A Manaia resident claims to have discovered a. new and improved way of  making butter. He says that by his treatment butter may be kept for an indefinite period in state of perfect preservation without being . placed in a cooling or freezing; chambers ; in fact, he maintains that his butter will keep for two years even. in the warmest country. rey River Argus, Volume 57, Issue 10520, 10 January 1903, Page 4

Chew Chong

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Taranaki business man Chew Chong. Ref: 1/2-023954-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22742489

Chew Chong's Jubilee dairy factory, Eltham

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Chew Chong's Jubilee dairy factory, Eltham. Ref: 1/2-023955-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22762720  

1873. NEW ZEALAND. EXPORTATION OF FUNGUS TO CHINA,

1873. NEW ZEALAND.
EXPORTATION OF FUNGUS TO CHINA, (CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO).
Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.
No. 1. Mr. W. Seed to Mr. W. Townsend. (No. 58.) Sib, Customs Department, Wellington, 4th March, 1872. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th ultimo, giving a report on the trade of your port for the year 1871. In that report mention is made of a kind of fungus which forms a new and considerable item in the list of exports. I should be glad if you could furnish me with any additional particulars respecting this article; for instance, the price that is paid for it at Taranaki, the quantity exported, the port to which it is sent for shipment to China, and the uses it is intended for, if these are known. I have, &c, William Seed, W. Townsend, Esq., H.M. Customs, Secretary and Inspector. New Plymouth.
No. 2. Mr. W. Townsend to Mr. W. Seed. (No. 8.) Sib, Custom House, New Plymouth, 15th March, 1873. In answer to your letter No. 58, 4th March, 1872, in which you refer to my report on the trade of this port for the year 1871, and request further particulars of the new article of export called fungus," I have the honor to forward such information as I have been able to collect. The demand arose here with a Chinese dealer, Mr. Chow Cheng, who advertised for and first purchased the material the merchants and traders of the place, on inquiry of their correspondents in Sydney and other ports where Chinese merchants are established, finding that the article was in demand in any quantity in China, entered into the trade in competition with Mr. Chow Cheng, and bought of both settlers and Maoris. Further than this very little more is known of it by them as an article of commerce. The price paid for this material in Taranaki has been 2d. to 2^d. the pound, and the quantity exported to this time has been 145 bales, each containing 450 lbs., in all about 65,250 lbs. The port in China to which it is shipped is not known here; the bulk has been carried coastwise to Dunedin, thence to be shipped to China, probably direct, by the Chinese traders at that port. A portion has been exported to Sydney, where, it is said, it also goes into Chinese hands for shipment to their own country. The use to which it is put is not certainly known here, but it is said by the Chinese buyers to be for dyeing purposes. To recapitulate The price paid in Taranaki is about £20 the ton quantity exported, 145 bales, about 29 tons; the port to China shipped, not known here; uses to which it is put —said to be as a dye. Though the export is comparatively small at present, in tho opinion of those interested in the trade, there is a prospect of a considerable increase next season, and in the future. I have, &c, William Townsend, William Seed, Esq., Officer in Charge. Secretary and Inspector of Customs, Wellington.
H.—39.
2
No. 3. Mr. Chilman to Mr. W. Seed. (No. 45.) Sic, Custom House, New Plymouth, 3rd December, 1872. I have the honor to send you, by post, a sample of fungus, of which 146 bales, containingabout 4 cwt. each, have been shipped from this port during the last twelve months. It is collected principally by Natives, and the price given for it is from 2-_d. to 3d. per pound. I have, &c, Eichabd Chilman, The Secretary and Inspector, lI.M. Customs, Collector. Wellington.
Minute by Secretary of Customs. 26th March, 1873. The exportation of this article has attracted my attention for some time past. As much as seventy bales was exported from Wellington by one of the last, steamers. It is quite possible that.it may be of much greater value than what is now given for it, and that it may become an item of some importance in our exports. I think it would be desirable to obtain information regarding it from the Government in Hong Kong, and would suggest that the Hon. the Colonial Secretary be moved to write to the authorities there to find out its marketable value, and the uses to which it is applied. At present a few Chinamen have a monopoly of the article, and it may be that they are obtaining it at much less than its real value. Hon. Commissioner of Customs. "W. Seed.
No. 4. The Hon. W. Fox to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet, Hong Kong. (No. 38.) Colonial Secretary's Office, Sib,— Wellington, 28th March, 1873. There is a kind of fungus that grows on the trunks of trees in the forests of this country, which for some time past has been purchased in considerable quantities by one or two resident Chinamen for exportation to China. It is not known here what use is made of this article, and the few persons who buy it for exportation therefore have a monopoly of it. I forward a sample of it herewith, and I should feel much obliged to you if you could furnish me, for the information of the trading community here, with any particulars as to the uses to which it is applied, and as to its marketable value in China. The price paid for it here by the Chinamen who export it is from 2d. to 3d. per pound. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong. William Fox.
No. 5. The Hon. C. C. Smith to the Hon. W. Fox. (No. 351.) Colonial Secretary's Office, Sib, Hong Kong, 11th June, 1873. In reply to your letter No. 38, of 28th March, regarding the accompanying specimen of a kind of fungus on which you desire a report, I have the honor to inform you that this fungus is much prized by the Chinese community, as a medicine administered in the shape of a decoction to purify the blood. It is also used on Fast Days. A mixture of vermicelli, beancurd, and this fungus, is boiled and eaten instead of animal food. The sample which accompanied your letter is considered a very good one. The ordinary price of the article it from 17 to 20 taels per pecul wholesale, and 1 mace 5 candareens to 2 mace per catty, retail —that is to say, about 10_d. per pound. I may add that a superior kind of the same fungus is produced in the Chinese Provinces of Sze Chuen and Yun-Nan, which is sold at the rate of 30 dollars per pecul (133 lbs). I have, &c, Cecil Clementi Smith, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, New Zealand. Acting Colonial Secretary.
By Authority: Gboebb Didsbeet, Government Printer, Wellington. IPrice 3d.]  

