NEW ZEALAND BUTTER

Southland Times, Issue 19540, 2 May 1925, Page 14

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER

ALLEGED DETERIORATION. COMPETITORS IN THE FIELD. AUSTRALIAN AND ARGENTINE. LONDON, March 24. “New Zealand butter during this last season has been sadly below its usual standard.” This is a statement made by a Tooley Street broker yesterday. As a broker, he has no personal interest in any particular brand of butter, so his opinion may be taken as fairly unbiassed. In the butter trade, of course, everyone speaks from his own particular point of view, so that it would be more difficult, perhaps, to find a merchant habitually trading in the New Zealand article who would admit that it is nqt up to standard. “For the second time in history,” said the broker in question, “last week Australian salted butter was sold at a half-penny a pound in advance of New Zealand. There seems to be too much syndication of the creameries, and pride of brand is being eliminated.”

According to this authority, the present market price of the finest salted New Zealand butter is fictitious, with 100,000 boxes in cold storage and great quantities on the water. On the other hand, he admits that prices have been affected by a genuine demand for New Zealand butter from France, Belgium and Germany. Germany, he maintains, is carrying out a definite policy in buying through London quantities of New Zealand butter, in the hope that in return she will be able to get manufactures, into the Dominion. COMPETITION FROM ARGENTINE. New Zealand now has a competitor in Argentine butter. Certainly, at the present time the quantity of what is designated finest salted is comparatively small, but the quantity is steadily increasing. The quotation this morning is 174 s to 1765, against 172 s to 174 s for New Zealand salted,. In some retail shops, a few days ago, Argentine butter was being sold for 2s a lb., compared with Is lOd per lb. for New Zealand, and special brands of Australian butter were being sold at prices equal to New Zealand. The greater proportion of Argentine, it must be admitted, is not of high quality, and a great deal of it is blended with New Zealand butter before being sold. Australian finest salted tc-day is quoted at 170 s to 1745, which rather bears out the contention that the New’ Zealand produce is not maintaining its supremacy on the market The retiring President of the Glasgow Produce Exchange recently called attention to the quality of New Zealand butter, and said that many parcels came along showing rather a noticeable trace of the neutraliser, bicarbonate of soda. “That was unfortunate,” he said, “because there is little doubt that butter from that country, perfect in flavour and texture, and right in colour, as we have known it. will secure a satisfactory place for itself, satisfactory in its relationship to the price obtaining for Danish butter. One cannot 1 elp thinking of the years when throughout the whole of the New Zealand Reason that butter marched practically side by side with Danish butter. Quite often of late the gulf between the price of the two butters has been a pretty wide one. We believe that it, would be much narrower if our New Zealand friends watched very closely the quality of their butter, and so far as is practicable, kept selling all the time.” The speaker also added: “There has been a notable increase in the supplies of Australian butter of late months, and the quality of almost all is proving pleasing. It is a matter for congratulation that so many of the creameries of the Commonwealth have been successful in securing the Kangaroo brand for their butter. As most of us are aware, this brand, the figure of a kangaroo, is granted to all butter grading 92 points and over.”

DAIRY CONTROL BOARDS POLICY. Some idea of the intentions of the new Dairy Control Board has reached this side of the world, and private comments are somewhat forceful. It is evident that agents in New’ Zealand who have had the matter explained to them by the Chairman of the Board have communicated with their principals on this side. Naturally the suggestion of a very strict control is criticised severely, but those interested take up the attitude that they have not been officially advised of what the Board’s intentions are, and are not justified in expressing a public . opinion on the matter. The fact that the London representatives of the Board will spend a year in London before taking i\ny definite action is reassuring to everyone. It is considered that they will find, as was the case with the Meat Board, that some of the suggested innovations are quite impracticable.

MANURING POTATOES. RESULTS OF TESTS. INTERESTING DATA. The results of the Rothamsted potato experiments this year have again given interesting data. Without fertilisers, but on land in good condition, the yield was 6.6 tons per acre; this was raised to 7.2 tons by adding superphosphate and sulphate I of ammonia (6cwt. of the former and 2cwt !of the latter per acre). When 2}cwt. per acre sulphate of potash was given in ad- ■ dition the yield rose to 9.3 tons, a gain of : over two tons per acre, and there was a further rise of 10.6 tons per acre when the whole dressing was doubled. The total ■ difference in yield effected by the applica- , tion of fertiliser was 4 tons per acre; the crop was sold at £7 per ton, making a gross i additional return of £2B; the expenditure in fertiliser on this heaviest manured plot was £8; while an expenditure of only half this amount (viz., £4) was incurred in the plot which had yielded the increase of 2.7 tons per acre.

These results were obtained on a heavy soil not well suited to the growth of potaftoes; in these conditions the yield of 10.6 tons is distinctly satisfactory. I Equally interesting results were obtained by a study of the effect of varying he dressing of sulphate of ammonia. In this set of experiments the crop receiving no manure gave 6.5 tons per acre, while the addition of superphosphate and sulphate of potash gave a yield of 8 tons, an increase of 30cwt. per acre. Now when 14cwt. sulphate of ammonia was added, the yield rose to 9.5 tons per acre, an increase of 14 tons of potatoes for l|cwt. sulphate of ammonia; the potatoes sold for £7 per ton, while the sulphate of ammonia cost 235. Further increases in sulphate of ammonia gave some increase in yield, a total application of 44 cwt., giving an additional lOcwt. of potatoes, making the yield 10 tons per acre. Substitution of muriate of potash for sulphate of potash did not appreciably affect the result. When the phosphates and potash were also increased the yield rose still further to 11 tons per acre. There had thus been a gain of 3 tons of potatoes per acre by increasing the nitrogenous dressing, but this necessitated an increase in the dressing of potash and probably of phosphates also.