938 AgricHlturcd Gazette of N.S.IF. [Xor. 2, 1908. 



MarketforNewSouthWales Honey ill Great Britain. 



As tlie result of iiii|nii'ics lliat lie had rccrMvcd tVum time t<> time, the 

 Agent-General asked — in Septenilier, II)(l7 that he might be su|ijiiieil witli a 

 few saniph^.s of New >South Wales honey, with a view to testing the liondon 

 market. The Intelligence Department accord i ugly cuimnunicated witli the 

 leading apiai'ists, with the result that H\e ditlereiit saiiijihs of New South 

 Wales honey were forwarded to the Agent-( ieiieial, \\ Im has now suhmitted 

 reports to the Pi'emiei-. '^I'he following extracts are puljlislu'd foi' ^enei-al 

 information : — 



liOth .June. I'.IOS. 

 I have the honor to inform you that I am giving special attention to the question of 

 finding a remunerative market tor New South Wales honey, samples of whieli readied 

 me last week. I submitted samples to several of tiie leachng buyers in (Jreat liiitaiu, 

 amongst whom were Messrs. Upton, Lyons. Sainslnuy, and Crosse ami Blackwell. I 

 am pleased to l;e able to say that all \\\\o have tested the lioney speak veiy highly fif its 

 (juality. They rank it as quite equal to the Soutii Austrab'an honey, and some nf the 

 samples sent as superior thereto. I have not yet taken steps to test prices, as under 

 the conditions under which the South Australian trade is conducted I am afraid the 

 price obtained for that honey will dominate tlie market for all Australian honey. Tiie 

 j)Osition taken up Ijy South Australia may be gathered l)y a speech made to the Bee- 

 keepers" Conference yesterday by Majdr Norton, commei'cial agent for that State. 

 Sjieaking of the honey exported by his State, lie said : "They did not wish to c()mpete 

 with home production, but to popularise the commodity as a food. The more they 

 could create a demand, the l)etter it would be for the English bee-keeper."' 



South Australian lioney is sold wholesale here at such price that 1 lb. can Ijc purchased 

 in a glass jar with screw top, retail for 6d., and I presume, therefore, tiiat this honey is 

 sold to wholesale firms at not more than 2^1. per lb. In the circumstances, I do 

 not think it would be possible to put New South Wales honey commercially on this 

 market. So long as South Australia is engaged in the work of popularising honey, I 

 think it would be wise if we refrained from exporting, unless, indeed, we can come to 

 an agreement witli the Soutli Australian (iuvernnient or exporters to cliarge a more 

 remunerative price for the commoditj'. South Australian lioney is certainly as good as 

 the Imlk of the honey retailed in London — in fact, 1 siiould say it is superior to any but 

 the best British. Nevertheless, South Australian honey is retailed (>d. per lb., while 

 Jamaica honey fetches 9d., New Zealand ]()d., and Britisli honeys from l(!)d. to Is. per lb. 

 I do not, liowever, think tiie outlook for AustraHa is at all bail. Honey is not largely 

 consumed in England ; first, because when it is good it is dear, and when it is cheap it is 

 much adultetated, Tlie taste for pure honey is certainly growing, and if the Australian 

 growers would combine to fix a remunerative price, and one not too high for the general 

 consumer in London, I think good business might be looked forward to. 



During the course of next week, I shnll take an op])oitunity of confeiriiig with the 

 Soutli Australian and (j»ueensland authorities here, in ordei- to ascertain their views as to 

 price, and let you know the result as soon as I am al)Ie to do so. 



Sir, 8rd July, 1908. 



\\'ith reference to my letter of the 'lQt\\ .June, regarding the samples of honey 

 forwarded to me by tiie Intelligence Department U)v the purpose of inquiring if trade 

 could be done, I have tiie honor to inform you that I have made exhaustive investiga- 

 tion and find tliat although the honey is well thought of by the trade, the higliest definite 

 offers for it are 2os. per cwt., c.i.f. London, for No. 1 sample, and 2-3s. per cwt. for No. 4, 

 untler the same conditions, for 5 tons and 3 tons respecti\ely. These offers were made 

 by Messrs. Batger & Companj-, and Liptons, Ltd., respectively. 



As pointed out in my previous letter, these low prices are largely the result of 6d. per lb. 

 having been establislied as a retail maximum price for choice South Australian honey. 



