A MARKET FOR PORK.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 9165, Issue 9164, 14 March 1910, Page 6

A MARKET FOR PORK.

The following letter received by Mr E. Newman, M.P., from the Department of Agriculture, will interest many farmers:— Further to my letter of 21st January in respect to the attached letter received by you from Mr M. Lyons, Taikorea, in Which he requests information regarding the possibility of opening up a trade in pork and bacon on the Home market, I have the honour to inform you that my officer's report that so far but little has been done ijft the direction of an export trade to Great Britain in frozen pork.

In 1908 the director of live stock and meat, while in London, inspected a small shipment of New Zealand pork that had been made. He was informed by the agents of the exporting company that the prices received was not sufficiently remunerative to make it worth while continuing tjie business. However, with the price of pigs in New Zealand much lower at present, it might now be possible for a remunerative business to be carried on. I might mention that a consignment of Chinese pigs was put upon the market in August last, fetching from 4d to 5d per lb, according to the weight and character of the carcases. These carcases were treated somewhat _ severely by the Home authorities in tho precautions taken to see that they were free from disease. Each carcase had to be thawed out for inspection, and then refrozen, and this militated against the appearance of the pork. The latest quotations in London are as follows -.—Pork, sth January, 1910: —Best (small and medium) 4s lOd to 5s per stone of 81b; seconds and thirds (including large) 4s 4d to 4s 8d per stone of 81b; Dutch 4s 2d to 4s lOd, French 3s 4d to 4s 4d. Bacon, 10th December, 1909:—Irish 64s to 725, Continental 64s to 70s, Canadian (single sides) 63s to 665, American 56s to 735, American hams 60s to 68s.

lii view of the interest now being taken in the subject;- arrangements have been made for cable advices as to the position of the London market for bacon and frozen pork, and these will be published as soon as received. "With the present price ruling in New Zealand for baconers an export

| trade might "bo profitable. There is, | however, some difficulty in the matter of shipping bacon from this Dominion to London. It is not desirable to freeze it, neither on such a long voyage is it desirable to ship it in the ordinary holds. What is needed is that it be sent at a low temperature from 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is difficult to arrange for this seeing that no other produce is carried at this temperature, and there is no likelihood of any shipment of bacon large enough to fill an entire chamber on a ship being made, at any 1 rate for some time to come. The I closest approach to a suitable temperature lor bacon is that adopted for cheese, but the question arises whether the two might be safely stored in the same chamber. The Department is carrying out an experiment to endeavour to ascertain this, and in the meantime in the absence of data, I am afraid the shippers _of cheese would object to bacon being stored alongside- their produce. Any further information that Mr Lyons niav desire on this subject I shall be pleased to arrange for the Department to supply if available.