GAINING THE CHEESE MARKET

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 860, 5 July 1910, Page 8

GAINING THE CHEESE MARKET

A DAIKY COMMISSIONER'S VIEWS. ~i— For some years past New Zealand cliocso has bcun steadily taking tho-place of the Canadian articlc on the Home market. Mr. Kuddick, Canada's Dairy Commissioner, is reported to have said:—"The increase in New Zealand shipments is wholly a result of the decrease in Canadian, shipments, and not the cause of that decrease." He believed that had it not been for the falling-off in the Canadian exports, which resulted in a higher relative price for cheese as compared with butter, and thus encouraged the New Zealand factories to make cheese instead of butter, the Now Zealand shipments of cheese would have shown very little increase during the last five years. One little hint was thrown out as to one reason for the popularity of New Zealand chcese, from which our should profit. There are no greon New Zealand cheeso pat on the market. Even though shipped os soon as made, since the voyage occupies two months, they arrive cured, and cool cured at that. That phase of the competition can bo easily met by the general adoption of _ cool curing, and giving our cheeso time to maturo— a course advisable in any case. Slipshod cheesemakors and factory have much to answer for. As compared with New Zealand, Denmark, and Holland, Canada lacks thoroughness.. Mr. liuddick was of tho opinion that a source of danger to Canada's cheeso trade was the insufficient pay. that capabio cheesemakers received. -The good men should get enough to mako it worth while for them to stay in the business for life, as very few of them do. By such men going into other occupations, the dairy business lost 'heavily. - Valuable talent- and gathered experience, so useful in the trade, were utterly lost to it. For some years complaints . about tho shrinkage of cheese had been heard from tho Old Country merchants. They pointed to the fact that there was seldom any loss on tho New Zealand cheese. But the thing to which attention ought to be drawn was a discrepancy between marked and actual weights, of an entirely different character from that which is due to shrinkage. That had reached a stage where some effort'must be made to have it remedied.