BUTCHERS' MEAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2977, 13 August 1891, Page 2

BUTCHERS' MEAT.

TO THI! KniTOH. Sin, —T regret that a mistake was nude in tlio ligmes Riven in my letter published in your lust issue. The atiTi:int lecrfi.ed by the butchers f.ir primn joints at 4d per lb should have been £G 2s. nut Co 2a as printo-1. This, nf course, adds another 20s to the heavy profits of th-s-i gentlemen, making the total amount of profit mi a prune steer tot up to £3 10s 81, lower-priced cattle (jiving a relatively higher profit still, according to the price paid for the beast. Tin butchers themselves were, I believe, the first to discover the error, as they, surprised at the small amount —to them—of profit shown, analysed the figures, and unwittingly, I presume, informed mo of it, for which 1 beg to thank them—and you, S ; r, i\t the sama tim \ for inserting this ami my former letter. —Yours, etc., H. Bonk.

TO THE EDITOIt. Sin,— Your corr ■siJimdent " H. Bine," appears to me to bi one of this,; meddling individuds who know a great doil more about other peoples business than they do of their own. The first thirty lines of his letter are devoted to an attempt to become witty at the, expense of the butchers, but his leeble efforts at sircasin are .so unworthy of notice that I pass on to what by i stretch of Ihi ruiginiti el 11] tv be called the praeticid portion of his effusion. He lells us 'hat he went int. figures, and the first thing nn it strikes one on reading h'S letter is that he is ignorant of the simple rules nt arithmetic, for if he Iml carried out his figures correctly he would have found the returns for the beast he mentions as £'J Gs Bd, instead of £8 6s 8.1 as stated, a»d the pr .fit £3 Ids 81. This by-the-bye. The great absurdity of his letter is the manner in which he divides the bullock. Taking the cattle as mentioned by him said at the last Hamilton-sale at £5 10s as an example, I have to tell him that the average was GSO and not 700 lbs as he states, and the result is as follows :— lbs t; s. d. 1155 prune cuts, at 4) 2 1a 0 110 second cuts, at 3d 18!) 50 third cuts, at 2.W 10 5 110 boiling beef, at"2J 18 4 28 thin H ink, at Id 3 4 20 suet and kidneys, at 4J ... (1 S 70 legs, shins and clods 4 (i 75 bonos, offal, dog's moat, gristle and waste, at .],,! ... 3 1 17 loss in cutting up Tongnuls Gd, tail Gd 2 0 Hide, net returns 10 0 GSO 7 11 showing a profit of £1 lis Id, provided the whole beast is sold. He then goes on to tell your readers that the profit on mutton ranges from 8s (id per head upwards. I have averaged the value (by request.) of the last lots of sheep bought by the butchers here, and will only give tiio most satisfactory result, viz,, one lot of 30 was bought at 10s per head : tho average weight was ollbs ouch. This, at tho "present high pric ">," realised lis (M each to tho butcher. The skins brought the exceptionally high price of 4s each not, leaving a profit of 2s (id per head. These are facts which challenge contradiction, and I leave it to the public to judge whether tho profit is excessivo or not, considering tha heavy expenses a butcher is at for horse feed, wages, license, and numberless other expenses, letting alone Joss of meat in hot weather, " H Bone " says that strong opinions have been expressed in reference to the risp, and I fully agree with him ; but the opinions that 1 have heard from settlers and men of intelligence arentrongly in favour of doing away with the senseless competition which now prevails in too many trades, and restoiing business to a sound footing, by which all classosmust benefit. Such also is the opinion of a Bi'tchku's Boy,