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FATHER OF DAIRY FACTORIES."

FATHER OF DAIRY FACTORIES  MR. CHEW CHONG HONOURED. At the Town Hall, New Plymouth, on Saturday, Mr. Chew.Chong, who is often styled; the father of dairy factories  in Taranaki, was presented with an address as a recognition of the service rendered to the province by his enterprise in the early days. In. reply, Mr. Chong was reminiscent, as will be seen from a perusal of the .following abridgment from the, Taranaki. When 110 arrived in New Zealand, he said he knocked .about the South .Island for three years, then came toWellington, recognised the fungus, went, into the trade, and made, a good profit. out of it. Other Chinamen arid many .white people then engaged in the business; The Maoris used to bring in cart loads, every day; and one day. a taranaki Maori told him there was plenty of fungus there, so he went to Taranaki. One day, in the third week, he piad out £65 cash for. fungus, at the rate, of 5s per bag.,. Then numbers of .people went, in for fungus-buyiiig; including Messrs. Newman, Humphries, B. Cock, King, and Shuttleworth Brothers, and from thirty-five to forty bullock dray loads used to come in every day.- He then started stores at New Plymouth, lnglewood, and Eltham. He had purchase forty kegs of. butter, which he could not sell in New Zealand,so he sent those to. England. He lost money, as freight was so dear, and the butter only realised 4d. per lb. The butter was very bad, only fit for cart grease, so the agents informed him.. Mr. Hulke, of Bell Block, advised him to get a pair of separators, at £95 each. He did.so, and started a factory at Eltham in 1887, with  the registered brand "jubilee." The first butter he sent Home realised £95 each whereas farmers butter brought 70s. In 18S9 he sent .twenty boxes to the Exhibition at Dunedin. He never thought to secure the prize, as it took about a: week getting; there, but he got  first prize and second prize.The Crown Dairy Company also took. prizes;.'In fact,-six Prizes came, to Taranaki.; A coincidence was the fact that a Chinese flag. was flying over his butter, although at the time it; was not known to be his. The papers could not: understand it they had never dreamt that a Chinaman could beat an Englishman or an Irishman,-and be gat inquiries as to his methods from all over Neiv .Zealand.'The first year he gave 2d. per gallon for milk, and lost on it, as it was too expensive to manufacture, though butter sold locally, at. ls. 2d.and Is. 3d. Next year he had to give 3d per gallon,'butter was a .bad price, and he lost over £1000. While there were few cows he was asked to erect creameries. He. erected three, but when cows were plentiful tliey started co-operative .factories.  He had to give 1/4 d.per lb. extra for milk to secure trade; and:even then he could not get much. He lostl over £7ooo.-He stuck. at it for sixteen or seventeen years,but most thought he had been treated very shabbily. Why did not the co operative people buy him out,even if.they had;only paid half the cost of his plant. As a matter of fact, they said, "Look at Joll and the Crown Company,' they are l making fortunes." Well, he  lost his.:His ten separators were sold at the foundry for 2s. 6d.: per try cwt, because since.the establishment of dairy factories the price of land had grown like a mushroom. He was very pleased to accept this memento. Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1034, 25 January 1911, Page 10

An audience composed entirely of Chinese listened attentively on Friday afternoon, in the Wellington" Magistrate's Court, to a case in which Louis Kitt prosecuted Ow Gee on a charge of assault. Accused pleaded not guilty. It appeared (says the Post); that the trouble arose over some correspondence in the Melbourne Chinese Times. Accused's uncle had written to the paper in appreciative terms or the work being accomplished in New Zealand by the Chinese Association. Complainant had replied in language that was deemed insulting Jealously had already existed between Kitt and Gee, as members of rival factions Incensed at the "letter to the editor," accused made a special journey down from Levin, and met complainant in a fruit mart, where he struck him, bruising his eye It was also .alleged that accused still threatened complainant; regardless of the result of the prosecution. A lot of evidence was heard, at the conclusion of which Dr A. McArthur, S.M., decided that Ow. Gee must pay a fine as well as court costs (£4 14s),  Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 15, 20 January 1910, Page 3

Contributed by Chinese

Contributed by Chinese— Sing Kee, Young Sow & Co., £5 ss; "Wong She, Ye W»h. Young Lee, aud Wong Sow, £2 2s each ; Louis Kitt, Sing Lee, Wohg Wab, Yeo Kee, Wav Leo, Ah Poy, Hong Clioug, Hop Tai, Long Kee, Young Wall, Chnng Wall, Wong Koon, W. Yon Finn, Wing Kep, Yee Lee, Hong Kow, and Wong Pong Kong, £1 Is each Chow Foug, £1' ss ; Yon Quint*, Choug Lee, , F. Dye Chum, Wong Henng, Clioug Kee, Ah See, and Chan Cheok Yin, 10s 6d each ... 80 8 6 Evening Post, Volume LIX, Issue 38, 14 February 1900, Page 6