Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1895. THE MEAT MARKET

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4940, 1 February 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1895. THE MEAT MARKET

For more than ton years, this Colony Ims been an exporter of frozen meat, and during that time the Undo has made rapid progress, and that in the fuee of falling prices. The other Colonies ami other Conntries have taken up the business, and the quantity of frozen meat dumped on the London market yearly, must bo enormous. The United Kingdom is dependent almost entirely to outsiders, for her supply of meat, and frozen beef and mutton is being more generally used, This is apparent in I lie fluctuation in price, any sudden stoppage of supplies causing an immediate upward movement. Another factor tending to nut a keen edge on the appetite of the Britisher for frozen meat is, that the ho,"?ic supply is gradually failing. According to official figures, the number of sheen in the United Kingdom, in 1894, was 1,737,000 less than in 1893, whilst for the same period, cattle show a falling off of 426,758, as compared with the previous year. The permanent character of the frozen incatrtrade is acknowledged, and during recent years there has been a vast expenditure of money in providing cool chamber storage, not only in London, but the provinces also. Storage accommodation in and around London and the capacity of same is as follows: -

Victoria Dock Company 300,000 Smithlleld Control Market ... 70,000 Nelson Bros. Don-gate Hill and Lambeth 250,000 ,Tas. Nelson & Sons, Smilhfield 20,000; The Central Market Store, Smithficld 75.000 1 Eastman & Co., Charter House street 20,000 Cold Storage Co,, Blackfriars... 60,000 Lindc Company, Shadwcll ... 50,000 Sansiencna & Co., Ltd, Smithlicld 50,000 LeadenhallMarkct 10,000 West India Docks 15,000 920,000 The storage- provided in the provinces is as follows : Manchester Corporation 120,000 Cardiff Pure Ice and Cold Stor- j ago Company ... , 60,000 j Leeds Ice mm liefrigcrating Co. 5.000 Northern Counties Cold Storage j ago Co., Newcastle 15,000 Eastman's Cold Storage Co., I Glasgow 20,000' Jas. Nelson & Sons, Liverpool 200,000 j Liverpool Cold Storage Co. ... 100.000! Bristol Cold StoragcCo 10,000! -las. Nelson & Sons, Bristol ... IQ.OOO, Lindc Cold Storage, Binning- | ham ... 10,000: 650,000 Cool stores have also been orected in Ireland, while the more enterprising pf ijw fewfoftwtamw lm e*|

ploited the continental markets with a certain amount of success, There is,however,nfrugalityabouttheraeafc consumer on tho Continent which prevents them touching frozen beef when thepriceexceeds, say 2jdto2Jd. This will always prevent anything like a disastrous fallin values. While any shortage in supplies will from the circumstances noted cause a sharp rise. The indications are that our frozen meat industry will continue to thrive, but the level of prices will fluctuate considerably as lms been the case during the last three or four months, the rise from the lowest level touched during that period being fully ono penny per lb equal to a difference of 6s on a carcase of mutton of 721bs, a margin wide enough to convert a loss into a pronounced profit. If we take the mean between tho extreme prices say 4d per lb for first quality, and •I}d for second quality, and market our produco to return a profit at these figures! we should scarcely feel the effects of a decline while an upward movement would result in a huge profit, IV our farmers to work at this lower level it is necessary that land values should adjust themselves, and this transformation is now in process. Land values arc undergoing a ehnnge.the fancy price and speculative value giving way to the productive value, which, after all, is the safest for tho community, and the sooncrthe bedrock is readied the better.