The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4174, 6 December 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1884.

TnE approaching visit of the steamer Coptic to this harbor keeps alive public interest in the frozen meat trade. That vessel is to take away some nine thousand carcasses from here, and it is to'be hoped that she will receive as quick despatch, and bo as successful with her cargo as on her last voyage. As Messrs Nelson Bros, pointed out in their recent circular, the great obstacle to the complete establishment of the trade in England is the want of a regular supply of the frozen meat. In London, wo learn from the Lyttelton Times, there is room for ten retail shops in each postal district, or seventy in all. But were regularity of supply guaranteed, there would not, the trado think, bo any diffhulty in extending tho present number of shops to 50, doing a business of 100 sheep apiece per week, or an annual business in the aggregate of 260,000 carcasses. This could bo done by a system of special arrangements with butchers throughout the metropolis for regularly supplying meat from the stores and thawing rooms of the Company ; giving meat in its frozen state only to those who may have had the enterprise to put up thawing rooms for themselves. By connecting the largo manufacturing centres with tho system, the steady demand could of course be enormously increased. It is thought that to fix a price would greatly stimulate the. trade. It'has been ascertained from reliable sources that the average price paid by the butchers for English carcaso mutton throughout the year ending June, 1884, was 8d to 9d, for tho finer qualities, and for the coarser and heavier sorts one penny less, or an average of If the bold course wore adopted of fixing the prlco for New Zealand mutton between 6d and 7d per lb, the quality, under tho improved conditions, being at least equal to the English, its sale would be assured. .This would give a great impetus to the sale of our best merino and half-bred stock. Whether the price be fixed or not, one great merit of the system would be the avoidance of the charges, tho ; competition of frozen New Zealand against frozen New Zealand, which characterise the Smithfield and Leadenhall markets, where those hostile vested interests have their stronghold. If a Company comes forward to offer these advantages —central convenient storage, properly regulated thawing before delivery, and sale upon a system guaranteeing regularity of supply and fixity of price—that Company will deserve the general support of the stockowners of New Zealand. In this way, and in this way alone, will the colony realise that union is strength.