Shipping Farm Produce

Levin Daily Chronicle, 19 May 1917, Page 3

Shipping Farm Produce

FOR MEW ZEALAND PROIAfRY PHODUIOEIRiS. MINISTER'S LETTER TO MR. MELD, M.P.

Mr. Field, M.P., is in receipt of the following letter from the iHon. the Minister in Charge of Imperial Government Supplies Department, New Zealand:—"Dear Sir, —-Further to my letter -of Bth May in reply to yours of 3rd May to the Acting Prime Minister :— The subject matter of your letter has bqen carefully considered by the Requisitions Committee, and .a mult it confirmed that the pos.tu.n as regards the disposal of faun products is one requiring earful attention, especially on the point of ne.vt reason's output. r very thing in thtis Ci.n mention is dominated by the question of shipping facilities, and seeing that the extfent to which shipping space will l>o available next season is at present impossible to ddtermin'?, iaiiy pr-.riuut.ca'in nt ni iv made moist lie based solely upon the probabilities of the outlook. This outlook is at present unpromising, and is mad© worse by the fact that owing to the few ships available for May and June loading present season's supplies of meat, dairy produce and general cargo, are accumulating in store, and there seems little if any prospieet of getting the whole of these accumulations away before the next season

opens. It is right that farmers should be advised at to farming operations in tjj& near future, but before such advice can be given with the necessary degree of definiteness further information will nteed to (be obtained from England, and this has been asked for-by cable. The position as regards butter is fully realised, but it is very doubtful whether' it would be wise for too many butter factories to cease the manufacture of butter . and make cheese instead. Butter cam be held frozen, whereais cheese icannot, and the risk of deterioration, if shipment is unobtainable, being consequently much greater, producers might suffer loss in consequence.

The output of frozen meat this season is less than that of the previous year, and if shipping facilities be furthfer decreased a further falling off is to be expected next season. This will mean more storage space available for butter in case otf emerge.i ;y. Prior to the receipt of your let'<?r. a cable had already "been sent," requesting information • as to whether the Imperial Government desired to acquire next season's cheese output, and on receipt of a reply to that and the cable now sent asking for the fullest information possible regarding other produce, the complete facts will be submitted to the Honorable the Acting Prime Minister, in order that he may be in a position to make such announcement as he considers necessary. Yours faithfully ARTHUR M. MYERS.