COLONIAL FOOD PRODUCTS FOR ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 224, 28 May 1896, Page 14

COLONIAL FOOD PRODUCTS FOR ENGLAND.

A PAPER BY MR C. R. VALENTINE. (Feom. Our Own Correspondent.) London. March 5.7. An important paper was rtad before the Colonial Section of the Society of Arts last Tuesday evening by Me Charlej R. Valentine, produce manager for the CO. and D. Company, and late produce expert for the New Z-aland Government. j Sir Wesbby Perceval, who presided, before introducing the lecturer, mentioned that Sir Charles Kennedy, chairman of thab sectiou of the. S.jcefcy of Arts, was anxious to say a few words aboub the paper, which he had already perused, as he waa obligdd to leave iv order to fu'fil a previous eni?sg. ment. Sir Charles K^unedy complimented Mr Valenf.ino very highly on hia able and valuable | p*f lfir > and dwe'b upon fc^e advantages accruing to the trade, between Great Britain and her colonies from the publication of papers of ihis cla-s. He also <-xpi'cß«ed his senne of the great obligations the public, bobh of G eat Britain and the colonies, were under to the various Agents-general, who took «uch an active part iv promoting the interests of colonial trade a: d who rendered valuable services as members of th« Colonial Committee of the society. No one had done mare service in th s respect than Sir Wri-tby Perceval.— (A ppUuse). Sir Wtstby then introduced Mr Valont'UP, mentioning that he had formerly b>ild the position of produce experb for the Now Zealand and New South Wales Governments, and that he had had exceptional opportunities of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the subject he treated on, to whicb, moreover, he had devoted years of studying and experience. Mr Valentine then procaeded t.o read his paper, which occupied just about au hour in delivery, although the reader omittod largo masses of- statistics and other details which will be found in the complete paper published in (he transactions of the Soaie f y of Arts. Ha dwelt l firnt on the enormons and increasing exieut to wlrch England is dependent upon supplies of food from oversea, and contended thtt this dependence had not been brought about so much by shortcomings on the part of the British farmer as by some of the conditions under which he had to farm. While the Home population had increased by 5£ millions in tbe last 15 years, there bad been virtually no increase in the Home pro/isions for feeding all (he^se new mouth", and there al*-o has been a di«tincfc rise in the standard of living on the part of the toilers generally. He dwelt on the v»6t expansion which ha;l taken place in colonial pr< ducMon, and expressed satisfaction that since he had reported for two Colonial Governments upon the produc ion and ma>-ke'iug of dairy produce, colonial pro Hie -rs had more fully recoguined the fact th*t it wai to their advantage to produce and send Home only the j bast and mosb carefully graded products.- Experience has shown that in years of abundance the depreciation in price for inferior products is relatively greater than in that of the batter qualities. Hencs many New Zealand products, tor instance, are now recognised by their name as being of flnstrate quslity, and he believed that, although in the neighb mrintf continent of Australia the idea that England might be exploited as a dumping ground for any kind of produce, is still retained to some extent, it was gradually dying oub. Mr .Valentine dwelt on ths benefits derived from the co-operative systrm of dairyfarming, and expressed his opiuion tliab the deve'oprnenfc of co ; oni*l production nrght be expected to go on iv a geometrical ratio, and was practically unbounded. He held that statistics showed the United States to be g.-adually becoming the consumers of their own vast produce, aud ere long Canada might find a' better market in the States than in Ejigland for hsr produce. ! „ Afber enlarging upon the vat mil advnn'ages ! possessed by New Zdaland and Australia for the production of food sluff?, Mr Valentiue went on to urge the necessity of the exporting trade from Australia being thoroughly organised with the view to tbe regulation of shipments and of ensurirg their uniformitj alike in bulk and in sequence of delivery. He pointed out that at the present day, owing to the irregularity of. shipments, little more than one-third of the cold storage cipicity of the vessels thab actually sail is utilised. Thus, so far as the carriage of fn zm sheep is concerned, ib may be srated that four vowels or four trips could have done the work now performed by six. Iv distribution also there is room for improvement. The produce should not be gambled with, and consignments might be sent direct to the large consuming centres olher than London, such as Birmingham, South Staffordshire, Lancashire cotton towns, North Bta:ff ;rdshire potteries, North of England mining and iron districts, and South and West Yorkshire, where vast j aggregations of population exist, where there 1

