OUR DAIRY PRODUCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 27 September 1907, Page 4

OUR DAIRY PRODUCE.

WIiKKE 11' UOES. SOUK i'At'l'S ABOUT CARDIFF AND SOI Til WALKS.

.V '.v Z \il inders as a people took very ] :uiiu .ai. .-•--•I in Wales aud South-WeS-inn iaigiitud until all eyes turned on („„ ! contests between the "All ..il l the acknowledged flower of Uiiii;:! football. It was then that aoiue lime jißiiU was evinced in the couu■r\ whose men secured the only victory over tlie New Zcalanders in their lengthy tour. Efforts to arouse interest in tlie proposals to establish trade iu West of England ports were confined to commercial circles, but now, as the result of that great struggle at Cardiff the New Zealander will lift his liat to Wales. But we have a more important connection with that country. For seme years a well-known firm of produce merchants in Cardiff has been operating largely in New Zealand dan) produce, and this trade lias steadily increased until now no small proportion of Taranaki's dairying output finds its way to South Wales. And the market there should continue to be an improving quantity, for the progress and expansion of commerce in that region has been rapid and remarkable, with a fast Mowing population. Curious to learn something more of Cardiff and its districts, where such large quantities ot our dairv produce are landed each J ear, a "Dailv" News" reporter found his way to the New Plymouth office of Messrs Collett and Co., of Cardiff, and had a chat with ilr J. R. Cruickshank, the firm's Australasian representative, ilr Cruickshank was well pruned with tacts and figures concerning the districts in which his firm has its headquarters, and gave us what proved to be some ve J interesting information regarding the progress a g nd industries of SouU Wales and the West of England. '•Most of us have looked on South Wales as centering in Cardiff and Swansea, and its people as being engaged almost wholly in the export of steam coal," remarked our reporter. Mr Cruickshank mentioned that on the contrary the ports of Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol, Newport, and Barry have a vast shipping trade and large manufat turing industries, with their shipowners and ships, docks and dockyards, eng neering and ship repairing works gram and milling industries, and so foitu. Yet to the average person these populous counties of Glamorgan and -Monmouth, and the towns just mentioned, teeming with their industrious inhabitants, busv railroads, immense docks, and unequalled oversea commerce, mean only one thing, "Coal." Irrespective o the mining industry, these counties hold place with any part of the United Kingdom as manufacturing and commercial districts. The iron ores from Spain, copper from the United States anil Chili, tin fronj the Straits Settle ments and Bolivia, timber, from North Europe, and the grain from the Argentine, the United States, Russia, and India are all poured into the ports of South Wales, and find markets amongat its merchants and manufacturers, lossibly no better evidence of the manufacturing activity can be found than the fact that, although the premier coal exporting 'district of the world, no less tnan 12,000,000 tons of coal are anuu4Uv consumed in the two counties, an average of ten tons per head of population—the average consumption in tlie United Kingdom is four tons. ihe Welsh iron and steel trade emplojs about one-tenth of the population. About 2,000,000 tons of iron ore are used annually, or about a fifth of the total iron ore imports of the United Kingdom. Aliout a million tons of pigiron are turned out annually, and practically all of it is converted locally into commercial steel for various industries, the principal of which is the tinplate industrv. This industry nourishes, and South Wales is capable of turning out its finished products in better condition and at less cost than any other country in the world. New Zealanders well know Lysaght's brand of galvanised iron. Lysaght's, one of the biggest firms of the kind in the Kingdom, has recently removed its worKH from the Midlands to South Wales, on account of the cheaper production. There are other important and well-known firms in the same business, employing in all several thousand men. Several large manufacturing concerns are now negotiating for sites in South Wales, and at the present time one of the largest armor-plate works in Sheffield is concluding arrangements for establishing works there. Tlie zinc manufactories keep another thousand engaged. Another of the important branches of work which places South Wales among tlie busiest of the world's metallurgical areas, is copper manufacture. South Wales was the cradle of tlie British copper industry over 300 years ago, and it grew, until now it takes 40 per cent, of the copper ore imported into the United Kingdom. Nickel manufacturing is another important industry. All the foregoing works are in the direct production of metals. In addition, there are great engineerin" and railway works, employing about 30,0110 men. In ship repairing the West C'oast ports, with their facilities anil I their men, rank with any other dis--1 trict in the world. (!reat firms, owning magnificent dry docks, equipped with the most modem machinery, staffed with well-paid highly-trained artis- • ans, are capable of repairing and docking practically anything. Owing to this, the ports of Cardiff, Barry, Newport, Port Talbot, and Swansea ha\e secured a name for doing the quickest ship-repairing work in the world. the capital represented ill the ship-repairing industry approximates four millions. It is safe to say that the hinterland of Glamorganshire and Monmouthslure coast is one of the first, it not the oreatest metallurgical districts in the world. And there are grain and milling, paper-making and timlier industries, whilst the railways employ 25,000 men, the capital invested being about £oi ,- (XHI,OOO, and it is a well-known fact that these railways are, from a dividend-pay-ing point of view, the most remunerative in the country. Because of its huge volume of expo t trade, Cardiff clears more tonnage for foreign destinations than any other port in the United Kingdom. This conies as a surprise to colonials. Last year its foreign clearances amounts Jo 8,089,773 tons, as compared with M»i ,- 002 tons irom Liverpool and ' ''' tons from the port of London. In the aggregate of foreign and coastwise car eoes Cardiff is the second port m the Kingdom, London's tr.a.le aniountmg t. 0,068,497 tons, and Cardiff s tons —a narrow margin. From e above figures it will be seen that the South-West of England is a progie,si\e and also a densely-populated district, and when our reporter remarked that some New Zealand dairymen were sometimes afraid that there was a danger of sending too much dairy produce through and overloading the Home markets, Mr. Cruickshank, with a smile, assured him that New Zealanders need have no fear on that score for many years to come. '•There is one thing, though, added Mr. Cruickshank, "and that is this: New Zealand factories will do well to keep 'nualitv' right in front of them all the time ' High prices and firm markets sometimes have a tendency to create l carelessness on the part of the fac- ! torv, and the company may perhaps lie content to just "scrape through" with first grade and so obtain contract price But it is 'nualitv' that pays in the long run, and a constant endeavour to improve on the part of the factory is the only way to retain the good name and high staml- ' ing that New Zealand dairy produce now holds in the Home markets."