MANAWATU EVENING STANDARD Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1906. BUTTER FAKING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8192, 19 May 1906, Page 4

MANAWATU EVENING STANDARD Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1906. BUTTER FAKING.

Ar.sTRAi.iAX files just to hand brin« infonnntion of some interesting disclosures that have been made as to the uses to which New Zealand butter is put. It seems that eertain Melbourne agents have been forwarding to New Zealand factories orders tor first-grade butter, subject to the condition ihat the boxes should be stamped with the "Melbourne agent's registered brand. ; There ss something suspicions about this, and the question may very well bo asked why these Australian dealers, in spite of the 3d per lb. duty, want New Zealand first-grade butter put into boxes carrying Melbourne dealers' brands. The onl}" possible answer is that some unfair advantage was to be taken of the New Zealand product, the high standard of which is the result mainly of the expenditure of State funds. It is to the credit of the New Zealand factories concerned that in every instance these orders have been declined. With the knowledge of the revelations before the Victorian Butter Commission still fresh m their minds, the factories in this colony wilj be well-advised to continue to maintain that attitude. The matter has not escaped the notice of Mr Kinsella, the Dairy Commissioner. He has issued a circular to the factories on the subject of brands. Before issuing it, he says he had positive proof that brands had been removed from boxes of New Zealand butter belonging to the best factories. This was done either iu Melbourne or Sydney, or in South Africa, by Australian shippers. From a producer's point of view he is convinced that the action taken by his department to protect the brand of each individual factory is the proper one. As one who is conversant with Victorian methods, he thinks that if there is one tiling more than another that has put a damper on the work of instruction, it ts allowing dealers the use of numerous brands,under which the various outputs are packed and exported. The Victorian system, in Mr Kinsella's opinion, if permitted in New Zealand,

would be totally oppotcd to their work of improving the quality for th«? pro. ducer, and the gaining of a reputation lor New Zealand batter as a whole, " In Victoria/' Mr Jutwila. continue*, " dealer:* are allowed as many brands as they want, so that where necessary tb<»y earn out to a large factory hsilf-a dozen brands, and have the factory's hotter packed tsmler these vnrtoiiv, brands. In this way the individual factory lose* its identity, What is tiu< ca*e iu New Zealand? Each factory's output is shipped, in addition to the Government grading stamp, ntider its own brand, for which many have established a good reputation on the British, market. 'A feature ; of our system also is that it allow* of the butter, if necessary, being traced back to its own factory," The value of tlitis bemg able to tract* consignment* in regarded by Mr Kirmdla as 1 of the greatest importance in eormec* tion with the New Zealand grading system. Little action run be taken to prevent thoo frauds that are so frequently attempted in regard to New Zealand produce, but it behoves! manufacturers and agents to be onMantiv on the alert to detect and expose Mich imposition.