BUTCHERS' MEAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2979, 18 August 1891, Page 2

BUTCHERS' MEAT.

TO Till-; I,i>m>l;. Sin,—With tli'j rash ii»|i'!'ii!i-iiy and u{'<t recklessness of youth, :i butcher h..y, in replying to my lutt'-r, h in rushed in where those engaged loiiffr in the l> h:i vifeiired to tread. He makes an aM-mpt In disprove the corrcctne-.i of my e ib.il.itions by Riving film's which would h iv,i cirri.- I more weight with tiin public vvre he, writing disinterestedly, mid not us one f -unncted with the trade. His fig'irr-4 as h> the proportion of prime, to other cuts are altogether misleading. This unv have been his object, in tiiving them, lint a groat allowance must b" m ide for the boy's inexperience and want of knowledge of tho business ho is learning. In ordt-r tint tins letter may be of kivim educational value to tho lad, with your permission. Mr Editor, I propose, to teach him, with the aid of the diagram below, something more of the cutting np of a carcase of beef thin he at present knows, and also tho correct relative proportions of imhho and s"c. >nd cuts in aj beaat, of which at present he is apparently quite ignorant. Now, my boy, we will suppose the diagram to represent an average, carcise—that 13 ono giving 7001 bs of dressed meat or thereabouts, exclusive of hide and "fl:il. After deducting the weight of clods (\n, r> in the diagram), logs (\o. 11), shins (No. 14), bones .and waste fat, and making a liberal allowance of 121bs for loss in cuttinj up, we have still remaining about oliOlbs of beef. Had you, my lad, any experience in the trade beyond that of carrying a basket, it would bn unnecessary for me to explain that the proportion of primo and second cuts in this is almost invariably two-thirds of the former to one-third of the latter, that would be 3li6lbs prime and 18-llbs second cuts—the figures given in my Hist letter. Now, my boy, if you will follow me round the carcase I will point out to you — and also those of the public who may wish In learn—the portions sold as prime (and in view of the recent heavy rise, I must say at a very primo price). No. !) in tin: diagram . /1 is the rump, from ff~ n 1 oTzJ7S-\ wl 'ich steak i» ( V [B I -3 I UV)mit, and sold at A ID/ 7 I *+ 14 ;".d per lb; the ;X?y2V/ iidjoinins cut (f- , ) mXMoI/Y is sirloin, sold at /,; i \\ WH/z/ -Id P<ir lb; Nos. ' J\\ 3 and 4 are the -^=- ~~ZT^_—=- ribs, the greater proportion of which aro, called iirimo an 1 are, sold at Id per lb, the best chuck and second chuck ribs are sold at 3.1 an.l 2!d respectively, Iho extra penny charged on the rump, however, countei balancing the redaction made on the chuck libs, and maintaining an average of Id per lb for all the cuts wo h:ivn vet considered -Xos. <), 8, 3, and I. No. 10, the round, when sold as such, also brings prime price, but when the silvorside is removed the latter portion is sold at a trifling reduction of a halfpenny par Hi. No. 7is Die flank, i. fancy I hoar my pupil interject, " Now, Sir, you are making a mistake ; we sell the biggest, piece of this as sirloin." This fact is well known to me, my boy, but I am teaching you the correct way of cutting up a carcase, not the judicious method adopted by local butchers. Now, my lad, if you will examine tho diagram and mark well the portions I have shown you to bo prime, viz., Nos. !(, 8, ;i, -I, 10, and the top portion of 7 (which goes, as you have observed, with the sirloin in Hamilton), and remembering th.it the clods, Ings, and shins were previously removed and allowed for, tin portions remaining (No. li brisket, 7 thin (link, I neck, and 2 shaking piece), are, if anything, in the aggregate less than the onc-thiid allowed by me in making the calculation published in my last letter, ani which you, by, have ondeavoured nresumpt.iously and vainly to disprove. When the clod in removed, the bui.cher strikes another patch of prime bout —tho boulder .steak—and this is also sold at 4! per lb. Then we must remember that those bags of mystery, yclept composed entirely of second-class imvit and odds and ends, have a commercial value of 4d per lb. In the figures you have givo:i and which you will nu doubt now admit to have been altogether wrong, you qa>to thin flank at a penny a lb ; there is no such price quoted in the butchers' list, and the portion of flank not cut with the sirloin is corned and sold as corned beef without bone at ihd per lb. Coming to lnuUoii, you again havo the temerily to challenge my figures, and state the return from 30 sheep, averaging . r )4lb mutton, was only 2< lid. Now, boy, I am going to demonstrate that even on your own showing the profit must have been bigger than you would have up believe. You have evidently imagined you had to deal with one who knows as littlo about the business as yourself, and have given the results obtained (less 1.V1) when the sheep have been sold in quarters at an all-round price of and without allowing for the fat, Mutton is occasionally sold in this manner, of course, but more often in legs, loins, and forequarters. When sold in this manner, the result is on a slib sheep : s. d. 161bs. legs, at 4d i> 4 121bs. loins, at 4d -I 0 2Glbs. forequarters, at 3d ... (i (i fat aud tongue, say ... 0 f> skiu 1 0 t'l 0 3 or a fair profit of 4s 3d per head, evm on badly-bought sheep like thosa referred to above. The amount of prolit I stated should be obtained on sheen (Ss (id per head), I still maintain could, "at tho present high prices," bo easily realised by judicious markoting. A sheep fit to kill should average between GOlbs and 701bs of mutton, and the skins should bring, on an average, 5s GJ each, as by latest market quotations they are in good demand up to 7s. Then again, tho amount (10s) you state was received for tho hide of the bullock you instance shows gross carelessness in marketing. This, taking it as a medium hide of GOlbs weight, should have brought at least 17s (id, even at the lo.vest price(3id per lb) now ruling for skins nf this doscrij.tion. But, of course, if your master leaves his marketing in the hands of incapable lads, like yourself, ho must be content to pay for their mistakes, an obligation, however, which ho now sucks to place u;on his customers,

