AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10653, 14 May 1895, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

[Canterbury Times.)

A paper read before the Society of Arts, on March 13, by Mr E. Montague Nelson, managing director iu London of Messrs Nelson Brothers. Limited, of which a copy has been handed to us by tho local representative of tho firm, is a very concise review of its subject—“ The Meat Supply of the United Kingdom.” Mr Nelson began by giving & resumd of the history of tho over-ssa mlt trade from its inception to tho present time. Since 1830, when the freezing system was adopted, 26.000. aheop and lambs had been imported into tho United Kingdom,'of which one-half come from New Zealand, 3.000. from Australia, 9,000,000 from the River Plate, and 150,000 from the Falkland Islands, He quotes the figures of Mr Bruce, of Now South Wales, that theca are about 300,000.000 sheep in the various countries which find a market for their surplus mutton in tho British Isles, one-half of these being in British colonies and tho rest in foreign countries. Of the sheep about 8.500,000 are crossbreds, hut iu five years this number will have increased to 120,000,000, and should 10 per cent—tho proportion now being sent from New Zealand —of these flocks be sent to the United Kingdom, that would amount to 12.000,000 carcases a year, about the same number as that of homekilled mutton and lamb. The problem of the future would thus appear to be not how can Great. Britain provide her necessary meat supply, but how much can she absorb at a price which would allow the import trade to expand. Taking into account all descriptions of meat, both fresh and preserved, the total annual consumption amounts to 2,140,000 tons ; about twp-thirda of the quantity is and onethird imported. It is a matter of importance to note that the latter has doubled within th© last years* luc consumption of meat is rapidly increasing; hub, in order to deal with the probable increase of colonial imports, durthenext few years, it will be necessary to attend more to distribution. Fresh outlets will require to be established at various ports, as already London is suppiled with as much as it can consume, but with regulation of supplies, and other ports of call,no doubt more uniform prices would bo obtained than in the past. In the end it seems reasonable to suppose that the countries where the raw material is most cheaply produced will reap the greatest benefit, aa in these days of rapid steam communication distance is of little importance. Tha commercial federation of tho Empire would confirm the trade in the hands of the colonies. Looking at the vast areas of production, and the enterprise already displayed, the consumer may rest assured that so long as England her maritime supremacy there will be" no failure in the supply of cheap and excellent food brought to his door; on the other hand, any prolonged check of imports would be immediately and severely felt, especially by the great urban populations. Tha discussion of the paper was tacitly left to those' most directly interested in the trade. Sir Westby Perceval said that what was suffered most from was the fact that the quality of the meat was not sufficiently recognised in this country. Those who had watched the progress of the trade had noticed, to their regret, the very great prejudice which existed amongst the working classes of the country to what waa called “dead moat,” a term which he disliked very much. Undoubtedly, tha prejudice did exist, and it was only being gradually overcome. The chief reason for this prejudice was tha unsightly condition in which the meat waa presented to the market, and he looked forward with great hopes to the new discovery of defrosting, by which moans the meat would be sent out in a dry condition. Ho had had a joint of meat served upon his table which, when a knife was put into it, was absolutely raw in the centre, the cause no doubt being that the meat was sent in a frozen block to the butcher who had not thawed it before sending it • out. If greater care were exercised on this head the trade would benefit considerably. The other speakers chiefly confined themselves to giving additional details on some of the branches of the trade. It was mentioned that physiologists stated that the nations that eat the most meat were always victorious in international wars, and statistics proved that Englishmed eat more meat than any other nation. All were agreed that defrosting and tho carriage of meat in the chilled and live states, 0 with wider distribution, would benefit and extend the trade. The position of the wheat market as regards supplies iu relation to consumption is such that, were the mere law of supply and demand tho only influence at work, a very substantial advance in prices must rapidly ensue. Wo have recently shown that the exportable surplus in Australasia is so small that it will be insufficient to meet the ordinary requirements of the countries that usually draw their supplies from South Australia and Victoria. The Argentine surplus has been sent forward at ouch a rate that it must he by this time reduced to a manageable bulk; and the United States htocke, by the same process and by the increased consumption by both man and cattle, has been reduced to the smallest surplus ever carried over to a new season. The March bulletin of the Statistician of the United States Agricultural Department disputes the oftreneated assertion that there is no increase in the production of wheat, and quotes figures, obtained from the most trustworthy sources, which show that there has been a steady increase in the wheat supply of the world during the pjast four years. The annual yield has been as followslß9l. 3,370,000,000 bushels; 1892, 2,414,000.000 bushels ; 1893, 2.427.000. bushels; 1894, 2,590,000,000 bushels. This rate of increase is, however, so far below the rato of increase iu population that some other cause tnan over-production must be sought to account for the fall in values during tho same period. '