The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1891.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9035, 18 March 1891, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1891.

We are glad to hear that New Zealand butter is getting for itself a good, name in London. True, this is coming about slowly; but, .is the English agricultural correspondent of our Auckland namesake says, " it is uphill work to combat the prejudice which has been created by repeated failures in the past." Mr Henry Reynolds, whom we have before referred to, who is the well-known owner of eight of the principal butter factories in the neighborhood of Auckland, has determined to take up his residence in London for a time, so a3 to secure for New Zealand dairy produce, and especially for butter, the high prices which he contends the quality of the article should command. According to our contemporary's English correspondent, " Mr Reynolds recognises that there are serious difficulties and many prejudices to be overcome, but he is combatting them with the shrewdness and tenacity of purpose habitual to him. His firm have decided to open a central depot in London for the reception of consignments which will be distributed throughout the country, without the intervention of two or three middlemen, who would absorb the profits without materially increasing the sale. Importers have tried their best to dissuade Mr Reynolds from his determination to deal directly Avith retailers. They assure him he must work in the old grooves, but he thinks otherwise, and so far all his endeavors have been crowned with success. He lays great stress on the necessity of the consignments of produce being regularly kept up and uniform in quality. It is no use for him and others to create a want unless they can supply it. It is therefore extremely annoying to receive advices that though there are plenty of consignments ready for shipment, those, he has been expecting have been shut out, owing to the limited freight accommodation available. Last season his firm suffered severely from goods being long in transit and late for market." It will be seen from this that even a man with all the knowledge and push that Mr Reynolds is known to possess, fails in the very same way that so many others have done before him. Mr Reynolds is, however, determined to conquer the difficulties with regard to the shipping, and we hope he will succeed; but we fear tint it will take more than one season to get things in order, and to convince the tradesmen in England that they can depend upon the shipments being of good quality and that their orders can be executed according to sample. When once, however, this feeling of uncertainty is removed it may bo possible to obtain higher prices, so that producers can recognise how very much they can promote their own interests by assisting the efforts of those who are fostering the trade on the other side of | the world. The great importance which i the butter trade has attained in London may be gathered from the fact that last year's import of butter into England amounted to 96,373 toas, worth £10,243,728, while the export was not quite 1250 tons. Some of the principal shortcomings of the New Zealand butter sent to London market are :—: — Irregularity of quality under one mark ; mottled colour ; roughness of packing ; bad condition of butter owing to shipment as ordinary cargo, instead of in ! the refrigerator ; .and of cheese owing to shipment as ordinary cargo, instead of in the cool chamber. The remedies suggested for the above defects are ( contained in a letter of Messrs Henry Page & Son, of Water Lane, London, who writes :—": —" We think it will be well to impress upon shippers of New Zealand butter and cheese the following points, namely : —That all butter under the same mark should be of uniform quality, and that each package of the same mark should be of the same wtight, and made of the same kind of wood, to ensure regularity of tares, as some wood absorbs more than others. That the most suitable packages are kegs of about GOlbs, casks 112lbs net. If butter be of mottled colour, however good the quality, buyers will only take it at much less money than that which is regular in colour, and colour should be yellow, not red. The butter in rolls should not be shipped to London. That kegs or casks should be bound with galvanised iron hoops, as ordinary jron becomes rusty and looks unsightly. That stencil plates should always be used to mark the packages, as appearances go a long way, and that the packages should be marked only on the top, and that the words " pure butter " must appear on each package. That there should be no cloth all round butter, but a muslin cloth sprinkled with salt on the top only. lhat butter of fine quality should contain not more than three per cent, of salt, but anything of doubtful keeping quality may be salted four per cent. That the London market cannot have quality too good. That after March prices of New Zealand butter must be expected to decline very much, because supplies of fresh made European become plentiful." Our farmers will see from this what is lequired of them if they wish to obtain the top prices for their butter, and when their consignments do not realise what they expect, the fault rests oftener with themselves tban their agents.

The petroleum experts are pushing on boring work at Aloluroa by clay and night shifts. A depth of 550 feet has boon 'reached. Tho directora of the Colonial Bank, in their half-yearly report, state that the net profit for the half year, after deducting iaterest, etc, and charging all expenses oJ management, lent, etc, and providing for bad and doubtful debts, amounts to £16 677 15a, which, with the balance of £3976, makes a total of £20,G54 4s B<J. From this has to bo deducted note arid property tax, £2096 8s 4rl ; leaving available, £18,557 16s 4d. The directors proposed to pay a dividend of 7 per cent, absorbing £14,000 ; leaving £4557 16s 4d to bo carried forward. Wind you £ofc WQlfc'BSQbaappß,