FROZEN MUTTON.

Manawatu Herald, 5 February 1889, Page 2

FROZEN MUTTON.

We have just had handed to us a circular received from a Wellington firm acting as agents for Messrs Nelson Bros. (Limited), in which a direct offer is made to the sheepowner for his • stock at a pr?*ce at Wellington, frozen. The figures appear to be the same as wer<d supplied some time back to the Press, as a test of the likelihood of their being accepted, and are as follows :— For first class, 2£d per lb; second class, lfd per lb ; third class, ljd per lb;. all to be frozen and placed free on board, with 40 per cent when meat sells over 4 l-Bthd, and 80 per cent when it sells over 5d per lb, for the first class, and so in proportion' for the other two classes. The sheepowner has to agree to deliver the quantity he undertakes to do, for a period of three years, and any surplus over that quantity which he might be desirous of shipping, he has to agree to offer such surplus to the Messrs Nelson Bros., or to consign it to them for sale. The shipments have a so to be made in equal monthly lots, and the classification is to be left to the Messrs Nelson or their agents. The agreement as placed before the stockowner appears to us to be all in favour of the combined shipping companies, as they apparently are not on their part bound to do more than pay for the sheep they take. At first sight this might seem sufficient, but as these companies make it no part of their business to freeze the sheep, the sheepowner having undertaken to deliver, say five hundred sheep a month, and become bound to do so, might find the local freezing companies unable or unwilling to freeze for him, and thus the contractee would fail in his contract through no , fault of his own. In making this agreement it has been assumed that ( the cost of freezing will remain the same as is at present charged, but the contractors give no guarantee that that will be so for the next three years, and the fact that even now, without the inducements to freeze, which these propositions are supposed to hold out, it is actually stated in the circular issued that " the Wellington freezing companies are fully engaged up to the end of May," so that there is every likelihood the sheepowner would be bound to | ay a larger cost for freezing, to enable him to fulfil his engagements

with the combined shipping companies. The farmer has plenty to attend to. without having to spend the greater part of his evenings in corr.es- : pondence with the Messrs Nelson, the Freezing Company, and the Railway Company, on the three different heads of date for shipment, the date for freezing, and the date for carriage, and in the country we are well aware that without constant correspondence it is very difficu t to work stock to distances to exact times. We would therefore have thought that the farmers' best arrangement would-be to get these combined companies to have gone a step further, and so induce them to take the sheep off the owners hands on his property in a somewhat similar mannr that the two meat companies iv Wel'ing* ton do, and if a guarantee is desired let the farmer give it, as is asked W in this circular, but for sheep aliv^e,. the purchasers allowing the aame : percentage on larger sums realised over their present' minimum prioss. The work of collection would be done far cheaper for the Companies than it can be for each small holder, (for any holder must be small in re* lation to the combination) and there can be no m.Qre a question of trust then, than now, for the weighs of the mutton are always accepted from the present companies without personal inßpect,ipn. , We feel sure that the companies would secure much larger promises of support, if adopting this procedure* than they will under the one they, It is . undoubjtetlfy v"sr£ w important tijaitibe market at Home" should be secured, and every stockowner is bound to assist in a scheme by which such can be done, "but the scheme now under consideration is one which can .never be touched, by any but the very large nmhblders, for the small farmer would have too many things to attend to • :

