Butter as Barter

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 70, 25 October 1940, Page 7

Butter as Barter

ONES: That reminds me of the little Chinese gentleman who virtually saved the Taranaki farmers. You may have heard of him, a fellow called Chew Chong? ROBINSON: Yes, he started the trade in tree fungus, shipping it to China where it was considered a great delicacy. He was certainly a godsend to the dairy farmers, they found. it more profitable to gather fungus for Chew Chong at threepence a pound than to make butter they couldn’t sell. JONES: Yes, but the great point was that the Chinese paid spot cash, and that was a rare luxury for the farmers, to have a bit of real cash to handle. ROBINSON: I know that well enough: I put a bit of a track through to the local township, hoping to sell my butter to the storekeeper. fJe bought it all right, at fourpence a pound, but not a penny in cash could I get out of him. I had to take out the value in goods, flour, tea, sugar and so on. JONES: Back to the barter system, eh! But that was a standing grievance all the backblocks farmers had against the storekeepers. It must have made living difficult, though, having no cash income. ROBINSON: So difficult that I often couldn’t scrape up five shillings to pay the annual rates on my land. But there were worse cases than mine; I know of one farmer who economised on candles and kerosene by sticking an improvised wick in a jar of butter-he found it cheaper to burn butter than

kerosene.-

-("Background of New Zealand: Retfrigera-

tion,’ prepared by

F.

Lingard

2YA September 30).