356 Australian Agricultural Conference. 



yearly space would be required, an agreement might be 

 secured with a shipping company for a term of, say, five 

 years, to carry all Australian produce at greatly reduced rates. 

 It was shown that a reduction in freight of 25 per cent, in 

 shipments of frozen produce would, on the basis of the actual 

 exports of meat, butter, fruit, &c, mean a saving to Australia 

 of over £100,000 per annum, exclusive of the New Zealand 

 traffic. This saving would, it was stated, be soon increased, 

 as the trade is capable of rapid expansion. 



It was further urged that combined arrangements for 

 ocean freights for produce would ensure regularity in supply, 

 and thus prevent the gluts in the market which now 

 seriously operated against the success of the trade. 



The question of Government supervision over the produce 

 exported from the Colonies was also exhaustively discussed. 

 It was pointed out that Canada had practically the command 

 of English markets, as far as colonial cheese is concerned, 

 owing to the strict supervision enforced over the quality ol 

 her exports. The representative of Victoria, in urging the 

 introduction of compulsory branding, pointed out that great 

 damage was at present done to the Victorian trade by 

 unbranded butter, packed in boxes similar to those used 

 by the Government, and sent in the same boats as the 

 finest Government branded butter. This inferior quality, 

 realising a low price, brought discredit upon that shipped 

 with the Government brand. In the case of exported fruit, 

 the injury which the trade was likely to suffer was exemplified 

 by the fact that 533 cases which the Government expert 

 refused to pass were shipped to England, and arrived there 

 in such a faulty condition as to seriously injure the reputation 

 of Australian fruit. In the course of discussion it was held to 

 be essential to the preservation of the trade that no produce 

 should be shipped without first undergoing inspection at the 

 hands of the Government experts and receiving a recognised 

 brand. 



The Conference, therefore, resolved that a system of inspec- 

 tion and marking of meat should be insisted upon by all the 

 colonies as a guarantee to consumers that it is sound and 

 free from disease ; and that the inspection and branding - or 



