WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 January 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES.

BOARD CONTROL. MEAT AND RUTTER. (Special to ‘'Guardi",n”.) WELLINGTON, January 2t>. In view of tfie persistent rumour that the .Dairy Hoard is about to exercise its authority to take absolute control of all dairy produce intended for export, it may he opportune to explain how the Meat Hoard, which operates under practically the same authority as does the Dairy Hoard safeguards the interests of the producers subject to its jurisdiction. The Meat Board since the very beginning of its activities has sought to assist the producers hv every means within its power, without dislocatin'* any of the existing channels of trade or discouraging any effort on the part of private enterprise that appeared to he of service to the producers. The tact that the prices of meat have been well maintained without any ol the disturbin'! fluctuations which have a fleeted the butter market testifies to the soundness of this policy. Beyond regulating the quantity of meat slopped each month, the Board has done nothing lo interfere with the marketing of. the farmers’ produce. Thu great hulk of the slaughtering in the Dominion is done between the beginning of December and the end of May, hut the Board does not allow cl e meat to ho shipped promiscuously, as appears to he the ease with hut tor directly it is graded. It has put into operation a scheme by which the ship men Is of moat are spread over the whole year according to the ostium', ‘d requirements of the market.

ORDERLY METHODS. The Meat Board has made a cent •get with the shipping companies for the carriage of meat to (treat Britain vvi the understanding that it will give the companies three months notice of tbo quantity of space that will be required each month. The companies already have received notice of the quantw.v ot meat the Board intends to ship in January, February and March, and before the end of the current month they will receive notice of the amount of space required in April. The i -mpi nics on their part, knowing what is required of them, bring to New /onland just enough refrigerated spare each month to carry the quantity of moat the Board has indicated rnd make up their loading with oil: a- car go. Under this arrangement the companies are assured ol regular loadings, which mean the saving ol time and money, and the producers, through the Board, of lower freights and a stable market. Having fixed the quantity of meat it is desirable to ship in any particular month, and having advised the shipping companies accordingly. the Hoard invites applications from the various freezing companies for space. The total applications fenerally exceed the quantity of meat the Board has arranged to ship, and in that case the space is distributed between tbc factories on a pro rata basis. Tliis means of distribution lias been found to work satisfactorily, ihe i'cz-

ing companies and the produce! s leulizlng that the Board is wording in their interest lacilitating any ad"n,tment that may he necessary. THE •PRODUCERS’ INTERESTS. The regulation of shipments in this wav necessarily entails holding luigc stocks of meat in the Dominion during Liu' Hush of the season; hut this really adds to the advantage of a stable market. the advantage of storage under t lie best possible conditions, for several reasons it is much better that stocks should lie held in New Zealand than m London or in any centre at the other end of the world. During the war storage space far in excess of the present requirements was erected in the Dominion the result being that meat now can be stored at a much lover rale here I ban it can the in any of the consuming countries. Moreover the conditions of storage in New Zealand are much hotter than the conditions prevailing in Great Britain, froze ll meat if it is to retain the qttalul freshly killed meat must he kept at a uniform temperature. There is little difficulty in doing this in New Zealand a- the carious chandlers alter being lilled with meat are elosed up am! ra re I v opened until their contents are required lor shipment. In London and in other British distributing centres, nit the other hand, the chambers are continually being opened for retail

purposes and as a consequence a uniform temperature is not maintained and tin- quality ol the meat is impaired. The disadvantage to the producers of having large stocks, subject to deterioration, thrown upon an overloaded market has been sufficiently illustrated by the recent experience of the New Zealand dairy-men. THE NEW BROOM.

Although the M ont Board Inis not thought it (lesinihlc to assume drastic control tlie Dairy Hoard is saiiF to he contemplating, there are many functions, in addition to the arrangement of shipping, it discharges with marked advantage to tlie producers and their industry. Its representatives in London supply the most reliable market reports received in the Dominion ; it advertises widely and effectively the merits of New Zealand meat and m.aintains a constant and judicious propaganda in its favour; it inspects the meat at the port of shipment and at the port of discharge; it sees that it is properly handled and treated and placed on the market in the best possible condition, and it keeps the producers ol the Dominion informed as to what the producers in other parts of the world are doing. It is significant that with all these achievements to its credit it has not interfered with the actual buying and selling of the meat in any way. It simply lias introduced tlie spirit of co-operation and mutual help into the meat trade and left private enterprise in charge of the part of the business for which is seems best adapted. If the Dairy Board elects to follow the more extreme ocurse its experience will he watched with considerable trepidation. The problems before the Dairy Board, in then- essentials, are the problems the Meat Board lias gone a long way towards solving, and' in the circumstances it looks as if the younger body would be better advised to imitate than to initiate.