Our Butter at Home.

Manawatu Herald, 19 June 1894, Page 2

Our Butter at Home.

• •. ■ •■ In order to gain an idea qfiheTpttl r\, i state of the produce market at Home in respect to the butter trade, and with a view of extending the trade from here, Mr E. Steeds, of the firm - of E. Steeds and Co., determined tor ' pay a visit to the Old Country. ' : Accordingly, he left New Zealand by -/■ the Doric in October last,, and, after ; having made a careful investigation of the market at Home, and also forming his opinion of the way in which our dairy produce reaches England and ia disposed of, retuvpgdi by the Tiiinni, ai*nvinpr in LvtteUon on Thursday by Ibo Turawera. A member of the staff of the Prm had a chat with Mr Steeds yesterday on tßcions subjects interesting to tht

dairy produce trade, and below is given the result of the interview : — CONVEYANCE OF THE PRODVCE. " I was disappointed," said Mr Steeds, "with the quality of the butter on its arrival, inasmuch as it waa not in the same good condition as when shipped. It had deteriorated in quality, and the reason, I think, Vvas that we do not take the trouble, n a majority of oases, to chill the butter before it is shipped. The consequence is that the butter which has not been so chilled affects that whidb has. In fact I can illustrate it by Saying that the result is the same as putting a hot poker outside an ice cream. I think that all butter should be frozen or chilled ; that is, before it goes to the ship it should pass through the freezing factory or the cool stores at the port of shipment. You ask me my idea of the proper temperature for carrying butter in the steamers. I think that it should not be higher than 32deg Fah'r. The method of packing the butter on the ships in stacks prevents to a large extent the blast of the cold air reaching the whole. It merely gets to the outside, and therefore it is, to my idea, most necessary that it should all be chilled before shipment. This would obviate, to a large degree, the in« equality of temperature caused by the fact that the cold air docs not reach all of the packages. I think that an improvement might be made by the general adoption of the plan of placing battens between each tier of boxes in the cool chamber, so that the cold air can permeate the whole of the boxes, instead of as now only affecting a portion ot them. THE mHCKAR«INCI OF PRODUCK. On the arrival of the steamer at the Docks the butter is discharged nt the Albert Docks and almost immediately sent away to the stores of the various consignees. In some cases where the firms are small they have to arrange their financial business before taking delivery of the butter. In these cases it remains on the wharf for some days, and the consequence is that it reaches the consumer in a state which would not be the case if it were delivered promptly. It will thus be seen that it is necessary for the good name of New Zealand as regards butter — which is going to be one of our most important products — that consignments should be made to firms of such standing as will enable the produce to reach the consumer as speedily as possible, and in the best Condition. So far as I was concerned I was fortunately enabled to do this, but I saw butter from New ! Zealand remaining for a considerable ! time before it got into the market. ! This last season Victoria and the I North and South Islands of New I Zealand had representatives at Home j which had the effect of bringing the j price of colonial butter up to a j nearer level with that ot Danish than | has b^ejg the case before. I TfcE DISTRIBUTION AT HOME. ! During my stay at Home I visited ! Bristol, . Liverpool, Cardiff, and South Wales generally, and wns in communication with the prin* cipai produce merchants in Scot* land. In these places I opened up business relations with the principal produce merchants, and the result was most satisfactory, although the markets, from my late arrival, were somewhat lower than earlier in the season. In a great number oi cases contracts had been made for delivery. I was in Tooley-street every day when I was in London. I may explain that Tooley-street is the principal rendezvous for the butter raerohants, who come on Tuesdays and Fridays from all parts of the United Kingdom. The Victorian butter I found to some extent preferred to ours, and the reason I think is that the richness of our grass imparts too strong or rich a flavour, which is absent from the Victorian butter, owing to the hardness of their grass. With regard to the preparation of our butter for market, I should suggest that it should be shipped partly in kegs of 1001 b each and partly in boxes. In Wales there is a large demand for butter, in. kegs, and as this is a trade worth' cultivating, I would recommend .that some portion of every ■hipment at least should be in kegs. , There is another thing that I would suggest;- 'and that is that the first week's make after a shipment has been sent should contain more salt than those makes following it up to the next shipment, There is also another thing which I noticed whilst in England, and which I want to suggest to the large shippers of butter. It is this. When a buyer comes into a store and sees a large consignment, say, 1000 boxes of one brand, he thinks that it will be better for him to wait to see if prices will , come down, as the line is large. W But if that 1000 boxes were divided iuto three or, say, four lots, he would immediately take the lot that suita -him, because he would be afrai4j.of a small lot being snapped up. Hence I would suggest that thejarge shippers should have, say, three or four different registered brandi under which the shipment l^onltrßTseni;, : THF. UAHKKT AX tlO.viC, I lent up a parcel of 120 boxes of butter of a well-known Now Zealand

factory brand to Glasgow, hearing that there was a shortness of butter there. It did not seem suitable for their market for some reason, and thi3 shows me that London Is the only distributing centre, attd that it would be impolitic to send our butter to any other city outside. Still there is a great necessity for exercising a good deal of care as to the way in which the shipments are sent, because whilst I was in England the market was overstocked several times. This was due in a very large degree to consignees who had to realise rushing the butter on to the market irrespective of whether there was any demand for it or not. I think that it would be a great boon to the butter factories, as well as the colony generally, if a representative or representatives were appointed to travel throughout England and Wales to ascertain what amount of butter would be able to be placed, the principals advising by cable as to the amount afloat. This has been done to a large extent by Victoria, and also by myself during my late visit to England. I personally saw a large number of merchants in different parts of England nnd "Wales. Having influential friends in the trade, I was enabled to meet the best people in the butter trade, and I have received very excellent promises of support for next season, providing I can send a regular supply of required brands. I may say that the cable market prices for butter are somewhat deceiving, inasmuch as perhaps one package in a shipment will realise a high price, and this is cabled as the selling price of the whole. Whereas it may be that several other packages of the same shipment have been sold for a reduction. Another thing is that prices are quoted for colonial butter, including Victorian, Ac. During my short stay at the Cape 1 found that preparations were being made for dairying, and was reliably informed that they will shortly be enabled to supply their own requirements. While in England I saw some ot the butter from the English Dairy Factory Company, of Bombay. The sample was only of ordinary quality, but preparations are being made to go into the trade extensively, and ere long they hope to go in for export. One little joke took place in connection with my visit to England, T was passing a provision shop and a man in the street handed me a bill as follows :— " Butter cheaper. Fmther reductions. Best Danish Is, pure dairy butter lOd per pound. — The Home and Colonial Tea Stores.'" 1 thought that the man was joking with me, but it was a stern reality. The New I Zealand butter, I may say, is called I Dorsetshire, and it was marked up Is | 2d per lb by the single pound.