THE MEAT TRADE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9652, 17 November 1909, Page 3

THE MEAT TRADE.

I AN INTERESTING UEFOKT. One of the most important sections of the annual report of the Department of Agriculture is that relating 1 to the investigation made i. to New Zealand meat on the London market by Mr C. J. Reakes, Director of the Live Stock and Meat Division. Mr Reakes' r.'pjrt should be seriously sUvJioJ by all concerned in the traJo. Speaking of New Zealand lamb he says:— "Th? deservedly high reputation enjoyed by New Zealand lamb in the British market is on the whole maintained, the best grades commanding a good price, and fmdingj'japparently a ready sale. It is unfortunate, however, that during the present season (1908) partly, no doubt, as a lvsu't of the exceptional drought a number of too-lean carcjs:s should have been exporter!jfrom a certain freezing works in the Dominion. When exposed in the market these presented H moat unattractive ap • pea ranee, and after defrostation the worst of them failed alt)geth?r' to 'set,' were bad in colour, wet, flabby, and altogether A certain portion were condemned by the market inspectors, who, under the conditions prevailing in London, were, I consider,*fully jus titled in their action. a matter frr regret that such poor quality caicasea should be sent Home to bri r g discredit on the export trade of the Dominion. Apart from those condemned, others which escaped this fate furnished an exceedingly bad advertisement for New Zealand lamb while hanging in the market. In view of the present definition of the terra 'disease' in the Slaughtering and Inspection Act, the insects in New Zealand can in no degree be held responsible or blameable for these condemnations—it is the exporters who are at fault; and until, as has already been, recommended, the Act is «o amended as to give an inspector power to prevent the exportation of such carcases, similar trouble is liable to occur at any time, in apite of the fact that our powers under the Slaughtering and . Inspection Act are taken advantage of the fullest possible extint. Occasionally carcases of muttoh al?o were condemned for the sane cause: these were so fat was to render the matter one of only slight importance. "With regard to mutton, it is lo be regretted that in point of quality New Zealand mutton exhibits a marked downward tendency, this being moat noticeable in that exported from the South Island. This detrrioratinn was commented on by the Medical Officer of Health for the city of London in his last annual report (a copy of which I foiwanhd u> | you from London). On the other ' hand, River Plate mutton is steadily improving, and, though the best New New Zealand is,still better than the best River Fhte, the margin is slow- ' ly but surely lessening. "In lines of good class mutton from the two countries I have noted instances where the difference in market value in favour of the New Zealand product has Ci?rt*i»ly not been warranted by the difference in quality. .The entry into the Riv<?r Plate export trade of Messrs Swift and Co., who have purchased and are <>w operating meat works in the - j tine, has had the effect of causing more attention to be paid th .-re tn the proper dressing and general preparation of mutton carcases for the market, sheep from these works coming forward in far better shape lhat heretofore, and it is only to be expected that other South American

exporters will endeavour to follow suit.

"Altogether it is obvious that if (he reputation now possessed by New Zealand mutton "is to be maintained or, better still, enhanced an improvement is necessary, and this is a matter m which the stockowner is primarily interested, and one calling for immediate attinti-m." In r.porting on the inferior meat referred to by. Mr Realus, toe veterinary representative of the New Zea land Government in London, Mr A. Crabb, M.R.C.V.S., says:—"While they could not perhaps be termed emaciated, they were so poor that, although they might have appeared all right immediately after slaughter, they did not stand the freezing, and, as a result, as they were partly thawed out they became clammy and had a very uninviting appearance. This points to the necessity, when deciding at the time ot slaughter what is or is noJHrSufficiently good quality, of taking rarco consideration the fact that freezing and subsequent thawing, have a deteriorating effect on thin carcases, although the same processes have none on a carcase of good average qua 1 i On this account'! should be given to the inspectors at the various export works in the direction of giving them authority to decide what is the lowest quality that shou'd hegallowedjto bef exported."