The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1897. THE BUTTER MARKET.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 566, 5 November 1897, Page 2

The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1897. THE BUTTER MARKET.

At the opening of the dairy season it is not amiss to make a forecast of the trend of the market. At this distance from the world’s market it would seem impossible to speculate on the subject, but thanks to various agencies there is sufficient evidence available now to justify prognostications, and wo regret to 3ay that the prospects are not promising. It is better for our producers to realise, if only faintly, what the butter market is to be like this season. In 1895 there was considerable trouble and some litigation through factory owners and milk suppliers taking too optimistic a view of the trend of the market. The troubles in connection with the local factories are wellknown to our readers, and wo have no desire to rake them up again, we merely refer to them as showing what may happen through ignorance of the conditions surrounding the market. From our reading of tho indications we incline to the opinion that the output of butter this season will not meet with even a decent market. Quality will of course tell, and we have no doubt that some specially fine lots will sell at phenomenal pricos, but we are not dealing with picked parcels, and in discussing the market probabilities we deal with the average. A very good indication of the market is afforded by the quotations cabled from London to the Department of Agriculture, and theso since tho beginning of September for buttor, are as under :

CWT. MAKKKT. Sept. H 108/- rising „ 15 100/- very dull „ 22 100/- very dull „ 29 98/- not favorable Oct. 7 98/- unfavorable „ 20 100/- dull „ 27 98/- hoavy supplies on hand For the past six weeks tho market has beer) depressed, and in dealing with the abovo ([notations it must be homo in mind that tho prices given are for tho finest quality and represent extreme quotations. At this period last year Colonial buttor of host quality was selling from 114 s to 118 s per cwt. Of courso wo shall be mot by somo optimists with the assertion that as the- English winter advances tho pricos will improve and that tho above quotations do not really indicato tho pricos that will bo obtainable next month. Undor ordinary circumstances wo should bo inclined to concur in this view, but tl)/‘ facts are against tho theory. Wo know for instance that tho Victorian dairymen «.»%; forward sales for delivery in November and December at 97s per cwt, and this does not look as though tho market will improve. There aro several circumstances oporating against the expectations of a good market, and they may );o briolly stated as follows : —(1) Excess o/’sumdies; (2) probable rostrictod demand. r ft is well-known that most of tho hotter producing countries will be heavy snippers this season. Victoria and Now South Walos expoct to be able to produco considerably more than in the last season, wlipo tho industry was alfected by the povailiNg 4 rou g llt * Queensland

will this season be exporting butter, and the contribution from this colony will be in excess of last year. Canada and the United States have also supplied the British markets very heavily this year, and the butter received from these two countries has for the most part gone into store. The cold storage accommodation of London and the Provinces been very materially increased in recent years and wholesale dealears are making greater uso of this accommodation, and with this result, that the surplus of a season is carried over to the next. The carry-over stock from last season was heavy, and to this must be added tlie excess from Canada and the United States, and with increased exports from the colonies it is hopeless to expect a buoyant market. But heavy supplies are not the only adverse features, there is the probability of a restricted demand. The lock-out of the engineers and the pending strike amongst the cotton operatives will have their effects on the produce trade. Men on strike do not earn wages that will admit of the free purchase of butter, and we look to the labour troubles at Home to curtail the demand for colonial butter. With the wages of the artisan classes restricted their spending power is naturally contracted and that must have a detrimental bearing on the produce market. We should not be surprised to find margarine and inferior and cheap sorts of butter meeting with quick sales this season because of these labor troubles in England. Heavy supplies and a restricted demand are not the factors that make for a buoyant market, and we warn the dairymen or such of them as are in the habit of drawing against their milk supplies to endeavour to work upon the smallest margin possible to avoid heart-burnings and maledictions when at the end of the season accounts are squared. It would be better for milk suppliers to have a balance to receive rather than to have to refund, as was the case a season or two ago. Of course we are not infallible judges in this matter, and our forecast may, by the happy concatenation of events, turn out to be altogether wrong, but with the evidence now before us we cannot see other than a bad season for the butter trade, and our only desire is to warn producers in time.