FARM AND DAIRY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7370, 23 January 1902, Page 2

FARM AND DAIRY.

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

One of the firm of Borthwick and Sons, the great wholesale meat salesmen, of London, has been on a visit to this colony for the pa3t few weeks, partly on pleasure and partly to open out a new departure in tbe firm's great frozen meat trade. For many years this firm, like most of the others, has held religiously to the consignment business, with the result that, as far as colonial ni6at is concerned, there was no guarantee of a regular supply of any one brand, and a London butcher who had bought fifty sheep on Monday that suited his customers had no certainty of being able to get another fifty of the same kind on the Tuesday. That is the difficulty the London salesman has labored under in the past. One clay selling prime Canterbury — the next poor, scraggy meat from the Plate. The time for ending this unsatisfactory state of affairs in the opinion of the Borthwicks is, as our American cousins put it, " right now." With, a view of securing an altered condition of affairs, by arranging to buy from the producer at this end, and thus excluding two or three middlemen, one of the sods of the Borthwick firm left the Old Country in September last, to meet the New Zealand farmer on his own ground, to buy all his lambs, porkers, calves, fat steers, and prime wethers. In tbe opinion of our visitor the time for consigning is past. Recognising this, they are going to buy for spot cash here. At present headquarters are fixed at Christe.hurch ; but from this centre they will pay for meat bought at Auckland, Wfutara, Wellington, and the Bluff. Two thing 9 that have only been experimented with in the past — porkers and calves — are largely to be bought. Speaking of tbe possibilities of veal, Mr Borthwick says he has seen a very prime calf sell for 7jd ; while inferior brought only 3£d. In porkers, too, theio i 3 a great business done. At present the supply is principally American. Th 6 porker market is the most erratic, tbe most changing, and tbe riskiest of all tbe lines bandied. So much so, that no consignors would ever keep it up regularly. At times there are great profits— at others great losses. But in all these months in which the letter " R " occurs there is demand— March, April, September, October, November, December, January, and February. These are the months in which tbe toothsome young pig is wanted by the teeming millioDs of England, and from this country, at least, there has never been any syatematic effort to meet the demand. As a result of our visitor's present trip through New Zealand we are promised a much altered condition of affairs, of which the main principle will be straight out buying at all our ports. Before next season we will publish full details in reference to this important new departure, which is fraught with great advantages to the farmers of New Zealand. — Dairyman.