DAIRY PRODUCE MARKETS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 181, 18 December 1912, Page 5

DAIRY PRODUCE MARKETS.

AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW. GREAT FUTURE FOR NEW ZEALAND. One of the loading butter experts in the Dominion, on being asked by a Wellington Times reporter how he viewed the season's prospects for dairy produce, gave the optimistic reply that "all is well with out dairy export." Present ruling prices, he said, are not quite as good as some producers expected who based their calculations on the high values obtaining last year. A few weeks ago the butter market was unsteady, and there was ait uncomfortable suspicion abroad that the prices at Home were being manipulated by interested persons. No doubt there may have been some good foundation for the suspicion, but the great contributing factor in keeping butter at a lower level of prices is to be found in the peculiar season prevailing in the northern hemisphere. Following an exceedingly dry summer, which was instrumental in forcing up the price of the colonial article, there followed a mild autumn, with frequent showers, which encouraged a prolific growth of fodder and enabled the dairymen there to placa much larger quantities of butter than usual on the market, at a time, when, in ordinary years, there is little but the exported article on the market. The /butter market has now, he considers, reached its normal level, and will hold good from now on.

Prices for cheese are not quite so good as he would like to see them, but it has to be remembered that there is a decided increase in the Canadian output this year. Ruling prices in England to-day for both products are sound, and he much preferred to see them remain steady at a good average value, than to find fami»e prices predominating for a fluctuating period. When the retailed article exceeds a certain price the customer has to fall back upoia a cheaper substitute, and, if satisfied with what he gets, may refrain from buying the pure article alto gether unless it is very cheap.

THE FUTURE. After many years of close intimacy with the butter markets of the world, and a lifetime's acquaintance with the capabilities of New Zealand, he was moro convinced than ever that this country has all the essentials necessary to make it the outstanding producing country in the world. We have the climate, the. pastures, and the men capable of turning out the very best product. Fanners are alive now to the need of better breeding and care of their cows, and what is most encouraging, they are putting their convictions into practice. Wherever suitable land obtains the dairy cow is asserting her presence. With the aid of the most modern machinery and intelligent manufacturers, the quality of the article is improving every year. Additional markets are being found for butter and cheese. With the opening of the Panama Canal, New Zealand will be brought into closer touch with the Atlantic ports of North America, where a wide field is open for exploitation with; our produce. I