Now, boy, a few word-* in conclusion in reference to your remark re meddling in other people's business. The price of moat is not only my business, lr.it also that of every other consumer, and 1 and they havn a perfect right to express an opinion on th>: prices charged, and to protest against extortion, whether it pleads or displeases the butchers' ring or thi'ir boys. This is no doubt thn first timo von have written to thu press, and wlitm next youoiitur into a nun's; paper controversy I should advi-e you to keep your temper, or at least not to show it in your letters, for it your opponent to notice that his shafts have shot home, and places you at a disadvantage. Xow you may gut your basket and go ; I have, done with you for to-day. Mr Editor, I have to thank you for llio space taken m> by this letter. I understand y-ju sympathise with the movement in favour of tsclinieiil education, and thu publication of this letter may ha taken us » practical demonstration of such sympathy. -Yours, &c, H. Done. TO THK EDITOR. Hut,—lt is not my usual custom to middle with matters which do not concern me, still loss on a .subject upon which 1 am ignorant, but with reference to thuabovu I bog to k iy a word, not only as an honest working tradesman striving to pay twenty shilling* in the .£, but also us one who has had a practical experience of the butchaiing business. Of course, no tradesman likes to be milked by another, but to listen to remarks made by an outsider who appears ignorant of the cr.ift would be foolish indeed, especially so when, as in this ca?o, that meddlesome interpolator by his misrepresentation of facts, coupled with a few sneariug remarks upon the credulity uf the poor butchers towards such individi'.ils as "H Bone," would not only rob them of tho small returns from his dearly paid 'or stock, but bring him to a stati , of ban; existence with all tho worry, long and laborious hours, and great expense of wear and tear of horse shoeing, feeding, etc. that is attendant upon any master butcher having a fair turnover. Looking at "11 Bono's" figures und tho profits he eives as accruing therolrom sounds very big to the uninitiated, in f.;ct, as he puts it, "a veritable gold mine." but if he were to go a little further and add to the first expense of buying all other incidental expenses, h.' would find his largo returns diminished to a very small margin. As to whether the butchers of Hamilton are going to adhere to their new tariff remains to bn seen, but if when the rocent rise in stock took plnco they had judiciously taken the step halfway, that ic, raised tiistand second cuts VJ per IK I think no one would have ivs,nte'l it. 1 believe in the old motto, "Live,-ind let live," but competition is so k'jen for a living that diplomacy is us much required to gain our daily broad as it h for political | warfare.—l am, etc.. I SiK Loin.