The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1310. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 723, 24 January 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1310. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

» The conference of those interested in the frozen; meat; trade convened, by. the, Canterbury Agricultural' and Pastoral Association, and to, be held in Ohriatchurch on Thursday and Fndayjof tliis .week; will.be attendedby the Minister for Agriculture, arid the,freezing companies 'are: likely to bo -nrell represented. Wo have, no indication as; yet of the: particular subjects to be: discussed, and wo c j o not think the promoters of the ,con- : fcrence desire • :to limit or restrict discussion. It is, however, well known that many people, .not closely associated with ■. : ' are under' the impression that shipments from New Zealand should be regulated. Thoso' .who are conversant, with- the business . both : : at this' end and- at the selling contrcs. are, firmly convinced that regulation is almost impossible. Now Zealand isonly one, factor in the business,;: although: - an important tactor, and- Argentina and Australia havp .to bo taken • into account. Tho laihb trado ; is; at'its best during: thoLondon season, 1 and,after, the end of- * tho demand begins, to fall rapidly, especially in regard to tho better-class trade. Tho best of our lambs must therefore':. be marketed before August, 1 and that means concentrating, not Regulating,/ supplies. Furthermore, at does not seem possible that shipments can be regulated for a market, practically .two months off.. If there ig to be any regulation in the trade it should' be in London, perhaps, by means of a_ committee to, fix priccs in conjunction, and. the members should ' be elected-io raprcsont the various in-terests-in New Zealand.

,Let. us examine tho position from the light of the . most -recent,statistics.. Messrs., A.' H. -Tuexbum, and Co., of Christchurch, supply:- the' complete returns of shipments, hot' only from New Zealand,. but. from Australia and Argontina also. '..The New Zealand figures in;, the'aggregate compare -as - under - with ithose for, tho. previous year

S, - 1909.- 1908. Mutton 1.635,617 .1,742,204 Lamb. .-.. 3,163,977 - 2,010,235 ™'; 310,834,:. ;■ ,190,388 Mutton and lamb are in. carcasses and beef in quarters; The increase last year. over tho. previous year was 03,443 carcasses mutton, 553,742 carcasses lamb, and. 114J446 quarters of beef. If we take tho monthly shipments'wo get a better idea of what has. been done, and the figures are as under-.

• Boef. • Mutton: Lanib.' Quar-. " .-,; V Carcasses. Carcasscs. tors.' January' ... 146,490.; ,288,631 , 18,786 February?, ... ,2G5,091 : y 337,206 29,736 March:; r -213,910' 114,040 y.: :24 345: April ....... 280,611 . 526,563 ' 20,531 May 260,085 677,494 :. .: 30,201 June, 107,668 302,721 29,029 ,156,436 ;: 243,608 47 646 August;: .63,117 1' '117,418 :;; 41028 beptember ...': 68,261-.- 76,316 22.272 October .-103,737 49,409 '• 4,048 -November.-:;;; 79,663 ;■ 44,242'13860 December .;... 90,178 86,429 29 199

::. ;;i : v- V: . :; 1,835,647: 3,163,377 310,834 The shipmente of mutton and lamb 1 in April and May were extremely heavy, otherwise tho monthly ship-' ments wore not more than normal. The. large shipments of lamb in the months named were inevitable, if there was any intention ot marketing, the meat; before.'the close of the London season. There could have been no material gain in holding back a • portion of those shipments. Regulation of . shipments is apparently. impracticably but there are many minor matters affecting the trado which could very well be discussed by the conference. New Zealand has yet to realise that she : is not. alone in the mes.t trado.. The competition of Australia and Argentina has been a factor in. helping.; to depress prices, and apparently' competition is to be keener in the near future. Canada is about to make a special effort! to enter the meat business, and the Canadians are very persistent when thoy handle a sound practicable business proposition. China, as is well known, is exporting pork,' game, and other meats, which indirectly como into competition with New Zealand mutton and. lamb. . Very, shortly . there will be another competitor in the market, for, acoording to advices received by mail last week, efforts are boing made to revive what was at one time, a very important nidus-, try in Venezuela, namely, that : of cattle rearing , and cattle products for exportation. , From a',pastoral point of view, .there is no country on, the South American Continent' better : adapted for cattle rearing than .Venezuela, while the excellent shipping facilities which, now exist' between Venezuelan ports and Great Britain provide a market almost unlimited in its scopo. New Zealand

is quite capable of coping with any such competition, but; 'it. may be that a lower basis of values will kayo to be accepted. In spite of the oxisting conditions, which are not regarded as satisfactory j the prices for fat sheep and lambs on the hoof have been advanced.