COLONIAL BEEF AT HOME.

Manawatu Herald, 15 October 1889, Page 3

COLONIAL BEEF AT HOME.

* The Hawera Star has published extracts from a letter sent by Mr , Godsal of Manaia, who is on a visit , to London, to a friend. He writes : — Mr DaDiels w«nt with me to the Central Meat Market. Smithfield, and introduced me to Messrs Fitkon and Son, -who sell for the Loan Company. Mr Fitton had a fore and hind quarter of my beef exposed for sale, as arranged by Mr Daniels, so that I might see it. It looked excellent in every way. and of the finest quality. Mr Fitton remarked : < That* the sort of beet to send, not too large but well fattened and well bred, too.' ' How do you know it is well bred?' I asked. 'Look how low down the legs the meat comes. ' he replied. 'Now this is not so good, ' and he took hold of a quarter of a much older bullock sent by a shipper whom you know very we 1 — • it is larger and coarser, and therefore not so desirable as yours.' 1 heard subsequently that this fore quarter of mine sold for 2s 4d per stone of 81b, or 3£d per Ib, and the hind quarters 8s 2d per stone, or 4s d per lb, the hind weighing 1771 b, and And the forel99lb. Asked M* Fitton | how it is that our meat doea not realise prices more nearly approachthe price of English meat. 'Well,' he said ' the butchers don't like it ; the frost bursts the fibres of the meat, and when it is thawed the blood and jnioe run out discolouring the mest and fat, and mftVing a mess of the shop Your beef looks splendid now, but after teing exposed in this temperature for a couple of days it will look very different. This applies especially to the beef: the mutton is not so much affected, and keeps in colour better, and there is not so much drip from it. Also the market of your beef is governed by the supplies of your Amerioan berf. If that is plentiful your prices will always be low ; the butchers prefer the American as it has not been frozen, merely chilled. I h»ve mentioned some objection* to our beef from We bufchar*'- point pi yiew^^fltatedb^cl^ Wtov* I

hftVft fiiiioo been able to take the fionsuniei's' view of it. I Had some 3p d o^it.seiit do\ril lioi ; e, a p'BnWti of H being c^RBS ior my host.? and lie said lie had never scan finer beef in his life. He said, It nakes me quite melauoholy to tliinlc that you can place such splendid beef liere at such a low price; what is to bocome of us farmers ? He is him'elf a producer of the very finest beef, his yearly sale somo years ago, NVhen I ;was here* averaging £2A pel' bullock. I must add that I myself nn-er tested fthbr beef. It #is ail bosn to say — as some wise people in New Zealand say — that our New Zealand beef is n< ,t tho flavor of the English. The beef was taken out of the stoles in London on Monday, came down 200. miles to thta place, was cooled on Thursday, and some as late as Friday, and was thdn perfectly fresh, though this is mid»mnmer, of course I gave some to t\Vo or three old friends of mine, working men in this farm. Thoy were delighted with tho meat, and one of them told me that after eating the meat he had made an excellent soup from the bone; this was six days after i, had left the stores. '[should have sont you by this mail full accounts of the sale of my cattle, showing the amount of every charge since they left my paddock, but I only received the accounts to • day, and there appo'u-s to bo some error in the weights, or the cattle grew heavier on th- ir way H me, and I must refer to tho Loan Companyi and tho mail goon to-night. 1 will only now say that, aftercharging every item and the price of the eighteen bullocks nfc £-1 per head — which you know is more than. 1. gave for those which 1 bought a foi*tnight boforo shipping— l liavo a net profit in hand of £29 7s 4d: or if .[ only charge the paddoc k cost of seventeen bullocks — ono having Hiod in tho truck going to Wellington — seven to an netted just a trifle under <£2 per head. I wi-h I had shipped 100.