Victorian Dairy Exports. 



363 



exportable as flour through any other port of that zone. 

 Still the millers were dissatisfied, and after a delay of 

 six months the " Conseil Superieur de 1' Agriculture " 

 decided, on the 24th May last, to suppress the "zones" and 

 return to the system of 1861. Wheat imported under 

 "temporary admission" is classed under three "types," in 

 accordance with the estimated amount of bran it contains, 

 but the yield of flour is undoubtedly much in excess of 

 the amount allowed for, and a large bounty is thereby given 

 to the millers on the export of flour. 



{Foreign Office Report, No. 2007, Annual Series. Price id.'] 



Dairy Exports from Victoria. 



According to a report which the Victorian Department 

 of Agriculture has recently published relative to the dairy 

 export trade during the year 1896, it appears that two dry 

 winters in succession have prevented the Victorian output 

 of butter for the seasons 1895-96 and 1896-97 from reaching 

 anything like the value it would have attained had the 

 climatic conditions proved favourable, inasmuch as the dairy 

 herds are dependent almost exclusively on natural pasture, 

 and when this fodder fails the milk supply shrinks in pro- 

 portion. 



The decline in the exports to countries beyond Australasia 

 in the past two seasons is indicated by the following 

 figures : — 



Season. 



Butter Ex- 

 ported. 



Value. 



1894-95 - - 



1896-97 - - - - 



Tons. 

 11,584! 

 7,733 



£ 



1,081,243 

 721,746 

 736,913 



Drought is represented to be such an important factor in 

 the production of butter that, except for the absence of 

 fodder, it is estimated that the large number of factories and 

 creameries in Victoria could easily treble the output of 

 1896-97. The evil, however, cannot be remedied, because 



