NORTH ISLAND NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10923, 12 November 1913, Page 2

NORTH ISLAND NOTES.

[Fboji Our Cobresi'ondent.] 'WiIILUiNGIOiN, November 8. November promises to bo a dripping mouth. Moisture enough was experienced in October. Pastures and crops, after tho comparatively dry and windless winter, have probably never looked oetter. Nature nas certainly favoured ohe farmer of late. Feed is abundant and stock are developing at a most .satisfactory rate. Wool should be very well grown, even if a little light m condition, while dairy cows are producing then- maximum supply of milk. Tho.unfortunate strike and the consequent holding up of dairy produce has strikingly discloeed the weakness in our system of storing cheese. Apart altogether from the inadequacy of tho storage capacity at some points, the non-provision of proper cool storage at such important cheese exporting centres *as Wellington and Patea will probably mean heavy losses to producers. And it was never more important that we should land our cheese in Britain in the very best condition.

The strike will mean a serious setback to tho wool-selling business. It is an arduous matter for foreign buyers to' value and compete for the wool offering at our many selling centres, but with tho first sales postponed and the consequent overloading of later catalogues the business will be a strenuous one, and competition will suffer in tho process. A movement is on foot in tho Auckland province to encourage fruit growers to caii their fruit. The FruitGrowers' Association recommends a system of canning, and providing this is adopted, will place Association labels on''the bottles, so that largo uniform linos may be marketed. -In these days of better ■understanding of tho preserving process and availability of simple outfits for the purpose,the putting up of home-preserves should prove profit-' able. A market could certainly be developed for the homo preserve; indeed, many peoplo prefer the tasty home-made article. Much of the fruit now wasted in the orchard could be made into jam by the wife or daughters. It merely requires to be attractively marketed to meet a keen and jmprovmg demand. In some countries women's clubs are being- formed for the purpose of putting up homemade preserves and other articles, end marketing them under a distinctive brand.

Notwithstanding the efforts being made to influence British legislation in tho direction 1 of preventing margarine being coloured in imitation of butter, nothing is likely to be done to alter present conditions. It is declared that the increasing consumption cf margar- j ine in Britain is principally duo to the increase in tho amount of seoond-class Australian butter placed on British markets. The public prefer a nice clean-flavoured ancl fresh article (as margarine is) to that of a poor-flav-oured weedy butter. Margarine does not compete with or interfero with the sale of first-class butters, as there is a vast community of consumers at Home who will always purchase the pure article, and are willing to pay_ a good price for it. The lesson is obvious. If margarine is te> be fought, it can only be done by placing only high-grade butter on the market. J. H. Esdill, commercial superintendent of the Port of London Authority, is in Australia, to refute statements which have been circulated in regard to the shipping facilities at the Port of London.* Meat, he says, can be placed on the Smithfiold Market from London at a maximum of 14s 7d per ton, against 26s 9dl at owners' risk, and 27s 9d at companies' risk from Bristol. At Smithheld Market the most up-to-date meat stores in the world are being provided, at a cost of £500,000. Bock improvements will absorb £14,000,000, of which £5,000,000 have already- been authorised. A fanner who has been very successful with pumice country informed the writer that his most striking experience was with an oat crop, which hj& eat down with sheep three times and then ploughed in. This repeated feeding off provided that consolidation of the light soil which is so td its future success, while the ploughing S in of the crop was an admirable method of providing; the deficient humus. The Stratford ".Post" says that at a. meeting of directors of <the Cardiff Co-operative Dairy Factory Company, Mr White, of tho firm of Lovell and Christmas, London, to whom tho season's output of the factory has again this year been consigned, handed over on behalf of his firm a very handsome solid silver vase, as a memorial present from the firm, in commemoration of_ twenty continuous years of business with the Cardiff Factory, during the whole of which time its entire output has been steadily consigned'. This, it is believed, is a record in tho dairy produce business of the dominion. The secretary of the company, Mr T. Harry Penn, states that the handsome gift will be shown at the Hawera ajnd Stratford Shows.