FOREIGN EGGS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 March 1916, Page 6

FOREIGN EGGS.

" FROM CHINA! WHERE IS TIIF. SALES OF FOOD ACT 1 (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington. Feb. 28. "Tfce egg market Ims been completely tamuralised by the arrival of 70,000 of foreign cggs T and since last -Thursday it lias not been a question of price, but simply a question of trying te dispose of an enormous quantity of perishable goods, of which only a given quantity could be quitted," runs tile lament of a local firm connected with the poultry industry. The imported eggs, your correspondent learned on inquiry, were landed in the South Island, and came, from the East, presumably from China. The importer was prepared, to sell them, according to the complaints of thp local dealers, at Is 4d per dozen, whereas the ruling price for Xcw Zealand eggs was Is Sd or Is 9d per dozen. The consumers preferred the lower price and the product of the New Zealand lien went begging. One result was a movement of Canterbury eggs to Wellington and a consequent disorganisation of the market in this city. The nominal quotation to-day is Is 6d per dozen, but the eggs can be secured cheaper than that. Last session the Government amended the Sales of Food and Drugs Act so as to provide for the branding of imported eggs. The necessary regulation lias not yet been gazetted, but the Ministry-may deal with the'matter at any time, and importers of eggs will be required then to brand each shell so as to indicate the fact of its importation and the country of its origin. "The urgent necessity for tli© immediate gazetting of the Government edict for the branding of imported eggs,'' says the firm already quoted, "was never more apparent if the poultry industry is not going to be exterminated in this country." But will the branding of imported eggs save the situation from the point of view of the poultry farmer? There appears to be no doubt (1) That the imported eggs, of Chinese origin, are good in quality, and (2) that they can be sold profitably at Is to Is 3d per dozen. They cannot take the plgce of fresh laid eggs for table use, but they serve all the purposes of the cook and the manufacturer. Experience does not suggest that buyers will pay an extra sixpence a dozen for sentimental, or patriotic, reasons. "The simple truth is that the poultry industry is threatened with destruction," said a gentleman connected w'ith the trade to-day. "The poultry farmer cannot compete with the cheap Chinese products. Land is dear, labor is dear, and the prices of wheat, pollard, bran, etc., are abnormally high. The New Zealand poultry farmer cannot produce eggs' to sell at much under Is 6d per dozen, as an average price even in favorable years. If the public prefers to buy cheap and inferior Chinese stuff, which can by no stretch of imagination be regarded as fresh, then the poultry industry is doomed. Even now many poultry farmers are getting out as quick as they can.. The Government talks of putting some of he returned soldiers on poultry farms. Tt would be madness to do anything of the kind under present conditions." The experts of the Agricultural Department, it may be mentioned, have never shown themselves very confident regarding the future of poultry raising as a separate industry in New' Zealand. "While poultry raising may never come to he regarded as an independent industry in New Zealand," says one official i report, "there are specialists who are ! making a living at it., but they are men who have exceptional qualifications and manage the business on most up-to-date principles. Poultry-keeping, however, is rapidly extending, and is being recognised as a very profitable side-line to the small farmer." '