NEW ZEALAND EGGS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1633, 27 December 1912, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND EGGS.

FIRST; ; c6nSIGNMENT IN LONDON'.. Egg-raisers ih'-Nw Zealand will be interested to learn how the first consign-, meat from New Zenlnnd fared in I»udon. In reporting thereon to Mr. H. U Cameron, New Zealand's Trado Commis-sioner-in-England, Messrs. Henry Lano and Co; wrote:— • ... "Dear -sir,—Enclosed we have pleasure •to handvou'a fepiH ofthe iirst.consign- . m«nt of'New-Zealand eggs. They -wereshipoed''!>)■• Messrs. 'Eeilly,,.Scott, .- and Gill,' Dunedin, N.Z., and were placed on board the Tnrnkina. ■-. . • The packing ot these is .a great improvement on. last season's, but still ' there-is further im- : provement yet to bo made. If they had carried out our instructions,, and sent them in a. package , similar to the' one which-we sent;;them, ■we believe .: they would have arrived in ft better conditionHowever,, the package 'they-are" using and : tho cardboard fillers have enabled the eggs 'to arrive here in a-much better condition than they did last year. Out of a total, of 1800 eggs, there was only ISO eggs ; broken, but the broken ones...were ,tho cause of another 209. eggs going tad. Owing, to thelorig time which these eggs, taketo. . come over,'the'm6isture.:.which.is sucked up by the cardboard-through, the 'damaged package afi'ects'the surroundings eggs, but, however, taking into consideration this shipment, we must say it is'a great success in being able to land eggs from New Z-ea- . land on-the London market-in the-Mine, condition and in as good a quality as this shipment arrived. ' .- ' • , • "They are very rich, well selected, good size, and a good colour, and all these' points are what -London buyers.take, great - note of.,'-.W0.:-:boiled- some,' ' and,'.they cooked splendidly; as nearly.-as; good as an English new : -laid egg. The milky white '.-.which you find man English new-laid eggwas found'in'these eggs, and it they can get the right.package for the carrying of 'the eggs to enable them to arrive in London in sound condition, there is a rag; future'before New Zealand iji this article. The eggs; were' carried: '.in ' cool chamber,. . , 'andJiad.no preparation' oil -the shell what- ' ever- Thcio eggs'.are/going.up'lfo'tho.Ayest. ' .-End, a'nd, probably ;will:;be, sbld,.,;iy;eJl' we ' : need not say at ; what:" T .. W '■_~.'.. The firm 5 official report -to-the : New. Zealand Associated Bress in, Loiidon was ■as-follows:— '■ '-:'•' v-'-...-'- . ■■■■y ■ ;■'••''• "Dear sirs;— The first..consignment, of New Zealand eggs for this season arrived . jn London by the s.s. Turakina. . .The packa'g<Ss- were,.a:' 'great improvement ...on previous''experiments, -but'-there-.is still i'oom for further'improvement. 'The 'con;"dition -of- the-consignment was' very.'good; '.- and the o i iiality.''i i peri'cct.'' TJiey".;were"a .- much-larger-egg than previous shipments/ ■and certainly had more colour. Both of 'these are important points with the Lon-' don dealer. Having., tested, tho eggs by boiling, they-proved to be asigootl an. egg as it is possible ;to . get on 'th' 6' London. jnarkob'at this time', of- the -i ycar;-3'tlie ' SaTOur being very rich and the.ypke'and White'a perfect colour. The eggs -were : carried in.cool-chamber, had no prepara'tion on the shells whatever, ;■, and wjien :; Opened up looked as good as any .English ■ '.'new! laid. At the moment this .trade is in iits. infancy, but in a few yeai-s" time, if .'the. production increases to an extent- to ; cnable! v sliipperi : to"£ee"a-' fair 'margin "of iprofiy a big trade wi11.,, bo;done in.the, : .'lfuture. The,shipment;-';ln ,question-'was-'consigned hy a very-Brgo: firm-in Dun--'cdin to H.; A. ,Lane -and Co., Ltd.; of■;s7a•and. 59 -Tooley Street, London, S.E.,"arid the price they were sold at realised a satisfactory viz.,' 13s. net. tendon ; per i?0i" ;'-:::":".::';':".'.;■ '"'..' ...The'Vancouver Shipment, Fuf-ther details havD'beeh'-received by the department''of Agriculture in reference ito the shipment of eggs : to the Van- . market..'' The .'method, of .'packing. 1 adopted was: Cases-.!' and -2, eggs placeddirect in cardboard fillers; 3 and 4, ster- • ilised," eggs in cardboard fillers; 5, eggs previously stored at temperature of 33deg. Fahrji'ior.