COMMERCIAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 27

COMMERCIAL NOTES.

CONTROL IN NEW ZEALAND, (F*on Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, June 2. According to the Chief Steward, Mr Edt ward Palmer, who managed the Indian Restaurant At the British Empire Exhibition, and was an exhibitor at the British Industries Fair, has made some illuminating remarks in connection with the purity of New Zealand butter. “It appears that, for religious reasons," says the journal, “the Indiana will not use butter aa we know it, but employ in its place G.H.W., which ia a pure fat made by heating butter until all the impurities are eliminated. This pure fat, almost flavourless, ia then used for cooking. Every bit of it is goodness, and ita use is permitted by Indiana of the highest and strictest caste. When Danish butter is prepared in thia way only 58 per cent, of it can be used, the remaining 42 per cent, being impurities. New Zealand butter, which is not so popular on the British breakfast table, gives 77 per cent, pure fat and only 23 per cent, go to waste in the preparation of G.H.W.” This indicates the very high quality of New Zealand butter and further goes to show the great advantage to the community of using New Zealand pro* duce. FOOD AND THE STRIKE. In the last issue of Cold Storage, under the heading “In Tooley Street," the follow* ing paragraphs appear: “The wholesale butter and cheese firms in Tooley street, although working on line* of shorter distance as between dock and market than the imported meat trade, had their big difficulties which they manfully surmounted. The heads of the principal house* worked in committee for this achievement, and volunteer labour enabled them to clear supplies from the nearer wharves and also from the Surrey Commercial Dock. “On the outbreak of the strike, Tooley street was greatly annoyed at news that New Zealand butter had been temporarily withdrawn from the market, and put on again at 176 s per cwt., or 4s more than the previous Friday’s price. This was spoken of as the only attempt to raise the food of the people on the strike issue. Representations were quickly made to the Board of Trade, and before long the matter was rectified. Those in the ‘the Street’ having the interests of New Zealand butter at heart expressed their feelings at the likely effect of this incident on the fair name of the Dominion." ANGORA RABBIT WOOL. Inside some huts in a field, not far from Eastbourne, is the nucleus of an industry which is daily growing, and the prospects of which are, perhaps, the brightest of any in the country at the present time. The huts are filled with hutches containing rabbits of the finest strains of the Angora breed, whose wool at the present moment is fetching remarkably high prices. Mr B. Glocker, who is the owner of this farm, said to a Morning Post representative: “An ounce of Angora rabbit wool is worth more than a pound of the finest sheep’s wool and more than its own weight in silver. At the present time the Briitsh Angora rabbit industry is flourishing as it never has done before. The wool we get from our animals is of the finest quality, and we obtain fo- the greater part of our production of wool 35s a pound, against the 18s 6d, which is the highest price for the French wool. It is not generally known that there is a huge market for Angora wool, and at least five times as much as is produced in England could easily be absorbed In the Home market alone at high prices without touching the demands of foreign countries. America is ripe for the introduction of British wool, for all she has been able to get till now is the poorquality French wool, and since there is always a market for the best material, one might almost say that the United States could take as -auch wool of the finest grade as all British breeders together are capable of producing. The amount of wool produced by an average farm is about 12 ounces per animal, and a breeder may count on getting £1 net profit per annum on each rabbit." HOSTILITY TO DAIRY CONTROL.

The Wellington correspondent of The Times, dealing with “Control in New Zealand," taking as his text, “The deputation to the Prime Minister regarding meat and dairy produce," writes: “Hostility to the decision of the Dairy Control Board is growing all over the country; but it would not be accurate to aay that it is shared by the majority of dairy farmers. There is, in any case, no means of knowing, except by a plebiscite, what tha strength of opposition to control is. However, the business mind is quite made up on the matter, and it is that control ia highly dangerous for it places the produce of property of tne dairy farmer in the hands of a board composed not of commercial men, but one exception) of farmers, and it may prejudice the British public against New Zealand produce. Any nitch in the disposal or realisation of produce of such great value would affect the people of the Dominion as a whole, and not merely tin dairy farmer. “Disinterested commercial and financial opinion, so far as it can be ascertained, is that no ease of mind can be expected so long as the meat export-Bortbwick affair is left where it is, and so long as the Dairy Control Board is immovable from ts position of absolute control of all butter and cheese for export. The Government was returned by an overwhelming majority in November last, and it had hoped to begin its first session of Parliament untrammelled by any difficulties of a kind upon which it* supporters might hold divergent opinions. Unless some way out of the licence and dairy control difficulties is found, time required for the despatch of other and important business will be lost over these contentious matters. Regret is general among business men not directly interested in the meat or dairy export trades that politic* should so intrude in commerce."