MR H. REYNOLDS IN ENGLAND.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2884, 8 January 1891, Page 2

MR H. REYNOLDS IN ENGLAND.

TO THE EIIITOIt. iiu,—An so many of your readers aro di•ectlv or indirectly interested in tlio success if Now Zealand dairying, 1 thought it .vould not be out n[ to Rive a short vccount of how 1 have got on so far. As ,vm may ho aware, my objects in coming to lOugland were three-fold. First, to try to ;et a batter price for our Homo shipments ; 'ocond, to establish an agency hore for tho tale of all kinds of Now Zealand produce, ,vhcre the producer might rely upon tho ,ory best being done for him ; and third, .it gain all tho latest information on dairyne, so as to placo our firm in a position .vhich may be second to none in tho world, [t is very important for us ns well as the .vhole of the colony, as relating to its possibilities. that the samples of butter which [ brought were, when opened at Plymouth, is perfect in Havour and all other respects, *s when freshly made. This realisod 112s uer cwt., when farmers' butter was selling it from Sd to lOd per lb. The next lot. a nonth later, was not so pood, owing pernaps to the deficiency of winter feed, which always effects the quality. The season being irioro advanced here, I obtained [or this lot ll'is per cwt. Copies of report jf this shipment enclosed. Had L not worked the sales of these lots personally. <uch prices would not have been realised, is no one who was not vory deeply interested in the business would havo taken the necessary trouble which has been required to attain this end. Besides, from exceptional circumstances, I was enabled at once tn go to the best market and meet with reliable agents. In London I was told by everyone to whom I spoke of the matter, that to go out of the usual rut of importer, broker, wholesale doaler. and retailer, w .uld be impossible, and that all who had attempted to do otherwise had failed. But, although receiving many overtures from importers and wholesale people, I determined to carry out tho chief object of my visit, viz., to deal directly with the retailers, and I a'n pleased to sav that so far success has been even beyond my expectations. Of course, connected with these first sales there has beta a good_ deal of expense and trouble, but I. am confident in future of getting a much better price than we have hitherto received by selling in Auckland to English agents. I wish here to say that I am extreemoiy obliged to Mr Steen, the London representative of Messrs Mackey, Logan, Steen and Company, for assistance in obtaining the best possible prices, and ill many other ways. Though engaged in business of quite a different kind, Mr Steen is an enthusiast in tho cause of New Zealand produce, and the help he has given ns has been perfectly disinterested. Let ns hops that a renewed time of prosperity in our country may benefit his firm as well as ours. Wo are now prepared to receive through o\u Auckland oHice consignments of all kinds of produce, which we undertake to sell to retailers only, thereby giving our clients tho benefit of the removal of two or three middlemen. Aftor making fullest inquiries I find that Denmark takes the lead in all matters relating to dairying, so furnished with many influential introductions 1 set out for Copenhagen. When I arrived it was only nocessarv to use f.ho. letters oven mo bv Messrs W. Grice and Co. and Mr U ividsoii (Managing Director of the New Zaalanu Land and Australian Company). lhesf introduced mo to Mr IJiisck who ha; initiated and controls one of the largest anr most perfectly managed milk supplies 11 the world. Mr Busck is one of the bigges authorities on anything connected witt practical dairying. He also is a nios liboral minded man ; not paying any regarc to the possiblities of future competition, hi is anxious to bring dairying to the front and gives all enquirers the benefit of hi: own hard steady and valuable experience The only time he was ever known to refusi information was when an in'luential depu tation demanded to he shown over th works, and only consented to do so whei one of tho English Royal Family wrote am asked it as a special favour. Owing to th kindness of Mr Busok and his nephew, Carl Lorensen, 1 was shown all that conic be of any possiblo use to our dairying. AL Lorensen has been qualifying as a flair; expert under Mr Husck and ! rnfttvssn Fiord. I have been trying to persuade thi young gentleman to go to New Zealanc as his knowledgo would be a great help t'

tho dairy interests there. I found that at tho Agricultural College they were expecting an inquisitive New Zealander : and had arranged that he should be shown nothing ; hut owing to Mr Busck's kindness I aiu not roquira assistance f.'om any one else. I went to seethe receiving of milk at the Copenhagen Milk Supply Coy. s premises. The milk of 4,300 cows from ">0 farms is received at 9 p.m. All cans aie sarao size, containing 10 gallons, these being conveniently handled by Mie man. The chief point upon which the success of this enterprise depends, and which is most stringently enforced, is the cooling of the milk to 40 (Uy press, directly it leaves tho cows. Ihis makes it ouly necessary to have one delivery per day, aa milk cooled in this nor keeps perfectly for two days, ihe Lawrence cooler is used with ice-cold water. One advantage the Danes have is in having plenty of ice always at command, men farmer has an ice-house, and enough ice is collected in winter to last through the next summer. Even shonld the supply run short, artificial ico may be bought in any quantity for £1 per ton, whilo in Auckland it costs .€0 per ton. As coal used for tho ateam engines to work the ice-machines is cheaper in Now Zealand than in I'emnark, I cannot understand this difference in price. My next visit was at 3 a.m., when 1 '"una all hands (about 170) at work in the different departments. a.m.

itartwith tho milk delivery. There are >vcr 40 spring vans employed, and any milk aot sold is made into butter. The churning is commenced punctually at 5 a.m., and tho butter distributed to the different customers by ten o'clock. Samples of each lot .if milk ire sent in every dr.y. lam happy to say that I hive been enabled to solve the problem of milk-testing, as Mr Buacti says that the procoss they follow has been proved by chemical analysis to be in every iustance absolutely correct. Tho instruineut used is l'aunu's Lactoscope, but as it requires au expert I am afraid we cannot bring it into use this present season, but hope to have it before next summer. Then we shall pay for the exact amount of butter fat: contained in the milk. This is not at all determined by the amount of cream as some milk having a poor show ot cream might be richei than that which tested highly by the ordinary tubes. I find from comparing tests that wo have boen and shall continue through this season to pay for a groat deal of butter-fat which is not there, while in other instances milk whieh has puzxled both ourselves and the suppliers by testing ao poorly may when the new system is introduced turn out to contain a good proportion of butter-tat. As it would take too long in this letter t« describe fully this most perfectly organised Institution, lam asking the Editor to kindly publish (for the information of any interested) as he has space, tho accompanying report by A. Stewart McGregor, Britiali vice-Consul at Copenhagen. Most of the information contained was given him bj Mr Busck. I saw both cheese and buttei factories and picked up several valuable and useful hints ; but in the ordinary manufacture of factory butter, our first in Htructor, Mr Gommel, would bu hard t< beat. Our factories aro also more labour saving. Hoping in a few weeks to bo able to send accouute of further miccass, 1 am. £ C H. Reynolds. Extracts from letter:, re butter :—" The two package-* were in very fine condition cleaner and iu moie perfect order than any Danish or IrUh I ever :svm. The quality is (rood, but for Savour the liuest Danish oi finest Irish stands higher/ , "'lim buttei was of liret-rato quality, such as we thinl would gradually inaku ila way <m thi: market, and eventually sell at nearly thi price of finest Danish, provided we cotilc regularly depend on its regularly arrivmf in equal condition to these two samples. IThe report, owing no doubt to some ae lay in transit, has not yet come to hand.Eα W.T.I