HONEY INDUSTRY

Hokitika Guardian, 23 September 1926, Page 4

HONEY INDUSTRY

THE CONTROL BOARD. OR IT! CISMS ANSW ERED. CHRISTCHURCH, Sept, 20. In tho Lecture Hall of the Public Library on Saturday night a meeting t of beekeepers was addressed by Mr J. t Rentoul, chairman of the Honey Ex- v port Control Board, on the operations c of the Board and ou marketing eondi- c tious. There was a fairly large attend- ( ance, over which Mr T. Best presided, i Mr Rentoul sketched the progress t made in the export trade and empha- 1 siseil that there had been control— i voluntary at first—right from the he- < ginning, and that the result of that j j control had been to maintain the iden-, ; ■ titv of tho New Zealand product, and . ;to obtain a higher price ou tho Lon* l ; don market. In addition, low grade ; j honey had been sold in bulk and in • such a way that it did not compete with the high grade article, or lower I its price. One of tho strongest reasons for control, lie said, was the coin- : petition they had to face front every I country that had any surplus honey, j 110 cited the United States, where lor ' tho new season’s honey tho price I quoted was from G cents to 6.V cents ■ per pound for car lots. In what posij tion would the New Zealand honey producer be if lie had to face Ameri- | can honey unloaded ou the London ! market at 4d per lb ? Canada also i was developing her export honey trade. Tho three essential points ou honey | (production at tho present time were: Economy in production, quality, and quantity. SOURCE OP COMPLAINTS. Mr Rentoul dealt at some length u-ith tho criticism made! recently by tho Auckland Chamber of Commerce on the Control Board’s operations. This criticism was based on complaints made by Mr John Murdoch, of Ross, who. in making a statement of his returns, duplicated his export charges. The contract lie alleged to exist bei tween himself and a London firm, regarding the disposal of his output was found by the Board’s legal adviser to > he no contract, anil consequently the ■ Hoard could not recognise it. When Mr Murdoch’s figures had been ■ straightened out it was found that ho had made 29. V per cent, on the capital i invested in his apiaries. If tho opera- ; tions of the Board brought beekeepers. • a return of 29} prevent, they would ■| he very well satisfied indeed. I lie ■ I Auckland Chamber of Commerce have ■ got tangled up between the Control ; Board and the Honey Producers’ As- • sociation, and the statement that 6 i per cent of the Board’s turnover was involved in paying interest on the • losses of tho Association was no concern of the Board’s at all ; and hone\ ■ producers who shipped outside the Association wore not involved in the > charges oil tho Association’s losses. Nor did the Board make a. levy of Id per lh for advertising charges • as a • matter of fact, file Board’s operations were confined simply to shipping the honey to its London agents, Mcssi.s A. J. Mills and Co. The Control 'Board’s accounts dealt only with expenditure on administration. The levy I of l-lGth of a penny tier lh brought in i about £390 per annum, and that was 'spent in honoraria (and they were not ' ! very large), office expenses, and I travelling expenses. As to the Cliam- : ber’s disparaging remarks about the 1 i Honey Producers’ Association, Mr ' ; Rentoul said that exporters of honey 1 j bad received no concessions from the • i Government, apart from the assistance I given in thowmtrol of disease, and in ! grading. They had lined their own row. and tho Association had financed beekeepers to tho extent ol £io,-()0>). per annum with a very small capital; in 1921 it- started with a capital of ’ £600: it was now £9OO. He admitted flint, personally, ho did not consider that the present marketing sys- | tern was as satisfactory as lie would like it, ami outlined several matters designed to improve things that the ■ Board was considering. At the conclusion of his remarks Mr ’ Rentoul answered questions and stated that the present Control Act did not- give, the Board power to control the local market in any way. To ! another questioner he replied that it cost 5Vd per lb to pack honey in the Dominion and about tho same at Home. j A hearty vote- of thanks was accorded Mr Rentoul by acclamation for . | his informative address.