The Frozen Meat Trade.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 167, 25 July 1896, Page 4

The Frozen Meat Trade.

o Tho following extracts from circulars received by the San Francisco mail will be of interest fco those engaged in the export of frozen mutton : — Mr Thomas Bortlnwck, in speaking of the givuVng and classing of mutton from Australia and New Zealand for weights and quality, writes :— " Inquiries are often made about this. Except in the ease of forward sales it is not worth doing, as when tlie mutton is hung up in the market a buyer may want a 701 b sheep or a 451 b one to go among his others, and give the same price, whereas if an owner drew fifty 70ib and fifty 451 b sheep out of his lot, he wonld have to take a less price for . them. Those who advise otherwise show clearly their ignorance of the butchers' wauts. What wo require is grading for quality, noi weights. Any mau accustomed to hand'e live sheep can tell at once whether they are fit or not. The same does not apply to lambs, as if good quality any weight from 281 bto 42! b will make full prices. Abovo that weight they got mutton-like, though they can ba well sold even up to 501 b." The Colonial Consignment and Dis.ribating Company, in reporting on tho frozen meat •m-irlcul on June 5, says : — "J* -rivals of New Zoaland mutton have been the Ruapehu, wiih 12,527 carcases, and Aotea 43,213, making a total of 663,124, or 54,315 fewer than were re- ■ ceived to the same date lasL year. The Aorangi has finished discharging, and muse be added to this year's already long list of vessels • bringing damaged cargoes. Upwards of 700 carcases, and parts of some 2oo others, were condemned by the sanitary oilicar ; the Buteshire, 100, r ifortunatoly, is not free, for though only partly -discharged, numbers of circuses have now landed spotted with mildew aud otherwise damaged. These frequentlyrecurring instances are doing an incalcul-

able amount of injury to the (rade. Tho damage often is- not confined to tho ' part of the cargo so far gone as to be unfit for f od, and so sizable, but probably pervades tlio whole shipment to a greater or less extent, and .the moat, oven if only slightly off, going into consumption, tends to detract frjm the reputation of New Zialand mutton. Trade has been very dull, and numbers difficult to move, from the utter want of animation and lack of demand. Prices remain much as they I were. A very few of the best Canter- | bury sheep offered make S^d per lb, but \ far more are sold at 3d to 3~jd. Others , from the same district and works, but lacking stylo and quality, have sold at 2-Jd per lb. Very few Dunedins have been marketed ; for the best of them aud Southlands 2ftd to 2^d per lb has been made. North Island mutton 2gd to 2gd per lb. The Aotea brought 48,336 carcases of New Zealand lamb, and the Ruapehu 19.645, a very large addition to the heavy arrivals of a fortnigt bro, but — the one satisfactory feature of the frozen meat trade — demand has kept pace with the large supply, and numbers have been moved without very much reduction iv values. Long lines have sold this week at 4^d per lb, smaller lots at 4-Jd per lb, occasionally 5d per lb for really prime sizeable meat ; second-rates have made 4:} d to 4M per lb, but for these there is not the same brisk demand."