NEW ZEALAND FROZEN MEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1641, 20 August 1887, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND FROZEN MEAT.

In our issue of the 9th instant we referred m our leading column to a cablegram appearing therein informing Us that Mr J. C. Brown, m addition to achieving the object of his visit to the Old Country, had also arranged for the formation of an English Company, with a capital of ;£ {00,000, to supply New Zealand mutton direct to the consumers, without the intervention of middlemen. We congratulated sheepfarmers on this important step, m the right direction, having beep taken, but we had no idea at the time of the extent to which they were being fleeced by these said middlemen. We knew that "threepence halfpenny to fourpence per pound" — the latest quotation of prices ruling m the London market for our frozen mutton — was absurdly low, leaving no return at all for the exported article, the consingnors having to content themselves with the skin and tallow. In overhauling our exchanges, however, we came upon a paragraph which throws a light — and that of a rao3t unsatisfactory nature— on the subject. In the "Auckland Evening Bell,'* of the jith inst., there appeared tije following ; — While New Zealand farmers have to complain that frozen meat is only fetching about 4d per 1b wholesale m England, the following prices are being paid there -.—Legs and loins of mutton lod per lb, shoulders 9d, necks Bd, and breasts 6d. Beef is retailed at iod per lb for sirloins and rounds, 6d for ribs, and yd for briskets. These are taken from an Isle of Wight butcher's circular, and the prices are underlined "for cash." It must be rery galling to those who have been shipping frozen meat, to arrive about that date, to know that while they have received no returns for their, meat, prices have ruled more than a hundred per cent, higher for an article not one whit better than theirs. Still it must prove a source of consolaiien to them to know that when the Company alluded to m the cablegram shall have commenced operations, they will have a large margin of profit to work upon, not only for themselves but also for sheepfarmers or exporters. It will be seen, of course, that the prices quoted are those rulling m the Isle of Wight, b.ut there cannot be much difference between those and the values m London, and, as we have already observed, the margin is sufficiently large to admit of good profits to the Company and to the shippers. The details of the scheme have not yet been made public, but we shall take the earliest opportunity m our power of placing them m the posses|U>o Qf our readers,