THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE. The Europa's Oargo.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1537, 11 May 1882, Page 4

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE. The Europa's Oargo.

>Tnd correspondent of the Aihtrahman writing from London in the end of January, says :— ' > > 5 . I navel little td add by this mail to that sent you by the last, except) to Bay that the sale of the meat has continued most satisfactorily^, and that the whole shipment of 8000 odd carcases have been disposed of 'at an average, I believe, exceeding f>yd per Ib. As the clearance" of the ship proceeded thd carcases certainly improved in appearance, and the latter portion thawed much drier than those at first offered. On last Saturday, for instance, the meat look splendid, and the demand was very brisk, so much so, and although 600'carc.ases had been sent up to the salesmen, more had to be telegraphed from the ship, and at the close of the day the salesmen had actually disposed of 1,011 carcases from their stall. I believe I am correct in stating that .this is the largest' sale eVer completed on commission in one day. Early in the day s£d was taken, but / Messrs Ward and Stimpson, finding the demand increasing, raised the price to 6d, and at this latter quotation the majority of the transactions were effected. The lambs sent, over some 800, were not made a special feature. Doubtless in Australia it was hoped that they would be, more especially as they arrived at a time of the year at which 'there is no lamb procurable in England. (Lamb in London between Christmas and the middle of February sells readily at a guinea a quarter. ' It is known as house lamb, because the few ewes for their progeny are kept at the season in bams, where they are carefully hand-fed until the latter are fit for market.) The fact that the salesmen did not find a ready sale for the lambs, and so had to mix them with the sheep, proved conclusively to my mind that the majority of the butchers who purchase will not admit to the public that they are selling Australian meat, and this I have always asserted. To show a few carcases of lamb in a shop would subject the butcher to many questions which he could hardly answer satisfactorily without admitting the truth, viz., that the carcases had come in a frozen state from Austialia. To be enabled to supply his customers with lamb at Clnistmas would, one would have thought, have been an opportunity which the butcher would have eagerly seized, and the fact that he did not do so, but lather prefer) ed the mutton at the same price, can only be accounted for in the way I have surmised. At the retail shops which were advertised as selling Australian meat the demand was fairly biisk, and at least increasing. Prices were set pretty low to induce purchases, and the joints were, for the most part, disposed of at prices which would enable the caLca&c to leiilise 7.U1 per lb. Altogether, considering its maguitude, the meat per Knropa just cleared out must !jc considered the modt succes&ful yet placed on the maikut. The butter lias averaged about 10|d pel lb, a fauly good price. It is considered a little st de, however, and not of tlic \ery bust qiuility. Some caii\i&i!d have Iven cent to Manchester, Edinbiugh, Bristol, &c, and thote have sold at about the same prices ab tliObj in the London market. In consequence of frequent applications, Messrs Leishmau, Inglis and Co, advertised the names of four suburban butchers where Australian meat could be purchased retail. At each of these shops a fair and increasing daily trade has been done. The prices at these establishments have been from 6|d to 9d, according to the joint. The idea of Messrs Leishman, Inglis, and Co. to advertise these retail shops was a good one, and that it is bearing good fruit is manifest, for whereas one of them could only get rid of 10 carcases a day when the shipment was first offered, now at the same establishment 20 carcases are being daily disposed of with ease.

The Shipment per Orient. By telegram we hear of the sale of the Orient meat and buttw. The best portions of the shipment of frozen meat brought from Melbourne and Sydney realised from 5d to 6d per lb, but the Argus correspondent states that a large number of the carcases shipped by the Orange Slaughtering Company of New South Wales have been condemned. " These had either become crushed through bad packing, or had partially thawed during transit from the comfiany's freezing works to the ship." Our fiends at Orange must bo appealed to to furnish an explanation, and to assess the London charge at its proper value. The butter despatched from Melbourne and Sydney was selling at over Is per lb. A large quantity of it lias been found to be watery, a complaint that may be greatly made against a great deal of the colonial article.

"In these winter days," says a kindhearted old scientist, "it is to be hoped that the poor little chick, before it is hatched, wears an ova-coat." SciiooLMihTitKSS (just beginning a nice improving lesson upon minerals to the juniors) — "Now, what are the principal tilings wo got out of the earth ?" Youthful angler, aged four (confidently) — "Worms. 1 ' A Boy defined salt as " the stuff that makes potatoes taste bad when you don't put it on." He was twin brother of the boy who said that pins had saved a great number oi lives by not being swallowed. Put your stock in good condition to stand the winter by giving a little fodder of some kind early in the morning. A slight breakfast of sqmc other food will be greatly lclishccl while the air is cold and the grass frozen. Colts, calves and lambs need particular attention at this season. , Sotol. — Sotol is a pure alcoholic drink, which is to the Mexican what whisky is to a Scotchman or an Irishman. It»is limpid and colorless, with a particular penetrating odor and a taste which, though a little bitter, has been compared to the smoky flavor of Scotch whisky. It would seem to have little deleterious effect on the human system. The plant which .yields it is a lUy, known as. JDasyUrion iexaduni. It is»a perennial in its growth,' having>long' green owned leaves, with a' stout flower stem some 10 feet to 12 feet high, which is produced ev ( ery three or four years. Its home is Western Texas, South-Eastern New MexicbJ and : Northern Chihuahua. ,It" sometimes covers square miles of arid, stony slope's, ; growing best at - ani elevation of some 500 or 600 feet.' The base-iof its stems andyoung stems are. full of a sweet, refreshing, and nourishing saccharine matter,which is both food and drink. The thick parts of ,the leaves are .eaten! ;baked or boiled, i and the s\freet taste of the inner, portions make these leaves, much sought after for< f ood.^ It'is from these, after a process of boiling and fermenting, that the alcoholic liquor is distilled ; and from one large b,ea# or t basal, part t#i the leaf nearly one pint of this is i» be procured.' The ! 'Mexican , (barrel of' 50,t01, ) coo tailing about 28. gallons, is.soW4t an averageiprjce of, J5 dols, , and the.liquor is retailed ' at,- from. 30; to, 40, cents , a^, quart. In jan t interesting note am it's ;u?e/by Dr Havajrd,* of thejUnitedjState'siA.rmy, from which I;he. above ljave b.een ab&j;rat|tedjj hementions, .that? Ip isinowaidaya Ypryjfotgely consumed, the Jjtexjksatt.bjey^qHgfl^^ being.very lenient jn/lftett' taxing of $%