London Produce Market.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 466, 12 June 1890, Page 3

London Produce Market.

The Lyttelton Times’ London correspondent writes giving the following as the views of Mr Mackenzie, a New 'Zealand M.H.R. deputed to get information concerniug the London market for produce :— BUTTER. There is a good market for New Zealand butter in London between October and March, providing it is of fair quality, salting and color. Messrs Page report that last year 50 per cent, of the butter from New Zealand was of fine qua'ity, whereas this vear it has almost all been unsatisfactory, The general belie f is ihat this year’s butter was kept some time m the Colony before it was sent off instead of being despatched really fresh. All the London folks Mr Mackenzie saw appear to agree with Mr C. J. Boue that the matter of p icking is vi ally important. Pond's b-<xea should be used only for the very finest qualities of butter. For the rest kegs (not tubs) of a uniform size, to c ntain from 561 b to 641 b each, should be selected. The butter mu. 4 not be wrapped in muslin, though there must be a layer of it or some thin ctxhco on the top of each keg. Ou no account should butter be sent in rolls of lib weight or iu tins. CHEESE. The views of the produce brokers, &c., Mr Mackenzie said, differ somewhat with Mr C. J. Bone’s as to what is the desirable size of cheese to export from New jZealand and the best mode of packing gams. Mr Bone’s experience was that cheeses were more manage able and less liable to damage when not more dun 56. b weight. For similar reasons each cheese should be packed (like EnglLh oheddars) in a separate box and protected at ‘op and bottom wi h a thin veneer technically known as a draw board. Mr Maok-nzie’s informa ion, on the contrary, favoured larg -, longish cheeses of about 80. b to 86ib each, ani showed him two weighing conjointly 172. b, and packed in a 14 x 28 easa, which fu filled, in their idea, every requisite of the market. They rather favoured the mode of packing as safe and distinctively New Zealand, i.e., assnviated with New Zealand nnly. It was not altogether undesirable the New Zealand cheese should be distinguishable by some easily noted peculiarity. Mr Mackenzie appears to think that the complaints of Mr Bone and others concerning the non branding of much of your dairy produce are unjust. The cheeses, by the way, must always be full cream; skimmed milk cheese is not marketable.