HEIFERS FOR CHINA

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 117, 3 June 1937, Page 12

HEIFERS FOR CHINA

-Own Correspondent. *

Shipment of Jerseys from Auckland SHANGHAI MILK SUPPLY

IBs Telegrapb-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. On order from two leading dairying iirmB in Shanghai, a valuable cousignment of 40' heif ers in calf, most of thein \ grade Jerseys, left Auckland for China yesterday by the Japanese motor vessel Sydney Maru.. Five of the heif ers are Shorthorn-Jersey cross, and the whole shipment was selected from the herds of Messrs. E. and A. Crawford, of Onewhero. It is understood that a sum of nearly £2000 is involved in the deal. Becoming interested in the high quality and milking capaeities of New Zealand dairy eattle, the Shanghai dairies ordered a trial shipment — one of the first to be sent from New Zealand to the Far Past. The shipper, Mr. Alexander S. Tetzner, himself a farmer, sees in it great possibilities for the development of an export trade which would open new avenues of income to the farmers of the Dominion. Aboard the Sydney Maru the heifers were placed in solidly-built wooden stalls on the deek. There are four of these houses, providing a separate straw-lined eompartment for each animal, and ample supplies of fodder are being taken aboard in readiness for the voyage of about 21 days ahead of the stock. On the journey they will be in charge of two New Zealand farmers, Messrs, W. H. Garland and B. Bumkin. Another experienced farmer, Mr. N. F. Coulthard, of Paerata, assisted in the selection of the heifers. The stock has been tested by the Department of Agriculture "against every disease imaginable," and it is stated that the manner in which they responded to the tests gave proof of the high standard of health of Messrs. Crawford 's herds. The Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Company, Ltd., as agents for the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Line, had made every effort to arrange shipping conditions in the best possible manner, said Mr. Tetzner. The stock was wellconditioned and in comfortable quarters, and it was to be hoped that they would make a very favourable impression upon the Eastern fcuyers and prove themselves worthy of the high reputation New Zealand dairy stock enjoyed in the eyes of the world. Need for New Markets. For some years Mr. Tetzner has advocated trade with the Far East and has made continuous endeavours to awaken a realisation of the great possibility in what he considera the biggest potential markets of the world. He himself was engaged for many years in trade and commerce in China and the East, and ho urges that New Zealand should start planned penetration without delay into the heart of China, Japan, India, Malaya and the other Eastern coun- ' tries which hold markets nearest to the Dominion. These countries, said Mr. Tetzner, with their vast populations, were demanding more and more Western foods, clothing, stock and merchandise, while New Zealand needed new markets for its ever-increasing volume of primary products. It was no use talking about self-sufflciency; nothing prevented the Dominion from developing any amount of reciprocal trade within the Empire and exchanging goods at the same time with China, Japan and other countries. Killing of "Bobby" Oalves. "Above all, we cannot afford to overlook the obvious — we must find new fields of activity for our farmers," he added. ' Thousands of thousands of splendid, highly-bred calves, even pedigree ones, go every spring to slaughterhouses as 'bobby' calves, because farmers have no room for them. Organised export and payable markets for the surplus of high-class dairy animals would induce farmers to save and rear valuable stock, and thus nOw avenues of income would be opened. On the other hand, a newly discovered and properly handled demand for dairy cattle might favourably influence local depressed prices. It is nonsense to assert that we cannot trade our surplus to new markets. The business of exporting surplus dairy' stock is not belief or opinion, but it is a practical and immediate line of aetion."