The South African Butter Trade. 143 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN BUTTER TRADE. 



/?// ./. Kirk Hunter. 



(Continued from pa^e 30.) 



The Utility of the Government Brand. 



()ne feature that has materially assii^ted to popularise Victorian 

 l)utter in the South African market has been the knowledge that all 

 exports were ins]:)ected by the Government experts prior to shipment. 

 The understanding of this approval for export takes a wider scope 

 than is actually the case, because it is believed that quality as well as 

 condition is included, and importers are somewhat puzzled to know 

 why different brands of varying quality all bear the same Government 

 stam}) of aj)proval. An explanation that the certificate only applies to 

 soundness greatly discounts its value. In my opinion the Government 

 ins])ection that is given should not only serve as a guarantee of soimd- 

 ness, and so encourage the importer in South Africa to trade with us, 

 but it should be of such a nature, as to foster the exportation of the 

 higher grades. These objects can be gained only by affording the pro- 

 tection of a well-defined Government brand and certificate of ajiproval 

 that will cover quality as well as soundness. 



As matters stand at present, the same brand "^approved for ex- 

 port " instead of being a help and encouragement to the exportation 

 of the best qualities, which alone can permanently secure the trade of 

 this country, in reality has the opposite tendency, because the lowest 

 quality exported, provided it is sound at date of shipment, commands 

 the same certificate and stamp of approval as the best. 



I consider, therefore, that immediate ste})s should be taken to 

 establish nniformity of quality and descrijition of the various grades 

 of butter, either by name, class, letter or number, and that all Govern- 

 ment inspection should cover both soundness and quality, and the 

 certificate issued, and the boxes shipped, be stamped with the distin- 

 guishing l)rand of the grade to which they j)roperly Ijelong. 



Such measures could not fail to act beneficially on the trade from 

 both the shippers' and the importers' points of view. To the latter it 

 would convey a more clearly defined idea of the quality he was pur- 

 chasing, and reduce the oppoi'tunity for complaint on the ground that 

 he ex])ected grade 1 when he had only contracted for grade 2. 



A Federal Brand- 



In the interests of the future of the trade J consider this question 

 of grading of the highest importance, not only for Victoria but the 

 whole of Australia, and I respectfully suggest that the matter be 

 bvono:ht under the notice of the Federal G()vernment so that uniform 



