H—3OA

necessary, the costs of catering for the local market in respect to winter requirements will need to be arranged by some othex means. This, however, will amount merely to an alteration of the method of accounting.

Local sales of butter, inclusive of ships' stores, for the year ending 30th September, 1947, are as under :

TINNING-PLANT The butter-tinning plant operated by the Division at Auckland, which was installed purely as a service for Pacific requirements, will also come under review. Meantime butter is being tinned only as required for the Commission. Dry Butterfat The dry-butterfat plant has now been removed from the premises at the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Co. to premises on top of the Internal Marketing Division building at Auckland, as indicated in last year's report. During the process of removal the butter stripped from quantities of patted butter was held over and processed when the plant was installed. Although there was some slight deterioration in the butterfat resulting from these operations, there was no trouble in disposing of the product. The whole of the outturn of butterfat for the year has again gone to Fiji, and no complaints have been received in regard to quality. The price of butterfat was not, however, brought up to conform to the new price of butter for this present season, but the position will be surveyed on the taking over by the Commission. In the meantime the Division is advised that the present prices conform to those available from Australia. The Australian dry butterfat has a larger outlet in Fiji than the New Zealand product, and the price for New Zealand butterfat is therefore ruled by prices at which this product is available in Australia. There is, however, no loss in butterfat at this figure, as the whole of the butter processed has been either from paper stripped from local sales quantities or deteriorated butter from broken boxes, &c, and returned quantities from the local market. The dry-fat plant in its new location is very efficiently installed and will be capable of handling in the future for sometime to come any quantities of butter which it may be desirable to process into dry fat. The plant should now come under the assets of the

6

— Creamery. Whey. Total. L946 lb. lb. lb. October 3,798,415 33,800 3,832,215 November 3,587,477 35,298* 3,622,775| December 4,534,015 36,787" 4,570,802 1947 January 3,753,817 40,244 3,794,061 February 3,605,895| 32,569| 3,638,465 March 3,948,947 36,578 3,985,525 April .. 3,899,285J 39,747| 3,939,033 May .. 3,782,640 37,023 3,819,663 June .. 3,917,217 24,677 3,941,894 July .. 3,906,721 15,368 3,922,089 August 3,826,714 19,555 3,846,269 September 3,975,430i 27,147 4,002,577!Total . 46,536,574! 378,7941 46,915,369