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possible to introduce this system of branding on all cheese in New Zealand I would certainly recommend it being done. The merchant said he considered New Zealand cheese far better value, being quite as good quality as Scotch cheddar, which is realising at present £3 per cwt., against £2 15s. for the New Zealand cheeses —both in Glasgow. These cheeses were rather smaller than the class usually turned out in the colony, being about 45 lb. to 50 lb. The merchant, however, considered them a very suitable size indeed for his Scotch trade. The butter being sold was the Whenuakura brand, and was being retailed at Is. Id. per pound. I notice in the New Zealand papers lately to hand that considerable attention has recently been given to the practice prevalent in Australia of purchasers of New Zealand butter removing the original brands and substituting others instead. lam very glad indeed that attention to this matter has been so specially brought under the notice of the Department of Agriculture, and that energetic measures are being taken by the Dairy Department to prevent this practice being continued. So long ago as the 13th January, 1899, I alluded in my report to this practice being prevalent in this country, and I at that time sent to Wellington a butter-box which had been scraped and the brands obliterated, in order to show what was being done here. At that time, however, I regret to say it was not considered advisable by the Dairy Commissioner, Mr. Buddick, to take steps to prevent the practice being continued. Personally I feel very strongly on this matter. I think that not only should impressed brands be put on every box bearing the name of the factory, so that its special output shall be recognised, but also that the oblong box should be entirely used as the package for New Zealand butter, as distinctive from the square boxes in use in Victoria and Canada. I am convinced that, now our butter is gaining in reputation so greatly on the market here, the more distinctive features we can apply to it the better it will be for its sale and more prominence will thereby be afforded to it. I have, &c, H. C. Cameron, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. Produce Commissioner.

D.—THE TIMBER TEADE, ETC. Report by Mr. J. G. Gow. Office of Agent-General for New Zealand, 13, Victoria Street, London, Sib,— 29th May, 1902. Following my report of the 11th March, I have now (29th May) the honour to report that I duly received from the Agent-General in London your instructions to proceed as soon as possible to Japan, China, and Calcutta. I at once began to make the necessary arrangements for doing so, but having previous to the receipt of your instructions made engagements to meet with merchants and others interested in the New Zealand trade I found it absolutely necessary to revisit several of the principal towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and also Glasgow. Timbeb. One of the principal of these engagements was one I had made to meet the timber-traders of the North of England. In this connection I revisited Manchester, where I visited the Royal Exchange, and afterwards had the pleasure of meeting a number of timber-merchants at the Timber Trades Exchange. I had a long and interesting conversation as to the prospects of increasing the import of New Zealand timber into England. I found a widespread desire to get information on the subject, and I distributed a number of copies of Sir Westby B. Percival's book on the timber products of New Zealand; and I have no doubt there will be inquiries from the importers here as to the prospect of opening up additional trade in New Zealand woods. It was impressed upon me, in regard to samples of New Zealand woods, that those usually sent are too small to be of any practical value as samples, and that in forwarding timber-samples in future it would be well to send them of good size so as to afford opportunity of testing the quality of the timber and of judging of its suitability for trade purposes on this side. Mr. Ashworth, of the firm of John Ashworth and Co., timber-merchants, Waterfoot, Manchester, with whom I had a long interview, has kindly undertaken that any samples of timber addressed to him at the Timber Trades Exchange, Palatine Hotel, Manchester, will be taken charge of by him and exhibited at the weekly meeting of the timber-traders of Lancashire and the North of England, including some of the largest importers in the country. Prices should be plainly marked on all samples, and the prices quoted must be c.i.f. London, Liverpool, and Manchester. In any shipments of timber to order care must be taken that the timber is cut absolutely to the scale and sizes specified. Complaints were made of the irregularity of present shipments of New Zealand timber, and that if the trade is to be developed traders must be able to depend on regular shipments. It is greatly to the detriment of the trade at present that a merchant after opening up a trade in New Zealand timber finds himself unable to supply his market owing to there being no New Zealand timber on the market for the time being. Irregularity of supply lends itself readily to cornering of the market, and consequent fluctuations in price—very detrimental to the development of the trade. Hops. While in Lancashire I visited several breweries, and showed the management samples of Nelson hops. They were highly pleased with the samples, and thought they compared very favour-