DAIRY PRODUCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2963, 29 December 1916, Page 8

DAIRY PRODUCE

FREIGHT SPACE TO BE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE. Immediate reliof is to be given to .tho 'dairy industry in the matter of ping , space, about which Mr. Massey has been lately in touch with the Board of Trade iu London. There has never really been a shortage of ships loading here. The difficulty of the Butter • and cheese people is that hitherto the. space has been almost wholly reserved for meat. At tlu instruction of the Board of Trade moat was given preference, and now. the preference is to be relaxed, to allow a normal" export of butter and cheeso during the next three months. • By this arrangement about 250,000 boxes of butter will be taken an'ay, and the present congestion of butter-will be relieved. Tho greatest difficulty is in tho Btorage of' cheese, however. It is understood that the Imperial Gov--ernment are asking now for information as to how much New Zealand ' cheese will be ready for shipment by January 15. Some space will be provided for this cheese, but tho amount is not yet stated. .It is believed that / the Imperial Government will buy the cheese, taking it over on arrival in England. An enormous amount of cheese is held in New Zealand now — .not less than 200,000 crates, of which 58,000 are at the port of "Wellington. A good deal of the cheese is not well stored, and there is risk of deterioration of some of it. It was never contemplated that such a huge quantity of cheese would have to bo stored in NeW Zealand, and the dairy companies and exporters have never deemed iti necessary to build storage accommoda- ' tion for such a very big holding.