are many cenfcfes for distribution, and where the population, in some cases at least, cro cs numerous as those of working London, and ata cornp >setl of well-paid earner-!, wha?e standard of living would mtke them good customers for colonial produce. The lecturer contended that the eolonfea could feed the mother country to advantage and cheaply. Probably more so than any foreign source. He admitted thxt patriotic sentiment; had litblo weight in trade, acd that colonists mnab lvally recognise th*t intrinsic merit; is the factor which alona will operate 'in securing trade. I In an exhaustive review of the performance and capacities of .(he principal dairy-pea* ducing countries, Mr Vakntine pointed out that iv the Cft«e of the European producers developmeut had elmoah reached prsctioal limit, whereas thfct of, Au trali* and New Zealand waa ttesdily ovtarUking the other*, and, at no very dist&nfc date 1 , be feit> ctrttin that tho < pre-emiuoDCo of New Zealand *nd Australia as the provider,? of dairy prodaoo for the Uuited Kingdom would become definitely established as an exiuipls of the survival of the Sfttuafc. Ha »dmitttd tli\t Gre»6 Britain could nob be beaten in tho production of tpeo'»Uy chofca cheess and, bu ter, bob h«* assortM piM'ively th*fc in reg*rd to the b<dk of guo>i quality dairy produce— wh*b i» known in the trade as " oniiuary finest " or " good quality '*•— the Home producer cannot poasibly compete with his colonial riv*l. He urged tbat the dairy farmers of Gte&t Britain (hould aim rather to rupply the mother country with cha»p nnd wholesomo milk, ani to leave tb-i sayply of butter and ,ch<re«e to b«i proTtd^d in * large degree by her colonies. Wr.He tbtf cun umi tion of dairy produce is ir-cre.*ai»tg British producura appear to be doing less to meet it;. The Canadian bubter trade hxd improved, but thai; was aided by a Gorernmtnb bmu», a return - equal to lOd per lb on batter beirg gu*rantucd by the Government to the shippers K'sfc year. As this price wm considerably &bovo the 1 ondon quotatious'a largo snm riiu?b htve bt en paid to make up the deficiency. Mr Valentine ptoc<;elcd to re^ia^ tbo whole circumstances aud conditions of the dairy industry in the various countries where it is oxfcunsively prevalent. He warmly oomrnonded the * recent legulation in Ndw Ze-iland to prevent inferior butter leaving tint colony for England, and to insure due inspection of farms vor premises on -which, djtiry.prodaciion is curried on. " TLeio (ffQtts to sfeqare a good n*me,and to keep ib h&ve been very successful," 1 said Me Valentine. " They may ba costly, but they are ■ absolutely necessary to secure a remunerative ■ trade in E'ugland." " Toe lesaou of last year's low prioeß has been well driven homo in fevtry colony fch^t cheapness ' iff*cts the lower qualities more tu^u tho 'hijher, and that reputible products k->ve a steady Market." Mr Valentine held llub pa^tural farming in New Zealand would be greatly mod>fl«d in the future in tho direction of mixed husbandry— the growing of grain, beef, wool, and mutton, combiucd wibh the production of milk, pork; and fruit. An immense area of land (till remained' that could ba put under daivying, md would enormously increase the output, and no country wao capable of producing richer or better milk,' or of producing ifi more cheaply, than New Zealand. A* regards New Zealand cheese, the lecfiursr said the history of its production had bei>n ona of steady a"d r»pid growth. Nef Zualand cheese broagUb top prices and ranked with CiiaadUnj.jtrid the Davy .Acfc tioaurud its feeing of corbain quality. Iv hin opinion e-.erythinjf pointed to New Zealand che«S9, which ifl or fine Cheddar make, taking a lead in the market, as New Zealand's enable her to send the bess chee«e hither whoa the market molt required it. The chief defects hitherto had boeu some lack of uniformity of quality and some degree of inferiority, owing to deficieut knowledge and skill. Thes • deftcts, hown-ier, were bf?ii>g corrected, and es the climaJic conditions were more favourable in Ne w- Zealand to the manufacture of cheese than of butter, he was convinced that when the factories were -• fully equipped and best methods adopted New Zealand would frika a leading placs in the checae supply of Grant Brif.jiin. This was nob mere "' conjecburo, for the other day a Ohe-ihire cfieetemakciT pointed out at a nuetiug ihat New Zetland wiva the competitor- Cheshire farmers had moub to fear in the future* With reference to bacon the lecturer urged that, in view of the low prices of grain in New Zealand and ibs greab value in the production of bacon and pork, together rrith the ufcilisntion of the bye-products for t.h-» da : ries and factories, there should be no d.ffihuitj in developing an important industry. Profitable use of the whey and buttermilk should not be neglected, and New Zealand bacon ought to command a ready sale. Bat co-operation was vary desirable. Mr Valentine urged that there was a good opening in Great Britain for a colonial brado in poultry, and more especially from the antipodes. Tho ships carrying frozen meat from the colonies to England have about one-third of their refrigerating space available for poultry and fruit, &3. What the colonies should