THE BUTTER BUSINESS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1719, 9 April 1913, Page 10

THE BUTTER BUSINESS.

TRADE GROWING. Writing from London under date February ,28 ~the 'correspondent of a Sydney ;piiper .s&yj;;—. -''■There. aroystiU numerous complaints regardingXthe quality of Australian but- , ;.ai,-larg?;; proportion of it being of secondary quality. Unfortunately, tho price .sutlers more in proportion than it , yvould. do ;if the market were better. But Jiiargarine hns now improved to such a ,position, that inferior quality Australian butter is not able to compete with titan-flavoured" margarine, which is free from/the' objectionable flavours to which inferior butter is subject. This is a handicap, to the, latter. And it opens a serious . prospect' for the Australian butiteiy. industry; for unless producers can pitt on.the market the bulk of their butter in a much better condition than it lias-cpm<v this year, margarine will hold ; AftcjfieldJagainst it. What is happening • i'sVth'at"thor buyer sa}' s "I would rather ' ha.ve 'sw'eet 'margarine than rancid or bad-flavoured butter." And -that is one reason why,, during the last year, iiiar''garir.e,fhus;;mnde such progress. Margarine manufacturers never tire of em- ' Statement that the food raliie-'bi'- their product, is as 100 to 102 ' 'of butte'r,' : urging at the saino time that the .extra two points are but a concession to butter prejudices. They point, too, to- the' better-keeping qualities of .margarine, and never let an opportunity J slip of .advising grocers and provision dealers to make tasteful displays of it. This advico is; being followed. Is it to • ]x! wondered at then that the British working' man l ® wife, with, soy, but J;1 a week!,to. spend in housekeeping—an overestimate in hundreds of thousands of caios—and'.with half a dozen, or more, hungry, months to fill,' takes 21b. of marcarine'for'ls. in preference to paying Is. : 2d. to Is. id. for a lb. of butter? . Tho " palates of tho margarine consumers are not delicate, and the article appeals strongly to owners of ill-lined purses. I'innke no excuse for once more drawing attention to the rapid growth in the consumption of margarine, and mixtures neutral fats, which are really margarine. For it .is'V'Serlßltt"thing for Australian producers; particularly when, as is tho case this year, there is general oxpression of opinion that Australian butter as a ivliolo.'iis deteriorating in quality. An- . plhor serious, aspect of this question, which should make Australian producers, .think, ,is.'the widening difference in prifp Jietwcon.Australian and New Zealand butter,. Here, this very week, wo lmvo.: New, Zealand nnsalted up to 1225. per cwt'.. with Australia's lop prico Os. below.that., ,\Vhy? I - will not labour nny,.pointas > .to grading, or not grading. . Ii iwill' leave" Australians themselves to ' answer.. But, as there is nn old colo- ' nial -saying, that, "money talks," I 'would point; out that Gs. per cwt. is ,£G per-'ton; 'nnd 'that. 011 nn export of, say,, 20,000 tons,.'.this difference means a loss ' 0f.£120,000. .And when to this is added ■ losses, as in :this year, through short ' shipments, for which, of course, Austra--1 li:i is not responsible, the loss becomes stupendous. ; : A ,somewhat remarkable sheep was on viow'in Patea-recently. The sheep, which f was bred by-Mr. P. M'Cnrthy, of Hurleyvillo,. turns tho scale at IGOlb. dead weight. ' Tho animal: was a two-tooth maiden ewe of tho Border-- Leicester breed, and grew ■ phenomenally.. Soino idea of its remark- ' able proportions can be gathered from tlie fact that across tho kick it measures somo 22 inches, the width of tho ordinary ( «luoop boing from 10 to 12 inches. The legs weighed .110' less than 301l>. each, most of , this amount, of eours? being mado up of fat., The depth of the fat, 011 t'lie chops .', wa.s 61 inches,, which is. about six times that-, of th:i ordinary mutton chop?. A - curious feature of the carcass was (lie . sir.all amount of kidney fat, llhto b"ing only «omo 'J',lb., ns against lib., which is tilt!:amount ftmud iu the ordinary sheep.