BUTTER EXPORT TRADE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 97, 10 September 1912, Page 4

BUTTER EXPORT TRADE.

The review of the dairy produce trade for the 1011-12 ' season, published by Messrs Weddel and Co., makes interesting reading. The present is the eighteenth year of issue. With the pictorial chart which aecompaanies the Review the Australian producer is in a position not only to estimate the extent of his own trade, but its relative position in the dairying industry of the world. The Review takes into account the dim and distant past of dairying. We learn that in 1820 the import of butter to Great Britain was 3415 tons. To-day the annual import of butter into the United Kingdom is 200,000 tons, of which Australia's share is 33,000 tons. The outstanding feature of the past year was the high price of both butter and cheese. To find a parallel it is nec3ssary to. go back to the years 187t'i and 1877, when the official quotation of Danish butter averaged 138s and 140s respectively. During the 1911-12 season the average was 123s 9d. The high level of prices was entirely due to climatic conditions. The summer of 1911 was abnormally hot and dry. An interesting incident of the 1911-12 season has been the large shipments of butter "without salt and without any other preservative" to the Continent. Many experts were doubtful as to the success of this trade. Experience has proved that, with the greater care now used in the treatment of cream, it is possible to ship to Europe with success New Zealand and Australian butter, prepared Without preservatires. So long as the cream is not allowed to become over ripe 'before pasteurisation takes place, the butter may be relied upon to give satisfaction. The process, however, is a scientific one, and cannot be left to guesswork, but must be carried out with strict accuracy in all details to ensure success. It is estimated that some 2000 to 3000 tons of Australian butter, prepared without the use of salt or preservatives, went to the Continent. Most of this butter was made in New Zealand, and to have manufactured successfully on so large a sale, with comparatively" so little experience, is an achievement of which New Zealand butter-makers may well be proud. Whatever may be the reason, Australian butter has not given to Continental buyers of finest butter the same complete satisfaction as parcels from New Zealand. The unfortunate reappearance of drought during the past season in some of the butter-making districts, however, rendered it impossible for Australia to keep up in those districts its annual standard of butter, otherwise there was an all-round advance in quality. With the present prospects of a coming fertile season, it is almost, certain that Australian butter will show still fnrtlW improvement, Messrs Weddel and Co., state that the Btrikes in Great Britain involved the Australian produce in considerable loss. The strike of lightermen and transport workers in London caused great delay in the discharge of goods, but the loss was small in comparison with that resulting from the miners' strike. The reduction m values of butter which arrived from Australia and New Zealand for these two months may be fairly, estimated at £35,000 for March and £40.000 for April. With regard to the prospects for next season, Messrs Weddel state that the excessively hot and dry weather of last summer left as its legacy a great reduction in the number "of "milch cows both in the Uuited Kingdom ami in the butter exporting countries of Europe. It is estimated that the reduction will be over 100,000 cows in the United Kingdom, and, 'from the same cause a similar proportionate reduction in Europe . Exceedingly little fodder is left in this country from last year, and the production of hay this year is thus far only about three-fourths of a good average crop. Uuder these conditions the make of butter in Europe and in England cannot be so much as in a normal year, though, doubtless, it will be much in excess of the twelve months just ended. The shipments from Australia are expected to be about the same as in the past season. With the prospect of a continued good demand for butter and cheese, prices should be above the average of the preceding four years, though they are not likely to reach the exceptional level of the 1911-12 season. This report goes to show that Taranaki dairy companies are well advised to consign this season instead of scllin-r outright.