NEW ZEALAND BUTTER IN LONDON.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 9651, 18 March 1893, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER IN LONDON.

We have been shown a letter received re* ccntly by a firm in Wellington, which, having some interesting information re* Bpecting the butter markets in London, wo have been permitted to mako extracts from. The writer, after refeiring to a consignment recently received says :— " This shipment compares for condition very badly against parcels we received at the same time from Australia by the P.O. and Orient steamers Merchants in New Zealand must bestir themselves to get more attention paid by stoamsbip line trading with your colony to the Cold Chambers. Tho Ophir brought her butter at a mean temperature of 40 deg. fahr,, and we were permitted by the courtesy of one of the owners to inspect tho refrigerator and cold chamber log; the highest was 44£ dcg. Fahr., and she delivered her butter in splendid condition. As to tho quality of New Zealand butter, it is. not to be compared with what we aro receiving every week from Australia. Thus early in the season (Dec. 24) we have cleared over four thousand boxes, and have not a single box on hand, realising in most cases, for established brands, 124s to 1265, and. for brands which have still to become known we have accepted 120 bto 1235, and these we expect will soon be ia the first flight, A large portion of the butter which comes from New Zealand ia not "factory butter," but soems to bo butter bought in comparatively small lota, or collected from various dairies and stored until a sufficient quantity is got togethor, then mixed up, packed, and shipped, Ia no other way can we account for its irregularity and Btaloness. [This evidently refers to the butter sent south of Wanganui,] Your farmers ought to start factories &uch as they havo in Australia, for wo feel convinced that with your more succulent grasses and superior climate New Zealand ought to be ahead of Australia for dairy produce. New Zealand shippers of butter are not found to be ao careful in keeping up th« quality of their brands and putting different brands on their second and third qualities as the Australian shippers, henco each parcel has to be examined and sold on its merits. We recommend careful atten* tion to this detail. A portion of Australian butter shipped to us and now at hand, has already been sold to arrive at 1265, buc this is because one shipment scarcely varies from another over the whole season, all being of Al quality.