The Frozen Meat Trade

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3104, 3 October 1899, Page 8

The Frozen Meat Trade

■■■ ' ♦ FARMERS SHOULD GET A BETTER PRICE. Mr W. Acton-Adams, of Tipapa, returned on Tuesday last from a trip to England and the Continent, and having devoted a considerable length of time and attention to the frozen meat trade, in which he has for a nnmber of yearß been interested as a shipper, he has obtained a large amount of useful information. So the representative of 1 The Press ' he gave some particular ß regarding the results of the mission. "I have been Home," Mr ActonAdams said, "for the special purpose of looking into the frozen meat question, and having for the past ten or twelve yeaiß been a pretty largo shipper, I wished to obtain actual information as to how my meat was being disposed of. I devoted three or four days every week whilst in London — not in trying to teach the meat salesmen their business* or to reform the trade— but to find ont how the business was being carried on, from the unloading at the docks to the selling at Smithfield. Being a large shipper I had every facility afforded me for obtaining information ; tbe salesmen showing me their books, how their weighing was done, and what the different trade allowances were, <fee Of course they say that these trade allowances and concession's sre lair and above board, although farmers wbo do not understand the business would Bay that they are extortionate. Iv regard to main part of the information I obtained I wish to cay that it would not be worth my while making it public uoleß.--the Belfast Company are prepa-ed to act upon the advice that I would give I would have to go into details and mention names, showing what ships carry their meat better than others ; what contractors, fur unloading did their work better tban others; what salesmen I woald rather do business with, and what forms of ineurancH are better than others, upon ali of which matters I have taken full notes. From what I have learned, I have been induced to alter my own course of insuring and selling my meat, and shall gain at least i per lb by the change. I feel confident that if my information is acted upon our farmers who ship through Belfast Co should obtain £ per lb more for their meat than they have on the average received. THE INSTJBATtfCE QUESTION. "As * to insurance, Mr Thos. Maokeczie has, I see by the newspaper*?, gone very fully into the matter, and I quite agree with «11 he bas said, as my own experience confirms ifc. I think that Mr Mackenzie's leaving London was a very great loss\to tbe farmers of this colony, aod he is lar and away the beat man in commercial matters we have had there. The fraud that he bap referred to pretty plainly indic^tea to some extent what I would say if I spoke freely upon the matter." METHODS OJb" SALE. "Do you think thafc any improvement ha 3 taken place of late yf j &rs in method of disposing of our meat ?" " I don't thiiik that the selling business bas improved at all ; but I think t hit the market bas distinctly widened, aud tbat the trado is fairly well established in London and on the .South Coast of England. I found a number of shop*, however, in which the butchers professed to sell Canterbury mutton, but were really felling Kiver Plate and Australian sheep. Those wbo sold Canterbury shetip kept the tickets oa, but; where JE-Ufw; £l»te «"* ,

&%$* Wi_taf^<ata» wto_ &fa.s^tiMgft -Wettstteieft* -w$ te w|S_»i.ts*Vte 2_satel ta&A tte sSMW mmsAwte^ ware im gteJAt I ta y&k Mnfe . * great ta&\ *ol;^w Sattaoi $&;& vm ta BQltjl in ih% mt&are mmX m\Xm* & wijtMa a *tofc M^Jl»a^w r^ the are *»&khig tv\tt Urns now, still have lav | B_©re^ttsee agaiiMt iVcw&n meat-hao tha ttehm classy ia London and on the south coast It tbey are well off they insist on the best fresh beef, and if they are short of money, they buy the cheapest meat, that this, the River Plate and Australian mutton, and will not pay the extra penny per lb for our meat. I only found one shop in Manchester that was doing a decent trade in Canterbury mutton, and that was the shop that was established by Mr Cameron, and is now owned by Messrs W. and E. Fletcher, Ltd. I suppose the past season was the best season we have had for Canterbury lamb, and to show how little is required to give the market an upward move on the eve of a rise, I may mention that when lamb was at 5d I induced Messrs Fletcher and Messrs Nelson, both of which firms do business for me, to put up my lamb per lb. They hesitated at first, and said that there was a lot of lamb coming in in a week or ten dayw time, and it might depress the market. I replied that if we can get the market up now, we will get the extra price for the coming cargoes. The result was that these two firms raised the price, and the market followed, and we got not si, but 5^ per lb. Another question that is to be considered is that of feeding the market, and this is a matter that those individual farmers who ship to numberless consignees do not take into account. Now, when lambs were s^, I went to the C.C. and D. Company, and asked them to sdl the whole of my lambs, as I was quite content with the price, and they said they could clear the stocks in two days, but they would then have nothing to -supply customers with for tt-n day-, and would contequently lose the^. I was quite convinced with this argument and I felt that the risk of a drop in the market is one that owners may fairly take, as it is a matter of great importance to get a large number of butcher castomers who can rely upon obtaining their daily or weekly supply of New Zealand lamb from their meat saleimen." THE SEASON'S PEOSPECTS. " Whit ii your opinion as to the prospects for the coming lamb season ?" '' Oar lamb markets go up and down, and it is therefore very probably that it will be done this season. There will be au increase iv the number goin 3 from New Zealand and from Victoria, aod «s o mv ton Canterbury will have to meet more serious competition from the North Island. I dou'c know whether they are breeding a better class of irhe-p> or whether they are se-.iding H -me what is more suitable for the trade, bu. it bas been selliug well all this season. It must be remembered also that we have been gettin;, a lot of our sheep from the North .island and Otago, One thing in favor of the frozen meat trade is that England is flourishing throughout." SHEEP IN ENGLAND. " What did you think of (he shsep at the Bhows iv Eogland ?" " I visited a number of the principal shows, including the Roy.-»l Couotiea' at Windsor and the Royal Agricultural Society uf England's show at Maidstone, where I met Mr H. Overton and Mr W. Bo«g. One of my cousins is on ihe Council of the Royal Society, ai d had charge of the dairy seccion. I ibiok hat our English Liecesters and Lin- < coins, though not equal to the show in Engiand, are apparently smaller boned and finer in the wool. What astonished mp, however, was the immrinse 'progress made by Downs since T last sr-en ihf-m, and I may say that I have attended several Royal shows. Tiie various Down breeds have bee'i greatly improve!, and are a long way ahead of mything we.; hive out here. I went down to Mr R. P. Cooper's, al Berkh&mstead, and he showed me tbe Shropsh:reß he was exporting c. New Zealand ai.d fcouth iifrica, and for vjarly ma ur:ty and nz* they were remarkably fine speci'iiens."