look to is to provide for the English Chrietmes and spring trade. This would have to be specially catered for and managed on co-operative lines, 1 in which case it would be very remunerative. For spring, chickens must be lent, and in May ducklings would bring good prices. There is | no prejudice against chilled poultry or ganiff. Lasb year in the Ascot week Adelaide chickens were sold at from 8s to 10s a brace, and at Christmas colonial turkeys realised lOd to Is 2d per lb. They would have fetched evon higher, prices had they been larger birds. IJggs also, he thought, might be profitably .brought from the colony" to England, and rabbits should come in r. t-ie*airj£ ntfiYib. ra. "We ssnt Austr*l ; a the r*bbib as r, c.ir«e," said Mr V.i'eutine, " and she v returning it an a, blessing in the shape-, of food. The colonial Governments have hitherto paid large sum* foe its extirpation. It will be a gratifying resul.6 if the rabbit finally pays for its own execution and extinction." Frozen rabbits, to sell well, s'jould be plump, quickly paunched after being killed, unakinned, and frozsn herd ; they should be Bnsred or trapped and their neck« bi ©ken ; they shoold be packed in cases holding threa dozen, clean and uniform, and they should ba sent in large numberg from September to about

the third week April. Hares should he treated as rabbits except that they must not be pauuehed. Fruit was Mr Valentine's next He admitted that there were many difiigultiee in the way, the perishable nature of the product being among the moat prominent. But^he thought that nmch might be done with the fruit evaporator which is now in common nee in America and by means of canning. He thought New Zealand had to some extent masrored the problem of landing fruit in good condition at the London market, but be pointed out that it was largely a question of packing and freights as to how far the trade would grow, and it was important to notice th&t fruits of proper varieties and proparly packed have invariably realised remunerative prices. He thought New Zealand wsa on the threshold of a large ftuit and fiuit-produob trade with this Country with the aid of fruit evaporators and Other appliances. As to honey, the lecturer said th»,t New Zealand honey so far rent had been excallent, and quite free from the Australian faults of dark colour and eucalyptus flavuur. It has commanded excellent prices. More might still bo done in this direction, and he thought also the colony should be able to do something with condensed milk. The other subjects touched on by Mr Valentine — iucluding wine, tobacco, See. — had no direct relation to New Zenland, bat a large amount of valuable information was given. Mr Valentine having concluded amid loud applause, the chairman invited a discussion. This invitation was not very largely responded to, the f»<3t baing that the 'paper was so exhaustive in ita treatment of the various subjects that really very little remained to be said. One speaker, after warmly praising the paper as a most useful one,' laid, in view of the suggestion that colonial products ought to ou«t. foreign ones f r«m the British markets, that this was highly desirable ia view of the future possibility- of the country being iv a state of war. It vrould be a great benefit then for the mother country to be able to dispense with foreign imports and to get all she wanted from her own colonies. But would not this mean paying more dearly for them ? Would it not be batter for England to depend upon what she could grow in her own country P There was an alarming diminution in Eughnd's home productiou of food for her population. v Mr E. Montague Nelson thought that it was des-imble that everything possible should be done to promote Imperial trade. It should^e the object of every true patriot to substitute colonial for foreign productions in their food supply. At present Great Britain depends on the_ United States for one-fifth of the whole meat supply of this population. What would be England's position in fche unfuitunate event of war with America P Clearly an effort should be made to shift the meat trade to the colonies, for with a strong navy the meat-carrying ships could be sufficiently proteoted. He could see nothing to, be ashamed of in the idea of fostering trade among oar own people rather than with foreigners. The best way to promote Imperial trade would be to establish free trade within the limit* of the British Empire. No further discussion taking place —an appeal being made in vain to Mr Samuel Lowe to express his views — Sir Wesfcby Percaval proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Valentine for his exoellent paper. He thought the facts and figures presented by Mr Valentine were a matter for much congratulation. With reference lo the Britii-h food supply in war time, Sir Westby pointed out that if the food of England's people was to come from the colonies in time of war, that could only be assured by postering the trade in time of peace. The vote 'of thanks was carried by acclamation, as also was another to the chairman, proposed by Mr Valentine, and the meeting then' closed.