THE FREEZING SEASON

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 87, 5 January 1918, Page 11

THE FREEZING SEASON

1 PRICES AT ADDINGTON. Nominally tho 1918 freezing season opened at Addingtou to-day, says the .Christchurcli "Sun" of Thursday, but although exporters wero in attendance and' obviously taking a keon interest in tho sale, they secured few li',:es, and therefore tho all-important-question of tho rates which arc- to rulo as yot remains unsolvod. Tho reason for this abstinence was tho small amount of stock available, and the consequent keen demand of tho butchers, who thus brought prices up much above the expected freezing rates. Tho fat cattle section contained a fair entry,/but owing to the fact that the mutton supply was below local requirements, butchers bought more than tbeir usual share of beef. Exporters purchased a few head of cattle, but mostly of the cow b ( eef description, which was neglected by butchers. A few linos of lambs also were obtained by the" freezing com-

panies. In no" instance can tho values realised bo considered as a fair criterion of tho standard which will rule. A general impression at tho sale was that in'the case of sheep values paid by oxporters would be below those at which' last season opened. Exporters contend, in explanation of this, that they will seouro less this year for scoured wool and also for the skins. At tho same time, it oan ho said that this is largely a question of opinion. Certainly last season values soared above freezing rate's. This, however, was largely because tho companies operating wore securing, high prices as the result of retail salos on tha London marked, a fact which was stressed in the recent report of the Meat Trust Commission. Therefore, it is probable that values aro likely to bo more down to the bedrock of the Government standard for this season as tho London anomaly has boon largely removed. . It would not appear that exporters will combino and fix a standard. This will bo regulated and fixed by competition during the next few weeks. In the ease of lambs, for instance, they olaini that they will bo working largely in the dark,..is- the price of pelta has not yet been fixed. . They might easily lose, they say, 4s. to. 6s. per dozen on those when prices are'announced. _ They have been purchasing lambs prior to to-day, but mostly for private customers.

If tlio farmer is dissatisfied with the freezing rates which will rule at tho markets, lie has the remedy in his own hands. He oan send his sheep direct to the Imperial store and obtain •' tho Government price for the meat itself. At present the main objection to this is that ho. is possibly displaced in regard to the disposal of by-products, and that he does not obtain his money until the meat is cleared. As far as the' latter aspect is concerned, the, works at present have been cleared, and the chances are that the meat will be got away early. In any oase, he could always secure an outside advance on the meat held on his account in store. It may be that a'fair quantity of stock _ will thus he sent in direct to the Imperial stores.