BUTTER IS DOWN!

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1061, 25 February 1911, Page 8

BUTTER IS DOWN!

'l " ..'AND "WHAT IS THE REASON,; •- :ri • The-present stato of tho - batter market - has caused somo excitement in I several quarters. . A few days ago Danish butter-was. quoted.' at 1235., Now \-""i Zealand 1065., and Australian at lols. - i It has been suggested that thero may bo. a'"boar" movoment. According to very . careful inquiries mado, thoroneed bo no t alarm whatever' oh that' scoro. Tho' position is regarded by many as extremely "intricate. Thero- is- no doubt that' it •is a iiiaiiy-sidcd subject, but thero is no -reason for -regarding every v Aide' as equally, difficult to understand. / Somo'phases aro fairly clear and siin- • pie. ■ 1 _' .- ■' i Thero.exists a big differenco between thte prices of, Danish and Now Zealand butter,'- anil > Alarm»is. sounded be-causo-rccent advices havo shown that , while' Danish ■is standing high, Now Zealand- is falling. A' l expert put 3 tho ~' thus: "-The:truth is that tho pneo of ono. need not necessarily conis, . icern tho other. , New Zealand and' Dan■ ■ isli. aro not. (as ', is popularly ■ - imagined) in keen and constant com-petition-with each other. Thoro is, of ■ courso,' a certain amount of competi- - tioo. But. Danish butter goes to ono set of, consumers, and Now Zealand to another, aud iu tho' ; . main •' the two ' sources of supply .'aro; working for quite i independent. markets, and, consejuentJv,; the'rise. or-the fall of' ono is not always,,followed- by , a .similar fluctuation.''on tho part of tho other. Danish ■ 'lias its consumers in tho Midlands, and Now'Zoaland mostly in London, and tho south, ■ though it is , going . into '.other - -:'--'parts now. •It is little uso New Zealand endeavouring to, tako;;from, Denmark , si- any great.percentage'S.'of"her. custom: Even supposing.that thero was no differenco whatever in" tho quality of tho two butters, it would, bo next to imposBiblo' to convinco.consumers.. that an • 'articlo; '-forty' days j old ..'was ns foodjas ono two days' old. ; There aro .nglish' consumers who are prejudiced in i favour; of rpaiiish butter,.'and for ■: - that reason they will havo it at muqh ,- i n:oro than oven the present rate rather than buy, any other ; make.; ;At about this timo' last "year ' they wero paying ' a couple' of 'shillings''a , hundredweight moro than at y tho ' present / time, and ' ill 1008 they .bought 'it;' although it,cost them' at thorato of 148s; a. cwt. The price of Danish rises*or "falls according i..... ito tho.demand,for it, and;not according . i to'tho-general: demand, or'tho demand ' for New Zealand/ and tho prico of Now ' . Zealand.fluctuates in Sympathy with its. own particular customers', .requirements.' ■■ ■ Bupposo tho;Daiies''Were''scni]frig"oVer, «Ay,.'for'th'6 ,, sako%f''illHs'{fatiou, 100 boxes of butter a weolj." If tliey' found it all; snapped up they" would the'.supply to. say, 110. If all that was bought up right away the Copenhagen -j Committco would say, "Up ono/'. and 'the prico'would go lip accordingly. If tho' increasod - quantity,' continued to ho rushed,';'into; consumption, 'next 'week's decision' of tho Copenhagen^Committco would bo to further-advance i(ho price, and so'on'as long tis'.the demand wari ranted :it. • And:. New Zealand has no 'Jiand in all that, nor do any of thoso . i operations affect New-Zealand. .Totally different causes may bo operating concerning; our). this: is pro : ceeiui2. 0 ..-ttd, alsp!