The Daily News TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1905. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7750, 28 February 1905, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1905. THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

——♦ \Vc have received from the Colonial I Consignment and Distributing Com- I pany its Keport on the Frozen Mont I Trade in 1904, which embodies in j concise form a. mass of information ' of the greatest interest to the producers of this eolouy. The leading i and HKJst marked feature of the trade during the past year was the I falling ofT of importations from this polony and Australia. The flucluajtions in prices were smaller than in previous years, and though, chiefly on account of trade depression throughout Great Britain, there was ■ also a falling off in actual demand, the shrinkugu in supplies kept prices at a profitable level. It is noted that there was no new source of meat supply opened up during the year, though there was an increase in the importation of live sheep from the I'nited States, ulso larger shi]>inents of live cattle were received t from the same source. Dealing with a few experimental consignments of beef from Kussia and mutton from the Balkan Peninsula, the Keport says : " None of these seem likely to , provide any material or permanent addition to the sources of supply, and competition from these quarters 1 can bo ignored until a much larger volume is attained." Of New Zealand mutton it is remarked that, while prices were at times dull, "the actual average prices realised during : the year show a substantial advance on the average for 19o:t." In this connection it is to bo noted that the kind of carcase in most regular demand on the British market is still sof the lighter class. " Throughout, 1 the year/' to follow the Keport, the enquiry has given preference to , the neater carcases of about Mills, and it has generally been possible to obtain a premium, for this des- . criptioir. During the summer months especially the heavy sheep proved slow of sale." In the repetition of [ these remarks, which recur by year in all reports dealing with British demands, our sheep-growers ought to find some incitement to breed to a ty[>e which would meet this special demand. Many doubtless do so, and reap the reward of their foresight, but there is still too much that is haphazard in our breeding of sheep for export. In all quotations it is customary to find that " Prime Canterbury " tops the market. So much is there in a name. All concerned in sheep and mutton dealing know that " Prime Canterbury," as a territorial distinction, is a piece of prime nonsense. A few years ago Otago shippers tried to play down [ to English prejudices by appropriate ing the term of their productions of a certain class. Their contention was truly enough that " Prime Canterbury " meant merely light to medium carcases, well choseu and grad- ' ed, which was absolutely in accordance with facts. But the Cantorbury companies got an injunction, which gives them the exclusive monopoly of tho term. For this reason " Prime Canterbury " means only that sheep gathered from Picton to the Bluff are killed in Canterbury, and ticketed with a special label,' for which the English buyer is pre- ' pared to pay from >d to Jd more I per lb. In this connection the He- ' port is instructive. It says: " The premium given for Canterbury mutton has not been due to any conspi- I cuous superiority over other descriptions, and sheep fully equal in qual- i ity to prime Canterbury* can genei- . ally be found under Duncdin and North Island brands, and the margin ■■ botween the values of the best car-' cases of each class is likely to be less in future, unless there is a reversion to the old type of Canterbury sheep which found so much favour on this market." The total fulling off in the importations of New Zealand mutton and lamb from the figures of 19011 was 4;i:i,otf<i and 217,348 carcases respectively. There is no doubt that this decrease was due to the greatly enhanced prices of 1892 and 189 a which caused a d (! - pletion of our flocks, from which they have not .yet recovered, but of which in" another year or two there will be only the record left. It was beyond human nature to expect the sljeep raiser, any more than any other trader, to resist immediate high profits, and hold on to sufficient ewes to keep up Ids normal numbers. It is an accident that, by doing so, he would have reaped a fortune. He did not know that, and went for a sure thing when he ' saw it. In its summing up. the llcpoit to which we have been referring shows that there is a steady continuous decrease In British sheep ! amounting to oyer 2,000.000 in five years, and that Argentina seems to t<-nd more and more towards beef though, in view of its many new meat works, its mutton export may also increase. Australian shipments may be expected to increase, but the probabilities for New Zealand are in the direction of a falling off for next y.->r 1,-fore it recovers from its depleie.l llocks. ••■ The prospects for the trade in lambs gave little cause for anxiety and remunerative prices . may be depended <„,." For these '. reasons New Zealand sheep raisers may witn confidence look forward to ' many profitable yisars for the indus- ! try which has done so much for the colony and there is little cause to , fear foreign competition. ,