AS OTHERS SEE US.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 88, 20 May 1914, Page 11

AS OTHERS SEE US.

WHY NEW ZEALAND EXCELS. OVER AUSTRALIAN BUTTER. The fact that New Zealand 1 butter'is considered of superior quality and realises higher prices in the Home markets than Australian has been the subject of much discussion during the past fcSw" years in Australian dairying circles. In order to ascertain the reason for advantage? enjoyed by New Zealand, the co-operative distributing companies of Australia appointed a delegation to visit the Dominion to investigate and report upon the conditions of manufacturing and marketing. Messrs W. D. Warden (chairman of the Coastal Farmers' Co-operative Society of New South Wales) and Mr Jas. M 'Kenzie (chairman), and Mr A. W. Wilson (manager) of., the Gippsland and Northern Co-operative Selling Co. of Victoria, were, appointed delegates. They receutly visited New. Zealand and spent several/"weeks in the inspection of butter factories, interviewing directors, officials and merchants. They also received great assistance from Mr Cuddie, the Dairy Commissioner, and members of his staff. The delegates have presented a lengthy, report, In a summary of the . conditions the report says:—Having traversed the principal dairying districts of the North and South, Island; we have no hesitation, in saving that the conditions for making good butter in New Zealand are much more favourable than in Australia, and it is small wonder that the New Zealand button stands in higher estimation" on the London market than does Australian. With the exception of the Auckland province and a little around Wellington, we might say that the whole of the butter in-New Zealand is made from whole hiilk supply. Comparing the home separator supply of New Zealand with Australia, the latter

is very much at a disadvantage. At the time of our visit, in February, the clover and English grasses were as green as they are in Australia in the middle of November. Then the temperature is not nearly so. high in New Zealand as it is in Australia. The land is so rich where dairying is carried on that the supply of very large factories ' is gathered from a comparatively small area. Co-operative factories are*verv numerous in the dairying districts of both islands. "With conditions, such as these, it is not to be wondered at that there is very little second-grade butter 1 made in New Zealand, even from the home separator supply. But when the fact is taken into consideration that 73 per cent, of the Dominion's export is made from whole inilk supply, which should be all first grade, it can be readily understood why there i& so little second-grade butter exported from New Zealand ty) London. Apart; however, from the natural advantages that the New Zealanders enjoy, the delegation believed that an enormous ,amount of good is done by the very active work that*is carried tin by Mr Cuddie and his staff of competent instructors, • who are always on the .watch for factories that may send in, second-grade butter. "When any such arc found, an instructor is dispatched promptly to ; enquire into and. rectify the defect. Another, great factor, in New Zealand's success is the high standard of perfection to Which they have brought :the,.,art- of pasteurising, and which is now universally practised throughout the Dominion. Some years ago the' New Zealand Government, on the advice of Mr Cuddie, secured the services of an expert in pasteurising fro ; m, Denmark to introduce the system. - into New Zealand.. Under this tnan MrVCjuldie's staff •of instructors became proficient in the work of pasteurising, ajul they in turn taught most of the .factory managei-s. The report goes on, to "say that valuable work such as ..this,, added to the splendid natural.; advantages that ithe New Zealand dairymetr enjoy, accounts* ?for the wide .difference that .there is to-day -in: the .-quality- of the ;New Zea--land and , Australian butters that find their way to the. London market. : In New South Wales-there are, • we. understand, several instructors continuously at work> amongst "the factory managers, but we dp not know of any in Victoria. In Victoria the dairy experts 1 appear to -be So fully occupied in l administering the Commerce Act that, they'-havei no time to 1 devote to the* moi'e im* portant work that is carried on'by the .New Zealand- Dairy Corinnissioner and his. staff. We strongly, recommend, that cream for butter-making in jbhe. Gomf nionwealth be pasteurised, and that competent-.men be engaged to teach bur factory, managers how to do it, , After discussing the arguments. for ant} agaimsi; grade-brasnding, their. report. think that -if - .gradebranding were made compulsory in Australia it would have little or no effect, in .raising tjie quality of Australian butter, whilst, on the other hand, it would be detrimental to the sale of much of the butter shipped to London on open consignment. The truth of the matter is that the New Zealand Dairy Commissioner and his predecessors have adopted; much more direct and effective means, for improving the quality of New Zealand butter than; has even been attempted in Australia, notwithstanding the fadt that they had a long start of us in natural conditions.

The principal reason why New Zealand export butter, on the average, is so much better than Australian, , the delegation ..considers, may be briefly summarised as follows:

(lj Until within the last few years •it was all made from milk supply, and even -now 73 per eent of it is made from, that source of supply, whilst much of the *27 per cent, of home "separator supply is gathered from farms close to the factories.

(2) The climate is vastly in favour of New Zealand, as witness the fact that there is not a factory in the whole of New Zealand that has an insulated cream room, all the maturing vats be ; ing placed on raised platforms in the churning rooms. (3) The land is so rich in iriost of the dairying districts, that the supplies folfactories, very, much larger than" the average of Australian factories, are drawn from a radius of three or four miles, hence the number of whole milk supply factories still in the Dominion. Even in. the north of the North Island, where the home separator is so much in vogue, there are 33 factories in that narrow neck of land north of Auckland, which ishows that most of the farmers in that part cannot have very long distances to deliver their cream.

. (4) The valuable work carried on by Mr Cuddie and his staff of instructors, acting in concert with himself, and the graders at the cool stores, whereby they are able to detect faults .in manufacture, and to help the managers out of their difficulties, has done a vast amount of good. This work of instruction has done much in bringing the managers up to a high state of efficiency. ' i.

(5) Pasteurisation. It is claimed by the Dairy Commissioner of New' Zealand that pasteurising lias been one of the greatest factors in raising the standard .of New Zealand butter, and we were assured by several factory managers that it had raised the standard of their output by two or three points. It is almost incredible that nearly the whole of the factories in New Zealand have, for the past four or five years, been successfully carrying on pasteurisation, whilst in Australia few of our managers how to do it, nor have we experts competent to instruct them. It appears to us that our Agricultural Departments have been, so obsessed with the idea that grade branding is the cure-all for all the ills that affect our butter, that they have been blind to all practical methods of raising, the quality, and have thus lost the substance in grasping at. the shadow. We Avere very much impressed Avith the,practice! Avny in which the New Zealand Dairy Connnissioner and his staff , arc carrying on their work of instructing factory .managers and farmers. He seems to have followed sound lines in gatheriug around him a highly qualified staff of graders. and instructors, any one of whom is capable of going at a moment's notice to any factory that is in difficulties with its butter, and taking charge of it until the faults are corrected.