THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1917, Page 6

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

BUTTER AND CHEESE. FUTURE PROSPECTS COMPARED. Various matters of interest to the dairying industry were touched on at ; the annual meeting of the Mangorei , Dairv Company by Mr. It. W. D. Robert- ' sou " (Xew Zealand representative of Messrs Andrew Clement and Pon), who , has just returned from a business trip to tho Old Country, and was invited to speak by the chairman, his firm having 'handled'the company's output for several years past. Mr. Robertson said that probably they were most interested at present in the relative prospects of cheese and butter. Certainly, at the ipresent time, cheese had the upper hand on the London market. but this was due to the war and. to the amount of cheese used for army consumption by our army and our allies. For the year before the war tlie_ imports of cheese into Great Britain amounted to 1)0,000 tons, whereas last year the total was 130,000 tons—an increase of 40,000 tons. Out #>f this 130.000 tons GO,OOO were required fhr army purposes leaving 70,000 for the civilian } population, against 1)0.000 in the year | preceding the war. This accounted for j the hi f _ r h prices. When the war '\vas over, and supposing the same rate of production was maintained and that this 00,000 tons were not required by the I ariuv, it woujd mean a surplus on the 'i 11 onii.' market of 4.0,000, and there would be a slump in cheese On the other hand the shortage of meat was going to be verv great. The war had depleted the herds and flocks, and it would be some years before they got back to | anything like the normal conditions prevailing during the last year of peace. Cheese would" probably take the place of meet to a certain extent. The position of butter would, however, be much more assured than cheese. Prices were not likely to fluctuate, and there was no ehauee of a slump in'butter. All the butter-producing countries were in the crip of the war. Not one box of butter '• from Russia had reached England during 1 the war, and there would be none for i years-after. The price of butter in Russia was 370s per ewt., the Govern- : ment having offered this as a bonus to | induce the fanntrs to make butter, and i so prevent the slaughter of cattle due to I the hitrh price of meat, in order to retain ! their herds after the' war. Stock, he slid, was going to be very valuable,, 1 especially horned cattle. When war

hroke out the Imperial Government prohibited the. killing of young eattle, with line result that up to April of this year thero was an increase of 350,000 head compared with the number before the war. It was then discovered, however, that bread was setting scarce, and an order was issued that young' eattle were to 1)0 killed, the foo'dstults required to feed them in stalls, as had to bo done at Homo during the winter months, being required to feed the people. The number of horned eattle was therefore fast decreasing, whilst the herds in Prance and other butter-producing countries on the Continent had been depleted. Therefore all the butter Xew Zealand could get to the English market for some vears to come would demand high prices. Personally he did not think it a commercial proposition at present for any company to increase its capital for the purpose of changing from butter to cheese.

Mr. Robertson stressed tho necessity for maintaining; tl"' high standard of our nyoduco, and in this connection remarked that his firm had handled Mangorci butter for year:-, and lie eonftl say to the supplier s ;, without any '"fluff." that they had not- handled any butter they liked hotter. 'Tie could assure them that the Xew Zealand producer had no cause to fear that margarine or 'Siberian butter would be able to compete with first grade New Zealand butter. They could compete with secondary {Trades, but never with the choicest makes of colonial. They would note that Xew Zealand butter was quoted 2s higher than any ! other imported butter, which was suflir-i----j cut to demonstrate that it- was regarded i as superior to anything but Danish, the i latter not being quoted. lie could not ! too st-ronsrly Impress on the New Zcai land producer to see that the quality '■was maintained all the time and every I time.

in reply to a question, Mr. Robertson said the shipping outlook was not very bright, but he expected they would -get some relief from the building of the standardised vessels, which would enable some of the lboats to trade out here that wore at present engaged elsewhere.

Mr. Robertson, who 'was moat attentively listened to throughout, was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on con eluding his address.