obtainable by '■■buying'it at the present low quotations and - retailing it at a shilling, and in some cases even 14d, per pound. "■' There is, at preseno prices,- more money to be made by the grocers and buttermeu out of colonial than out of Danish and Swedish butter, and conseqnently the demand for Australasian butter has considerably /improved during the last few days, though, unfortunately," there is no improvement in prices." :'" : '■■-• Mr Samuel Lowe, of the same firm,-sends me the following memorandum this afternoon:— " The Danish quotation is 4s 6dper owt'. lower, but the increasing- demand for colonial, and consequently the falling-off in' the inquiry'for Continental, butter will most probably induce the Danes to again lower their price shortly; so that they may recapture the market. The great difference in the prices ruling to-day between Scandinavian and Australasian butter is not ia accordance with their intrinsic values. Though the last few shipments of butter from the colonies have been deteriorating in quality, a eimilar falling off hag also been noticeable in I Danish and Swedish, and therefore the present wide gap in" the prices between these two standard qualities cannot continue. As there is no prospect of colonial butter advancing in price, the Continental must fall, so as to readjust their relative values; ' The quantity of butter imported from Denmark and Sweden last week was the greatest for the last three j months, and consequently the northern markets, to which Australian has driven it, were unable to absorb the whole supply, and large qu&ntitieg are left over for next week's market, though the price was lowered 2s to 4s per cwt. •to induce buyers to operate. Dutch butter i 3 comtDg forward in increasing quantities, due to thfi early calving season, which has become customary iv Holland. Irish new season's creamery butter is selling in London at 88s per cwt." ■.•-..■ As regards-New Zealand cheese, Mr Lowe writes to me this afternoon:—" There is a better supply, and these who are not.pushing their goods on the market are realising from 44s to 47s for very prime Australian. The Arcadia's cheese was landed in good condition, but it is not yet on the market." Giving evidence on Wednesday before the Food Products Committee of the House of Commons, Mr James Hudson said that good New Zealand and Australian butter could now be obtained in London at Bdper lb. He objected very strougly to the mixture of butter a«d margarine, and thought it ought to be prohibited. It did a great deal of harm to dairy produce, and . was a distinct fraud ■on the public. The same witness gave a nice account of the inspectors under the Margarine Act. He said they were known everywhere, and if they went into a shop and asked for a pound of cheap butter they would either receive a pouDd of "best fresh" or else half a sovereign would be put into the scale. This is a pretty statement!