H.—3o

7. Outdoor Publicity. This branch of publicity has not been neglected, and in the Department's programme conspicuous positions have been occupied in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Wakefield. Effective outdoor publicity has been secured through the commanding positions taken in Piccadilly, Manchester, and the Central Station, Glasgow, and also through the posters exhibited on the sides of London Transport buses. (See photograph.) 8. National Exhibitions. During the year the Department arranged displays at six large public exhibitions of established merit, including the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition, and the London Grocers' Exhibition, both of which were held at Olympia, London. The Ideal Home Exhibition never fails to attract an exceedingly large number of visitors, and is open to the public for a period of twenty-three days. The sales of samples from the Department's stand at that Exhibition this year amounted to 35,000 samples of butter and 40,000 samples of cheese. 9. Temporary Display Shop. In an endeavour to stimulate the demand for New Zealand produce in Sheffield and district an exhibition shop was organized in Sheffield, and was open to the public from 2nd December to 19th December, 1936. In order to make a comprehensive display of the products of the Dominion, the New Zealand High Commissioner's Department, the New Zealand Fruit and Meat Boards, and the representatives of the New Zealand Honey Board joined with this Department in the undertaking. Also, with the object of making a reciprocal trade display, a number of the manufacturing firms in Sheffield were offered free space and invited to collaborate by making displays of their products, and nine firms did so. The Hon. Walter Nash and the High Commissioner for New Zealand (Mr. W. J. Jordan) were present at the exhibition when it was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. On the same day the Hon. Mr. Nash and Mr. Jordan were the guests of honour at a banquet presided over by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. These proceedings received an excellent press report, which assisted materially in giving the exhibition a favourable start. Many thousands of the townspeople of Sheffield visited the shop, and samples of butter and cheese, and as many of the other products as possible, were sold to visitors, all purchasers being recommended in the customary way to obtain regular household supplies from their usual grocers. Excellent co-operation was received from the grocery trade as a whole, a large number of retailers making first-class displays in their own shop-windows. 10. Booklet : "At the Sign op the Cheese." This booklet was produced with the object of improving the demand for cheese by focusing attention on its valuable properties as a food, and suggesting, chiefly by means of a recipe section, the various methods in which cheese may be used as the principal ingredient in delicious and wholesome dishes. During the year 50,000 copies of the booklet were distributed from exhibition stands and during retail-shop demonstrations. SHIPPING. The opinion has been expressed in this report that greater regularity in arrivals of consignments of butter and cheese in the United Kingdom would assist the marketing plans of the Department. Undoubtedly improvements in this direction have been effected during the past few years. Suggestions for improvements in the arrangements for loading and despatch of vessels from the Dominion were invariably discussed when freight agreements were being settled. It will, however, be recognized by dairy-farmers that the freight contracts are only made possible by co-operating with the other exporting industries, particularly meat and fruit, and it is hoped that as further investigations are made it may be possible to provide for even more regular and reliable delivery to all United Kingdom ports. There are sixteen ports of loading in the Dominion for overseas vessels. Five of these are roadstead ports, where the risk of delay is considerable. It can thus be realized that it is difficult for the shipowners to arrange loading itineraries that will enable them to have their vessels arrive in the United Kingdom on specified dates. On their round trips vessels travel about 24,000 miles, and delays can occur from a variety of circumstances, thus upsetting the shipping programme. Allotments for contract cargoes such as meat, fruit, and dairy-produce are arranged some weeks in advance of loading, and the itineraries of the various vessels are worked out in advance. There are factors, such as weather conditions and accidents to vessels, which cause delays which are unavoidable. In addition, the multiplicity of loading ports increases the risk of delays. Experience has shown that under existing conditions it is not possible to have a hard and fast programme of regular arrivals, and that the best that can be done is to plan the allotments of produce and the sailing of vessels so that the greatest degree of regularity can be secured. Dairy-produce is available at ten ports of shipment in the Dominion, six in the North Island and four in the South Island. Three of the North Island ports are roadstead ports, but the quantity of dairy-produce shipped from these open ports represents a very small percentage of the total Dominion dairy-produce exports—slightly under 5 per cent.

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