NEW ZEALAND BACON.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4977, 21 May 1926, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND BACON.

DEMAND FROM ENG-LAND. PREFERRED TO DANISH. " The small samples of New Zealand bacon which have from time to time been sent to the London market have created a most favourable impression. Two London buyers, ha,ve 'recently visited*'the Dominion to see if supplies; of the New Zealand article can be’ secured. The London buyers even went so far as to declare that New Zealand, bacon was preferred .to Danish, and one buyer said, that hig: firm was prepared ,to .take 24,000* carcases annually, providing that the bacon was up to the. standard recently shipped to London. < Mr K. W. Gorringe, inspector in swine husbandry for the Agricultural Department, said that it was; quite true that a London firm of provision merchants was prepared ,to take 200'0 carcasses a. month for 12 months, but they were not prepared to- take any ca;rcass simply because it was a pig. The bacon would have to be up to sample. The trouble was that New Zealand could not as yet supply orders such as this in bulk. Pig breeders were scattered widely all over the Dominion, and it would be a difficult matter to . collect the carcasses at one freezing works, where they could be graded. “There . is,” said Mr Gorringe, “a leaven working among farmers for better marketing conditions. Good work is being done in this direction by. pig clubs, especially in the Waikato and Dannevirke. Farmers have .at last realised that if they are to be. successful with pig-raising they will have to co-operate,. This is gradually coming about, and; there al'a possibilities ahead b*f the industry in the Dominion. In Denmark, which is about the size of the; Taranaki province, the pig industry has already outgrown the dairying industry in value. Thiis: shows the possibilities; which are ahead of the bacon industry in .this country. It is a great thing that the merchants in London prefer New Zealand bacon to Danish. If Dominion farmers wish to become established on the London market they will have to grow the right type of bacon, and see that regular supplies, are available. Only co-opera,tive (marketing will achieve this. end.