CHEESE SHIPMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16665, 10 April 1916, Page 8

CHEESE SHIPMENTS

DEMAND ON COOL STTORES. DUNEDIN 5 S POSITION. At the meeting of the Bluff Harbour Board on Thursday, the secretary (Mr G. R. George) reported as follows regarding operations at the cool store; — I have to report upon the- 6perations of the cool store since last report, dated March 1. During the month shipments have been mad© as follows: — Crates. Previous shipped 46,516 ' Tongariro 4,994 Kumara ... ... 4,003 Somerset 1,321 Total to March 31 56,834 At present. the store is full, and I have been obliged to request the Dairy Association to notify tho factories not to send any more cheese to store until the shipments of 8385 crates per loiiic and 5100 crates per Opawa are sent out at the end of this weeik. The electric fans have arrived and have been fitted, and make a perceptible : difference in the temperature of the store. _ The question of elevating apparatus is still under consideration, pending the selection of the best among several methods suggested. The acting-secretary of the South Island Dairy Association acknowledges settlement of the Somerset shipment, and wrote _ as fellows:—The idea that Dunedin is getting more favourable treatment was entirely wrong. There had been in store'there 882 crates for over five freeks, and was shipped only a day or two ago by the Kumara. To relieve tho block the Taieri and Peninsula Company sent all their Imperial Government cheese, via Melbourne, to South Africa, 2002 crates by special request, and under arrangements with the New Zealand Government. There was not iniuch cheese from the Dunedin end on account of the severe drought at all places north of Dunedin. Some factories nad shut down, and a large number were to be shut down on March 31, including the 15 Taieri and Peninsula factories. They expected 1500 tons, but oould not reach 600 tons on account of the want of rain. Other northern factories were similarly placed. Slince January 1 the shipping by the New Zealand Shipping; Company and the Shaw, Savill Company lines had been from Bluff 31,717 crates, and Dunedin 9027 crates. Since tho shipments by tho Kumara he had made urgent appeals to Wellington on behalf of Bluff. The Arawa would take from Port Chalmers 1900 crates about April 8, and the lonio, from Bluff, would take 7200 crates. There was a lot of discontent on acoount of not getting cheese away, and tho trouble was both at Bluff and Dunedin. However, ho had dono his best 'for Bluff, as liis urgent tolcgraans to those in authority would show It may bo mentioned that up to March 31 of last year 63,803 crates had been forwarded. There are at present about 15,000 crates in . the cool store, and it is estimated that at factories there are between 4000 and 6000 crates awaiting removal, so that altogether the output of factories this season is considerably in excess of that of last season. It may bo* pointed out that the cubio capacity at the cool storo is assessed at being sufficient to accommodate 20,000 crates; but, as tho cheese from each factory requires to be kept separate, it is not possible to utilise all the available spaoo; hence the reason that when 14,000 or 15,000

crates accumulate the bAard's officors have to demand a halt from the dairy factory companies. Another matter which acts detrimentally against the utilisation of the whole of the space at disposal is the lack of uniformity in regard to the size of the crates. At present these vary from 1341b to 1741b net, and, as can be readily understood, this does not allow ~<crates being stacked as closely together- as "ordinarily would be the case. An endeavour has been made for some time past to cause companies io remedy this matter, the officers of the AgrioulturaKX>epartmpnt recommending a crate coitaining 1601b net. It has been pointed out, too, that from a stevedoring_ point of view uniformity in this respect is desirable, as the quantity that can be stored in a given' space on board ship is in consequence, materially reduoed.