General Notes. 



665 



GENERAL NOTES. 



The Orizaba Butter Shipment. 



Since writing last mail the R.M.S. " Orizaba" with 15,678 boxes 

 of butter has arrived in dock. The chambers in which the butter 

 had been carried had apparently been kept at a very low temperature, 

 the butter at the time of discharge ranging between 10 and 20 

 degrees Fahr. The last few consignments have been delivered at a 

 much colder temperature than the shipments which arrived during 

 November and part of December, and there have been fewer com- 

 plaints lately respecting the " tishy " flavour in the butter. A few of 

 the brands are still affected, but the flavour is not so pronounced as 

 was the case in the earlier shipments. This would seem to bear out the 

 opinion expressed in my memorandum of the 18th December, that the 

 " fishy " flavour is more quickly developed when the butter is carried at 

 35 degrees temperature, than would be the case in butter ranging 

 between 15 degrees and 25 degrees or even lower. I take this oppor- 

 tunity of again pointing out that the New Zealand butter is being 

 carried below 10 degrees. 



It may be of interest to know that during December, 1903, 

 Australia was second on the list of countries exporting butter to this 

 country. 



— A. G. Berry. (R. Crowe). 



The American Apple Crop. 



There are as yet no reliable statistics as to the apple crop for 1903, 

 but it is reported that there has been a shortage of nearly 1,000,000 

 barrels as compared with 1902, when the amount was given as 

 4,214,800 barrels. The value of the crop last year was far greater 

 than in many previous years, and this condition was largely due to 

 the experiments which have been made by the Government to deter- 

 mine the best mode of culture, handling, and care in cold storage. 

 The consumption in this country has of late years greatly increased, 

 and the exports for 1903 were phenomenal, and prices were far higher 

 than in any previous year. Cold storage has been of the greatest 

 benefit to the small farmer, who can reap a valuable harvest by 

 raising poultry and apples, which do not require such a great extent 

 of land as is necessary for a profitable raising of cereals. — Ice and 

 Cold Storage. (R. Crowe). 