We are obliged to Mr Richard one of thi partners in the Messrs. Walden Brothers hemp mill At Moatoa, for inform jng iia of tjje result of the sale ;bf' sixty hales of hwnpj.^hipped some' fonr months back, 'the first twenty, bales realised 'Ml 10* pet ton and the balance L3O per ton. This is the top price of any consignment from this district. The Messrs Walden bare done well, they have .not been at wdik quite fiye months,- and have sent away over 60 tons of fibre. At the first start they only. le»sed an engine,; but this they returned tin other day, and have now purchased one, which is in Wellington, and will' soon be up. In Messrs Thy nne.Linton & Co's yards there have been for. years some lengths of iron piping, and in them .the old- adage V i hat if yon keep a thing seven; years, it is bound to come in useful " has been fu]U filled, as the other day one of the hußt of hemp-millers knocking around saw them, knew he could fjuid a use for them, and paroha^ed them. We do not know which of the twp were the most pleased, the purchaser or seller. . •'••'"' '■■'"' We drew-attenHon hist wepk to a bush .fireaprjafreritly rsginfj wear Kerein- We have nrtw ascertained that irwas on' the Heatherlea block, whjoh is close to Kereru and waft set on five by Mr Davies. He re* ports that, though he fired early, to enable him to sow turnips on the land, he has hid a very satisfactory horn. We hear that Mr Gower wil also burn his bush on the same block next week, if it holds fine. The present interest in the Phormium Ten ax, always occasions a reference to eighteen or twenty years ago, when millers were reaping a similar harvest. Mr i Davies jnforms us that the highest price he obtained in those days, for the fibre in the London market, was £41 15*. We will not damp any one's spirits by mentioning the lowest. :'-... ■ . :. At the Fastoial show at .Palraerston, Mr J. KebHell of Ohau showed some of his purebred Rbiriudy rains, iv the wooL The one that 'ook » prize he Bhore at home, and obtained a fleece weighing sixteen and a half pounds from, him.: We have given the increase in the flocks in this neighbourhood, but we learn from Mr Eebbell (hat he had a most successful lamhinif. Ln his purebred flock he scoured 128 pcl 1 - cent, and in, his other flock, from 1100 ewes, he obtained 110 per cent, la his clip of 4000 sheep he averaged eight pounds fourteen ounoes per head. Road Board meetings are generally not the ones which a reporter has much interest in attending, but, as in other things, the exception proves the rule. The Wirokino Road Board is the excepton to the general run, for the meeting- is b.9ld at the residence of the Chairman, who has that fellow feeling with his fellow man thit before proceeding with the business of the day, he invites the members and 0 hers in attendance to aine with. him. His house is certainly rather distant from any other ncpjmodatioD, but it has not generally been held to be one of th • duties of the ofgM to take charge of the members in as HbjMpl a manner as Mr Dayii-a <lu>ss. It will ,be% difficult matter 'to oubt such a Chairman from office. Mr Wood, who ' has a hemp mill at Takapu, H>iwkes Biy, advertises for a manaueiv. The Ricing Club bold a genmiil me' ting on Thursday evening, next i>t 8 p.m- The husiaetss principally is the election of a Secretary. • ■ Mr Stewart is advertising for ' tedders for Sax outiing and carting to and-- from the mil. Specifications oan bo seen at 1 his office. ';. At the meeting of the Borough Connoil it seemed to have been the wish of the Councillors thtt Mr Cook shonld accept, the office of Mayor, but whilst t'nauking' them for theiv kind indentions, stared that as he was neuring eighty years of age, he fait he should be considered to hare lived too long to t ke such a position of work. Ie is rumoured that a requisition wiy.be (rot np asking Councillor Grower to allow himself to he nominated for the position. The Education authorities in Auckland appear to h»vo become Very much alive to their responsibilities. The City School Committee there have been making a raid against parents not sending their children to school, and have succeeded as a result of vigorous efforts in getting a .widow committed to>~gaol for seven days wih hard labor. There's nothng like 'zeal in any* thing, and no doubt the widow* children will be amongst the scholastic luhta of the future as • result of the committee's action. — Ertttiag Press.

In another column Mr MoLennan advertiaeß that he has a site for a hemp mill to let. Contrabtera are advised to read the advertisement calling for tenders for oleaning 5£ miles of drain on the Oroua Downs Estate. The Wanganui Herald says :— Mr J. R. Rufcsell gives notice thaVhe has leased the' Manawato Herald newspaper to Mr Ernest S. Thynne. We part from Mr Russell as a newspaper proprietor with much regret. Although in a limited sphere, he always aoted on. high -principle, - and bon/iuoted his journal with independence md spirit. Mr Russell is a man of liberal tendencies, and never pandered to sny man or class, and his connection with the Press is 'not,, we hope, . finally severed* tie will carry with, him wherever he goes the' best wishes of a host of politial and personal friends. ' " . The stock returns for the last year for New South Wales show a wonderful decjre'jwe ovei* 1887. The decrease in sheep' is fully 9.000,000 and 200,000 head of o«ttl«. The drought is the principal cause of the falling off, . All dealings between black and white should apparently be conducted tn black and white, aa witness the fate of Messrs Atkir.s and Staples as detailed in the N. .Z. Times, of the Ist ins!. Judgment was given by Mr Bobinson, RiM , yesterday in a civil case Atkins and Staples v. Ransfield. whwh was adjourned from Otuki. The case was h*ard on the 17tb October. Tire plaintiffs* case was that in 1886, tbey purchased from the defendaufteatjouH 16 and 17* Pukehouj that at'the time of the purchase, and; in consideration of its being completed, it /was agned between the parties that tbe defendant shoujd pay one half the cost of surveying, tbe land ; «n,d that tb.e land bad been iurv&yed, and the plaintiffs Bad paid £28 <5s for sqch survey. Tbe plaintiflfu now sought to rerovqr one balf the co«t of tbe fiurvey-£l3 Bs. The plaintifEs also said that* they had origi. nally oftered £2 IDs per acre ' for the land, and. bad given £& on sondition that defendant should pay one: half the cost af survey. The defendan(: denied the agreement as to h\n .pajiujj tbi«, and there whs nothing in wri'iqg to show that such an agreement had been arrived at. His Worobip held that such an a^reemout should have been in w iting. He. gave judgment for defendant with costs. . Mr Kirk was for the plaintiffs' and Mr Jellicoe for tbe defendant. >P«>p08al8 for the sale of 26,842 acres nf Jand under the Land Act of 1887 wore submitted by the Commissioner of £«nds at Friday's meeting of the Land Board" a. follows :—Walroa Blocks, 1140 acres; Maungakaretu, 6.800 acres-;. OtHmakapui,l2.sOo acres ; Horowbenua, _ 8,700 acres ; Mangaone, 1702 acre?The f roposals were approved by IBfl Boarfl. The sale will probably be nela in March next.— tf.Z. Times. " '•