-V montlij and; placed4n card-' board;'fillers; ,6,- 'eggs:: treated'in similar • manner/but-held at 33deg! for only ten. days;'; 7, eggs packed in husks; 8, 'eggs sterilised and packed in_ husks. Messrs. the e£gS"in-'Vanconver'Teport'ns under:—• "With-regard .cases of ejgs which were shipped ''.by the New' Zealand. Government.'to ■Vancouver- for inspection here,Jtlie'shipment arrived iu 'very'good condition'andopened up well. "We had a tew bad eggs out of each case, and thought' those-In cases marked :No., 1. and.2 were very _-nice stock, about; cquaj' in quality to tli'p fresh eggs that we'receive from OntariSX'.i'or.fiaV-'our'we oltly.'tested'three eggs outi of case, and did not. find, . any obje'ctionabreJlavoiirjih.The eggs,' excepting number's ; 7? and 'B.'--"We "do not say that the sliglitlyobjectionable flavour that was found in these eggs was caused by their being packed in husks, and it is possible that other eggs in the sanie-cases .■••■■ may-have been perfectly free''from: any' ■bad flavour. "We'' do " not favour packing . eggs. in 'husks. This method was adopted in Canada some twenty-five years ago, but has been abandoned for at least twenty years in favour, of the cardboard filler. We have-found tho cardboard fillers of good 'quality,'-such as: you used-in the other .cases, td.be the most'satisfactory, and we, ..would recommend all. shipments of "eggs icoming from New Zealand being put up 'in these cardboard fillers. - It is necessary to use Excelsior in packing'at.the'bottom ' of the case, and- also, at the top, so that .in the case being.,turned'i.up'-';'' Bide down or'in-its side there is no daiu- ' age done to the eggs. ' ■ ■ . "It -is needless to say that for our market strictly fresh-laid eggs, promptly gathered, carefully' handled before... being (dripped, and packed in the manner which ,we described, will be the most satisfactory .for this market. We can often use eggs ' that have been in storage for ten days or' 'thirty,.- days, or even longer, if they have .been-kept in proper-condition and. are carefully selected by competent men be-, ■fore being shipped.. ■■ , -_';. ■ . • "We did not care, very'"much for the appearance. of 'the. sterilised eggs and saw' : no particular..merit in them, although it. is possible.'that "their .keeping qualities . may have been'better than the others. ThereHias-been 7 no'opportunity so far'of demonstrating this. "Some years-ago a. large-quantity of tho eggs used in'Caiiada we'retreated by some 'preservative process, but there is very little of'.this clone noiv.i' It has been found that the most satisfactory way-to handlethe eggs is under cold ftorage. "From the samples wo . have scon we are satisfied that eggs-can lie shipped to advantage from New' Zealand. The 'qiiestionfof whether, business can be developed

will depend -on the prices quoted.; .We' would'.be glad to get into communication ■with the shippers at "the New Zealand end, and no doubt would lie able to mako arrangements tq ; .take,, quite a,few.,.case? on each steamer "during the months of October, Novembei','and December: ' 'This would have been a good season to;, have, experimented, as our egg market has been abnormally high." The financial statement of shipment reads as under:—Dr.-..210 dozen eggs at Is., i:12; sterlisihS 90 dozen at lid"., Us. Sd.; chilling 60 at .Id..' 2s. Gd.; husks,.',ls.; eight .cases-at.ls..Bfl„ 13s. 4d.; ono case fillers.; fls. f freight to Vancouver, £1 10s;; bill of)lading. : 2s-.,:carta?e 35., ss. Total cost c.i.f; Vancouver,. ,£ls 12s. Id. Charges at Vancouver—Duty and clearance, £1 12s....ld,:;\yh'arfngc, Is., 0U1.; sell-, ing commission, ,JBs.-2Ad. .Total costs of marketing, shipment,''£lß 35.-'sd. '■!-. Ci\—Salo of--234V;: dozen, eggs,at' Is. Gd.' (55 dozen eggs 'wcre;'.~distributcd • free amongst merchants as samples).' £ll lis.' 9d.; balance (deficit),, lis. Bd., £18 3s. sd. Of t]ift,..to.taU , .shipinenfc two, : dozen. and two were cracked, 5 rotten, aud 5 completely.broken.-•.«--'• • ■ :•.-.•-■• •■■■ - .-■■-■»■■ The .actual cost of. marketing.cases No. 1 and- No. 2 (those- not;'bavin? ■ to- bear any exnonse for chilling or sterilising, and providing highly approved' samples) was i£l"K'i}d., or about sd, a dozer, this including Id. a dozen diitv." This roea'ns a' credit-balance of 3s. 'BUI., on these two cases:':and if the eggs distributed as sam-. pies be considered, the return on the GO diz-sn : was .'ss. .-!>< 1., ■ tile* eggs being purchafed, at Is. a dozen and. sold at ls.;_6d; a dozen.-' 'Tho e?gs -in question, tliorpfnre.ire.ilisprt a 'sliS'dfi.oyer ls.-'ifl; or Is. 3UI. net'in Vancouver.