|.Danish ;can quickly bo thrown into sbonlsupply temporarily. ■ lTheW ,f m4y r *bo a'-'f(i]l quantity being ■ -. produced *in tho*. country, "bnt if ;. (Jer- . ; many requires a fow.thousand hutidredj weight, and that is sent over to tjhem, it leavej 'tho English customers .snort, ! ■. •!and; tho> consequ6neo usually.' - a 1 nso in s prije;. _ That',' too, .has nbthin'g 1 wlntover to do with Now Zealand.. It is not by any meains- an unknown circum- , stance that wliilo ono kind of butter -lis falling ..another .is'- rising,' and * the reason ,'is that' they go to' v two distinct ■ sets of - customers." The present position is held by several .-. -.of tho best New Zoaland-authoritios. to , bo-simply ono of supply and '' demand. Tho markets which Now; Zealand supplies havo'been -. receiving, ! generally, J this t season;from SOOO to .18,000 icwtl . ; ■ moro than, last season: '"It is not much I wonder, therefore,"' tliey say, "that tho prico is_ lower, _ Colonial butters havo i been going in in csmss of tho -demand, ' and tho. prico has dropped a few shil:'lings. It,is Australian aiid'.^ rcw,Zt.a----i. f,-> i lind a hntters wliicli aro chiefly in compotition; and anyona who has studied . v the priccs of tlicso articles over a period 'of a.few years must have expected'that New Zealand would .fall .below 1065., at . ! which'figure alarm was raised. In recent years -New Zealand has generally ■ , been -• 3s. higher -thu - Australian. In , i\, -1908, '2s. was the differenco, but 3s. may regarded as tho normal margin. On February 18 this season, thero- was a : - j E a P.of ,ss.-—Now? Zealand 106 arid Aus- • ;;,tralian 101.To roach tho, usual 3s. difference, oithcr Now Zealand had to fall or Australian had to rise.- With such .v. . largo extra quantities being placed on -. tho market, n riso in Australian seemed i',.unlikely, so a fall iii Now Zealand should havo been-looked.for.,: It has already • reported that' New Zealand-came ~ ~:.down,' a''few days later,' to 103,' which made ,tho margin "45." Yesterday tho : .-writer was .shojvn a. cablo .stating.that. - the latest quotations: were: New Zeai land, '1045.: Australian, 1025.; Danish, ,1225.' So that now. wo aro somewhero • near normal as regards our comparison . ■ with Australia, although, by tho way, , .tho riso -in Australian is sur- ' -prising. 1, . t , . .. ' : i As .to ( the information in the High Commissioner's cablegram, that "there i; , aro a fow complaints of fishinoss in New Zealand butter," it is very difficult to sa\ anything definite just now. On n ' falling.market, such,complaints aro far , .more numerous ■ tlian with similar .. ...quality -butter on, n- ; buoy-ant- market. Whsn tho prico is down, it is through , i . heavy supply or poor demand, and in , thoso circumstances tho buyers can af- . - ford t<j say they will not accept certain butter,which.would bo taken without a murmur iu good tiniosV However, i, ; tho reports on the quality of New Zoaf Jand butter from botlrends are that it / is better than over it wai.

FEILDING ANNUAL SHEEP FAIR.

. .(By. Telcgraph.-I'rcss, Association.! . iL _ Folldtns, February 24. ; At the Folding annual sheep fair to-" : .day 32,000 head woro yarded.. Tlio cn- . trios had not tbo "bloom" of former years on account of tlio dry weather, ;but tlio prices, woro very firm, and .strongly in favour of "vendors. "■= Tho local branch of tho- Farmers' • pnion has arranged a ploughing match for-tbo winter,

CORRIEDALE WOOL.

TOPS THE MARKET ,AT CHRIST- : \ SALE. ' ' i 'At tho Christcliurch wool sale, held on January 12, tho top pneo at tho sale .(12Jd.) was secured for 10 bales of Corriedalo wool from, tlio flock of Mr. Hugh Ensor, of .Rakahuri ' (tho wellknown Corriedalo breeder). This wool was dipped in Quibcll's Patent Powdor Dip, ana tlio results obtained is further testimony to tlio merits -of this 'preparation.

A correspondent of an exchango says that tho rain on Monday was reflected in : an increased supply of milk at-tho -Ballance Company's creamery- on Tuesday morning. tho supply reaching closo on 2000 gallons.. Tho highest test is , 4.R, and tho lowest 3.5, '