Untitled

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XX, Issue 2329, 18 January 1893, Page 2

The Star.

(PUBLISHED DAILT.)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1893.

THE FBOZEN MUTTON TRADE OF NEW ZEALAND.

The report just issued of the proceedings of the Australasian Stock Conference held in Wellington in October last, contains a great deal of interesting and useful information with reßpect to agricultural and pastoral matters. It is, however, rather balky, so that few persons will have time to read it, and we fear that great as is onr desire to place onr readers in possession of the more salient features, we can do no more than give occasional and somewhat imperfect sketches. We propose to-day to refer to a paper read by Mr. Brydone, Chairman of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, on the frozen mutton trade of New Zealand. It is mostly historical, but hardly the less valuable on that account. History is rapidly made in New Zealand, and rapidly forgotten too, and it is therefore of interest | sometimes to be reminded what has taken place, especially as new comers have been many during the past ten years, and all do not know what has occurred. It is a remarkable fact that Australia, which is to-day sending its delegates to report on New Zealand methods, and is astonished when it beare of developments in New Zealand, was the first scene of the freezing experiments. Twelve or thirteen years ago there were such works in Melbourne

and at a place called Orange in New South Wales, and Mr. Brydone himself aotuallv went to those places for

11 wrinkles." How far New Zealanders have bettered the instruction they received is illustrated by the fact that Australians now come here to learn, and hope for success by following in our footsteps. The pioneer freezing Bhip arrived in Port Chalmers in November, 1881, the sheep were killed seventy miles inland, railed to port and frozen on the Bteamer. Before the ship was filled some part of the machinery went wrong, and the collected cargo bad to be hauled out again and sold tor what it would fetch, which was very little. At last the vessel sailed with a cargo, bnt the voyage home waa troublesome, and it was owing alone to the ingenuity and capability of the Bkipper, Captain Whitson, that it was successful. The shipment arrived Home in good condition, and, it was remarked on by The Times as] a " prodigious fact," and the meat realised 6£d per lb — a price never obtained since, it may be observed. But the way was shown, and irom doubtful chartering of Bailing vessels matters rapidly developed, The shipping companies then in the New Zealand trade saw what was coming and prepared for it. Other companies "out in," and to-day there ia a carrying capacity ot between two and a half million and three million carcases a year. The effect on the shipping trade in other respects is naturally remarked on. Steam has altogether routed sailing; wool gets Home in half the time; dairy exports beoame possible ; ordinary me(chaa|ise traffic has been revolutionised'; and ejery trade almost owes something to the frozen meat industry and its development of rapid shipping. As to the export of frozen meat, it bas risen to two million carcases, and notwithstanding tbis fact the increase

last year iv our flooks was a million and three-quarters. The vicissitudes of the trade were touched upon by Mr. Brydone, but as one largely interested he declared that the results on the whole have been satisfactory, and he pointed out that the total cost of killing, freezing, freight, and selling is now 2d per lb, as against folly 3d when the trade started. A further reduction has been announced since

Mr. Brydone read his paper. His estimate is that in ten years' time New Zealand will be .able to export 4,000,000 as easily as it exports 2,000,000 now. As to the future prospects, Mr. Brydone fears the Australian and Biver Plate competition, especially if the latter take to

breeding orossbred sheep, with which

they will be able to compete in respect of quality. On the one side he puts the factß that in Australia the natural grasses fatten as well as our English grasses, and there is a great area of Jand ; on the other, he puts the drawbaoks that Australian pastures are a long way from the ports, that droughts will occasionally disturb arrangements and break the trade ; but on the balance he is afraid we shall shortly feel the competition, and that it is essential that nothing shall be shipped from New Zealand but what is of first class quality, so that we may retain the favor and confidence of the English consumer. There was, as might have been expected, an interesting discussion, and in the course of it Sir John Hall, while admitting that the Australian competition might interfere with New Zealand, declared his belief from personal observation in the Argentine that Eiver Plate meat need not be feared, especially in respect of lambs, because the natural feed is so very inferior, and the mutton so small and dry. He expressed his confidence that there was a great proßpect before New Zealand in the export of frozen mutton, and he especially thought the prospects of the lamb trade very good indeed.