NEW ZEALAND DAIRY PRODUCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11952, 30 March 1894, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND DAIRY PRODUCE.

REPORT FROM THE OFFICIAL EXPERT. The Department of Agriculture is in receipt from the Agent-General of two further reports by Mr S. Lowe (Government Dairy Expert in London) upon New Zealand dairy produce at Home. The first report is dated the 19th of January, and the following abstract comprises its salient features :— the Coptic's shipment. Since my last report the Coptio haa K~ arrived with a cargo of butter consisting of 8,407 packages. Of ibese-2,430 came in the freezing chamber, ai-_ the balance in the chilled room. From a careful examination of both chambers I am able to report to you that the butter arrived in good condition so far as storage and refrigeration is concerned, though I regret that so much inferior butter comes from the colony. The engineer's log-book showed that the temperature of the frozen chamber was maintained between lOdeg.Fab. aud 21deg. Fab., while that of the chilled room raDged from 34deg. Fah. to4odeg.Fah, Unlike the Ruapehu, the Coptic brought no cheese. The increase for New Zealand laat year is 10,175 cwts., while for Australia it is 50,209 cwts,, and for the two countries combined over 3,000 tons, DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME. Among the difficulties New Zealand butter has to overcome before it will be popular ir. this country, may be mentioned the antipathy, if not the hostility, of writers for British newspapers. As an illustration of this feeling, the Standard a few days ago in its weekly article on Home and Foreign Agriculture— which is so ably written and genorally accurate as to its facts— stated that " A good deal of the New Zealand buttor has been sold at 66s to 80s per cwt,, and the best at 90s to 1045." This attempt to depreciate -"| the quality by quoting such ridiculously low prices I could not allow to pass unchallenged, and in a letter to tbat newspaper I stated that "As a matter of fact about 35 per cent, of New Zealand butter has this season sold for not less than over 112s, while another 20 per cent; has realised between 100s and Il2s. Probably another 20 per cent has fetched from 90s to 100s. Some New Zealand butter has realised as much as 130s, and one importer I know has not sold an ounce under 1205." This week the writer of the article quotes New Zealand butter as 112s to 116s per cwt for fancy brands, and good ordinary factory at 104s to 112s. It is only when batter quite unfit for the table arrives that it is sold at such prices as 66s to 80s When we remember tbat tbe official quotation of the Butter Committee is 110s for fanoy brands, the advantage of the colony having someone to defend its interests is mado apparent by the Standard's latest quotations, which place New Zoaland butter in its proper position according to merit. * NEW ZEALAND OHEE?R. The cheese*which camo in the Ruapohn is meeting with general approval, and tbe quality is well spoken of. The prices for the best quality are 52s to 555. V Tbe price of Canadian Cheddar is quoted at Bss, and importers declare that New Zealand is equally as good, NEW MARKETS FOR DAIRY PKODUCE, Among the new markets for New Zea. land dairy produce that ought to be easily captured is that of South Africa. Captain Simpson, of the Thermopylae who has just arrived iv London, tells me that when he was at Capetown three weeks ago butcer was being sold retail at 2s 6d a pound. The one difficulty in the way of opening a market is the nonexistence of cold storage. There is again great irritation among tbe importing agents of colonial butter at the action of some of their colleagues in selling colonial butter at prices far below its instrinsio value. The butter market is keeping remarkably steady, and, notwithstanding tbe very mild weather and enormous quantity of butter arriving, prices are being well maintained. Danish has fallen 4s this weok, but there will not be aDy change made on Saturday for colonial by the Butter Committee. . There will be no arrivals from Australia next week, nor from Now Zealand till the Aorangi > in about a fortnight, when it is calculated r thero will be 58,000 packages, or nearly 1500 tons, arrive in one week, whioh will be by far the greatest on record. The second report, dated January 26th, is as follows*.— VICTORIAN BUTTER AND ITS SUCCESS. As week after week pas3as, it is becoming more aud more evident that the enormous strides which Victoria is making with her butter this season iv the eyos of English wholesale butter dealers is largely owing to two distinct causes. First, the enormousqunntity of Victorian butter that i 3 being imported, combined with the general level quality of the bulk of it, is largely owing to the wonderfully fertile season iv the colony, and tbe widespread and excellent factory system obtaining there. Secondly, the irregular quality of much of the New Zealand factory butter, and the quantity of very iuferior farmers' butter that has arrived this season, bas aided the Victorian product considerably. *It appears as if a few merchants had scoured New Zealand, and bought up everything and anything in tho shape of butter that was ! to be purchased, with the idr_*,~ft_at owing to the drought in Europe butter would realise enormous prices. Some of , these speculative merchants have paid no more than 3d and 4d per pound for the stuff they are sending here to sell ss "pastry" or "confectioner's" butter* the result is disappointing to their anticipations; prices are not high, and although they may not lose money on this low grade stuff, they will be very much cleverer than ordinary persons if they do not make losses on most of the second grade quality they have sent. The speculators in this season's farmers' butter will be very cautiouß before they enter on another enterprise of the kind, and this will be a good thing for the colony, for there is daily growing up amongst wholesale butter buyers ana grocers a foeling of favouritism for Victorian butters and a coldness towards those from New Zealand. Thiß feeling is so strong that several importers are complaining of the difficnlty they oncounter in disposing of tho secondary | qualities of New Zealand bntterconsigned ito them for sale. One of the best of the importing agents, and a man who is doing bis utmost for the colonial butter ,trade, assures me that the quulity of New Zealand butter invoiced to him at 90s is fully five shillings leas in value than Victorian invoiced at 80s. The result is that tho New Zealand realises fully 15s per cwt less than the Victorian, The butter that is coming this season from Victoria ib largtly factory, and ths bulk of it iB pretty even in quality, while the bulk from New Zealand is very uneven, These speculative merchants are doing much dumnge to the reputation of New Zealand butter, and while certain brands of fine butters will sell freely, yet they do not realise ns much as the same quality of Victorian by 3s to 5s per cwt. This week I have seen a really excellent factory butter from New Zealand offering at 106s while it was fully worth 110s or 112s. NEW ZEALAND BUTrBB. It is only just leaking out that there will bo no New Zealand butter arriving between the Aorangi and the Rimutaka. This is a serious thing for the Netf ZeaInnd butter trado in Eng'and. For a whole moDth buyers will havo nothing to Bupply their customers with but Australian, and thus assist the already growing roputation of tho Victorian butter trade at the expense of New ZeaM3, Unless those in the Colony are awsra'of the con? ditions ofthe English butter trade, they aro incapable of understanding the great injury that accrues from this desultory method of exporting butter, The best -. way to encourage the export butter trade ' is to send regular quantities at equal intervals, then buyers oan rely upon a ccn« tinuous supply, which is the first essential for a new industry. The official prico fixed by the London Butter Committee for this week is 110s. though there have boen Bales at 112s ai d j lips.- Danish is unchanged at life tp j