Mr Wilson on the Frozen Meat Trade.

Manawatu Herald, 4 June 1896, Page 3

Mr Wilson on the Frozen Meat Trade.

On Friday afternoon Mr J. G. Wilson, M.H.R., gave a short addrew to a meeting of farmers in the Drill Hall, Feilding, on the subject of the frozen meat trade. Mr W. A. L. Bailey, the Mayor, presided. After hearing Mr Wilson a committee was formed to meet gom•nitteet which might be formed in centres. From the Advocate we condense Mr Wilson's remarks. He urged that farmers should take advantage of combination to improve their position as did the people of other trades and professions. In regard to the difference of prices obtained for sheep on this coast and in Canterbury, Mr Wilson said he believed it was entirely owing to our system of sales. In Canterbury there were companies who confined their operations to freezing, and a class of men with clients at Home, confined their attention to buying. The buyers went to the principal sales and purchased the best sheep for their purpose, with the result that the v farmers made it their study to supply the class of sheep required by those dealers. It was a maxim that if they bred a better class of sheop for freezing they would sacrifice an equal value in wool. In the counties of Oroua,' Manawatu, and Rangitikei according to the sheep returns, there were 1,840,000 shaep. Taking the wool per head on these sheep to be worth 4s, would make ft total of £268,000. Then he would calculate that about one sixth of them, equal to 224,000 were used at freezers, which at 10s each would amount to £112,000. It appeared from these figures that it would not be profitable to saorifioe the wool growiag capacity of the sheep for the sale of mutton, but at the same time it was evident that some means should be adopted to get a higher price for their surplus sheep. He did not thiqjc the formation of a company to carry on the Longbum Freezing Works would have any permanent beneficial effect, nor did he think the farmers should put themselves in a position antagonistic to the existing companies. The farmers of the Oroua, Rangitikei and Oroua Counties might combine to send Home a representative to open, sa-y, six shops in some manufacturing town. Supposing etch shop would require 25 sheep a day for 800 days in the year, which would be 7,500 Bheep, or equal to about one third of the output of frozen mutton from the three ooun ties. They would not want a large eapital to start in this way if they made use of the existing freezing oompanies and facilities for shipping. I As near as he could learn the country butchers in England paid at

present 4£d per lb for the meat they received from London. Taking the opst at $d for freezing and Id for Storage in London, £d to pay the shop rents, etc., would moke a total of 3d par lb the mutton would cost to sell it. As there would be no slaughtering to do he thought an experienced butcher to cut the meat up, assisted by a boy, would ba sufficient labour for each shop, especially as thay would do a cash trade. He thought putting themselve in a position to trade in this way they had little to fear from competition, aa they could sell at a lower price than anyone else: The large meat rings would probably pay no heed to them. If a scheme was successful he saw no reason why the farmers should not put their dairy produce on the English market, grain and other produce in tho same way.