I.—6a

8

enterprise. I do not think the Board should spend capital on works which are based on purely speculative grounds. In the case of cattle, we were called upon some time ago to make provision for shipping them, and great contumely was thrown upon the Board because they did not at once do so. It was simply a flash in the pan. If the Board had given way to the cry and gone on with it we should have been put to considerable expense and had no return. It may have been that if the trade had continued the expenditure would have been justified ; but there was the possibility that it would not continue. We made arrangements with the railway authorities to deal with the cattle, and that was sufficient. 64. Have you had any complaints about the storage of butter on the Queen's Wharf? — Not in the Harbour Board sheds. There have been several cases in which the butter was bad before it came from the coastal steamers, as in a notable case ex the " Wanaka." 65. From Taranaki ?—Yes.

Maximum and Minimum Readings of Thermometer taken in Shed D, Queen's Wharf, Wellington, daily, at 9 a.m., Sundays and Holidays excepted.

Greatest Range in any Twenty-four Hours.

Note. —Headings correct to I°. Mr. G. H. Scales, examined. 66. The Chairman.] You are a merchant residing in Wellington ?—Yes. 67. You have had considerable experience in the purchase and sale of butter, I think?— Yes; but principally receiving it on consignment for sale in London. 68. Will you kindly give the Committee your opinion as to the best mode of fostering the dairy industry ? —That is rather a broad question. 69. Would you rather answer a series of questions ?—Just as you like; Ido not mind. I started this business some three or four years ago. In 1888 I shipped Home a fairly large quantity of butter and a very large quantity of cheese. The butter then did not turn out satisfactorily. I do not think it brought more than £4 10s. per hundredweight. This year that price has been considered good, but at that time it was not considered so. In that year the market for cheese was most erratic, prices ranging from £1 4s. to £2 16s. per hundredweight. All sorts, shapes, sizes, and conditions were sent to London. The prevailing idea was that cheese should not be shipped Home until three or four months old, the result being that when it arrived it was strong and crumbly, and in every way objectionable. The sizes varied from 251b. to 401b., while in London the sizes wanted were from 501b. to 801b. At the end of that season I went Home, solely to have a look round the dairy districts, and to see why it was that our butter should not turn out as well as butter made in Normandy or Denmark, or even in England. My London agents have been connected with this business for a very large number of years, and before I came out here I was in their office for three or four years. I thought the trip Home might give me some information. I had only a few weeks, and I spent two of that time in Normandy, going through the principal districts there. I saw exactly how the butter trade was manipulated there. I had not time to go to Denmark and so cannot say anything about the way in which it is done there. Last year the trade took a spurt: it was anticipated that very large shipments would be made to London. The people were, however, keeping it back in order to get large prices here, and were sending a portion of it to Sydney. The large prices were never realised in Sydney, and those who shipped to London did very well indeed. 70. What were the usual receipts ?—I do not believe my London agents sold a package under £5 Bs. per hundredweight. Prices ranged from £5 Bs. to £6. As regards cheese, I had been shipping the year before for the Greytown Factory, in the Wairarapa, the Wanganui Factory, the Manaia and Otakeho Factories, and one or two factories in Gisborne. The Greytown Factory results were so bad that they decided not to ship any more, and they sold to a firm of merchants in Wellington. The Wanganui factory collapsed. The Otakeho and Manaia Factory changed hands, and the purchaser then turned the Manaia Factory into a butter-factory, and has since had great difficulty in obtaining a proper supply of milk, because the people who were formerly supplying the milk had turned their cows out. One of the dairy-factories in Gisborne had to be closed; I bought it myself and started it again. The Ormond Factory (the other Gisborne factory) got into a bad way financially, and another man took it and sold his produce locally. Practically, the output of that year was very small indeed from this port. It has not been very large this year. I think only two or three factories have been shipping at all. I think it was the disastrous effects of the previous year's ship-

Year. Jan. Feb. Mar. I April, j May. June. I July. August. Sept. Mx. Mn. Mx. Mn 61 ! 42 68 46 •• I I Oct. Nov. Dee. .889 .890 i Mx. Mn. Mx. Mn. 87 57 j 78 58 79 54 80 55 Mx. Mn. 76 51 80 51 Mx. Mn. Mx. Mn. 71 49 69 41 73 49 68 45 Mx. Mn. Mx. Mn. 59 40 59 41 65 44 I 58 37 I I ' I Mx. Mn. Mx. Mn. 71 47 78 I 51 Mx. Mn. 76 57

.889 .890 23 18 15 20 13 18 16 10 13 11 J 10 12 ! I 14 13 i 15 21 14 16 17 Greatest Bange, .< nth one or more Holidays intervening, during which Shed was closed. 889 .890 15 18 15 13 16 13 9 12 12 14 12 16 17 20 18 17 i 12 12 7 I i I