HANDLING OF FARM PRODUCE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4402, 12 April 1922, Page 3

HANDLING OF FARM PRODUCE.

a.—— AN INVESTIGATOR'S VIEWS. CARE OF CHEESE. Mr E. Sefton contributes the fol.lowing article on the handling of (farm produce:— Sir, —As suggested by the Provincial Executive, I am giving you my experiences, on the Auckland wharves, regarding the shameful way farm produce is shipped. I have spoken to many merchants, farmers, and others interested, and agreed to take notes and see whether th? present conditions could not be bettered. The “Ruahine” was loading produce at the time, and I think I may fairly take her as. a sample: Thursday, January 13, 1922, bad block, no work for two hours, about 100 wharf-hands at sav, 3s per hour, and a •ship cosiing, with port dues, etc. £4OO per day—reason, no shunting engine available. 14 th.—Cheese, about 1000 crates, taken out of. freezing chamber and placed in iron shed on wharf, for export, left there all day., is sweating badly, as the temperature of the shed would be about 80 to 70 degrees Fah. 15th.—Cheese still in shed ; informed N.Z. Co op. Dairy Association secretary. He sent their shipping clerk; yet the cheese was still' in the shed at 5 pm.—.the shipping representatives admit this. 17th. —Two hours’ delay—supposed tirbe the fault of the railways,. - 18th. —Bad delay again—railways blamed for it. There were,-several minor delays, which, under proper supervision, could have, been easily remedied. Methods of got a pass to go on board and see how the produce was stowed and handled, and what we—two other gentlemen with me—saw, beggars description. Butter was being, loaded into No, 3 hold. Nice, beautiful, dean white pine boxes when leaving the freezing chamber. Now the change: The ship was being coaled by* a hulk, and the coal had to pass the same in which the butter was being stowed 1 ; the coal baskets were spilling coal (every time they passed) down the hold among the butter, and the men were tramping on the butter boxes, grinding the coal into them. .They must walk on the last layer of boxes, of course, to put a fresh layer; down. No one in authority had enough brains to piit a gangway for the men to walk* on, instead of on the butter boxes, and, further, no effort was made to keep the coal and the butter separate. This could easily have been, effected by the use of a canvas screen. Eventually the appearance of the butter boxes was more like the floor of a coal yard than ifood for human consumption. Lamb is being loaded at No. 1 hatch, and is roughly handled. A rope sling comes on board with 50 carcases, and sometimes is " broke out -that is, tipped out holus bolus —or the sling is lowered on to the landing and the lamb is thrown out one by one, a distance of say, 6to 20 feet. The result is, of course, destruction —the lamb reaching the- bottom with broken shank bones and, in many cases, the covering (a’ light scrim) is ripped very badly, especially - if it catches on the shank of another carcase With this method quite 50 per cent, of the carcases are damaged, if what we saw stowed is a fair sample. Cheese was also being loaded, and again the conditions of handling are absolutely awful. Mr Cooke and member of the Harbour Board, Mr Galloway, and .myself saw it. A lorry arrives with cheese, two tiers. This is dumped on the concrete wharf; crates weigh, say, 1701 b; top tier has a drop of 6ft, and .by the time the lorry is unloaded practically every crate is seriously damaged, and the cheese itself is badly fractured. This cheese is left in the sun, sonietimes an hour. It then goes into the rope nets, and a good deal of it is squeezed and spoilt in loading into the ship. A good many boxes of butter and crates of cheese are very much damaged when they arrive at the wharves, and must have been bijutally handled in transit, as, no doubt, they left the cheese and butter factories#!!! perfect condition. The same applies to lamb and mutton: this often comes to the wharf blue and soft, caused, no doubt, by delays in; transit. I offer the following suggestions as remedies :

Wharves.—Export cold storage whatves, equipped with! proper loading appliances, etc. Producer.—Packages used for butter, cheese, and mutton are, in many cases, very faulty. The scrim for mutton must be <$ a stronger material. No knotty timber should be used in cheese and butter coverings, and staves, battens, etc., for - cheese crates should be fetraigftit grained and free from bark otherwise they will not stand even fair treatment. Provision must be made so that produce from water-*borne ports should go immediately into cool chamber —not be left, three days in t'he wharf sheds, as at present to sweat. Cheese, meat, etc., should be checked as tp time -it leaves freezer until delivered on board. Strong representation should be made to the shipping companies to provice oil-burning steamers for produce, and thus eliminate tbe coal'dust nuisance. One on more inspectors should be appointed by the producers, and be responsible to them, to see that - all farm produce is properly handled, in transit, on the wharves, and oi.' the ship. I have applied to the shipping company for a pass, to see how the produce is being stowed on the “Opawa” and “Ruapehu,” but so f.ar have been refused. Possibly I saw too much on the "Ruahinej” Watersiders.— Stop-work meetings are indefensible, and should not be permitted whilst loading produce. The expense of this might easily entail a toss of £2OO, and this amount is charged up as overhead expenses. Picked careful men only should be engaged, and in all arbitration cases the exporters should be represented before the Board.

Railway.—More attention from the railway is required. The present costly and vexatious, x delay can he

greatly mitigated by friendly co'op j eration. In the past too much delay has been caused to shipping, entailing enormous loss and expense for this delay. This, again, goes to the overhead expenses account, and has to be paid by the producers. In conclusion, I am quite satisfied that hundreds at thousands of pounds sterling can be saved by carrying out the above suggestions.

At the first meeting of the Turua Town Board yesterday Mr Green, who held the position of returning officer, stated that if it was definitely known that the population of the Turua Town District was 500, the Board would be independent. There were 155 electors, and from that he estimated that the population of Turua town area would be nearly 500.