FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9166, 22 September 1888, Page 5

FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

ITS MANIPULATION AT HOME.

SOME USEFUL HINTS.

POPULARITY OF NEW ZEALAND MUTTON.

THE MARKET FOR CHEESE AND

BUTTER. [by TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Napier, Friday. The Herald this morning publishes extracts from letters received from Mr. Alexander McHardy, the well-known sheep farmer of Blackhead, who recently went to England to endeavour to bring about a reform in the sales of frozen meat. Mr. McHardy says, writing under date August 7 :—" I have obtained some information about the frozen meat trade. It is now looking better, but a great deal more could bo done if the stock-owners of New Zealand would pull together, and have fewer agents in England for the sale of the meat. The ruin of the trade has been that some firms who are largely interested in shops in England and Scotland, and who sell a low class of meat like American beef and River Plate mutton, often advertise this inferior meat as New Zealand meat, and sell it in shops as such. The New Zealand mutton is so much superior to any other frozen mutton that such firms ought not to have it sent to them, as of course it is to their interest to keep the price down. If the meat were handled by proper agents there would ho no trouble in getting from 4Ad to (id per lb, according to quality. It is not now necessary for the people of New Zealand to start shops, as the best class of butchers buy the meat and supply what they term the carriage trade, and the meat is ticketed in all the shops as Now Zealand mutton. The prejudice against it is dying out, and so it ought, for the quality is better than the average Engglish mutton, and when it is cut up after thawing the colour is quite bright and nice. 1 have seen it after it was cooked two days. It then was a little darker, but the flavour is just as good. There is no doubt that the mutton from Canterbury is the best. Some from Hawke's Bay sells at the sumo price, but only a small quantity. The \\ ellington meat is not so good, and they have been sending a great deal of inferior quality from there lately. This is a very great mistake, as it helps to keep up the prejudice. I was at Liverpool three weeks ago, and saw a quantity of mutton which had been sent to Mr. Borthwick by the Loan and Mercantile Company. It was of splendid quality, and came from Dun • edin. It sold freely at oAd per pound. All the best Liverpool butchers bought it. The sheep were beautifully dressed, which is a great matter, as when this is the case the moat looks a better colour. If little particles are left on.it spoils the appearance of the back of the sheep. The kidneys were taken out but all the kidney fat left in, which in my opinion is the best plan, for if nil the tut is cut out the ribs shrink after the carcase is bared,which leaves a hollow appearance. Last year meat was very cheap in England. Owing to the dry season people who had anything fit to kill sold for what they could get, as they could not keep them. That naturally brought the price down, and it was very hard business to sell frozen mutton at all. Only for Nelson Brothers having had a large quantity from the South and Hawke's Bay in store, and having put it on the market in proper quantities, he meat would have been lower than it was; even then the price was kept near to the price of English meat than it is now. On account of the low returns many of the Southern folks withdrew their shipments from Nelson Bros., which was a pity ; because of that wo have all been suffering.

I have had some conversation with Mr. Larkworthy, of the New Zealand Bank, and Mr. Thomas Russell, who both agree with me that there are too many agents selling New Zealand merit. There was a meeting at the Bank of agents and salesmen, and Mr. Bell (of Bell and Sons) said that he would not make any arrangements with anyone else, but would continue in his own method of business. Of course he knew lie would not make so much in any other way. So you see the whole colony is being sacrificed because the sheepowners will not send their meat, to proper agents. My opinion is that .Nelson Bros, have done a great deal towards the advancement of the trade. I think there should only be about three agents for the sale of New Zealand mutton, and that they should be men who would work together. Then there would be 110 trouble in getting a payable price. It would be quite easy to get at least Id per lb more if this ceuld be done, and it would mean tens of thousands to the colony. Three agents like Nelson Bros., Borthwick, of Liverpool (who sells a good deal for the Loan and Mercantile), and Fitter and Sons, of London, would work together and not undersell each other. The people of New Zealand need not be afraid that the River Plate mutton will run the New Zealand off the market. It will no doubt keep the price lower, but the quality is very inferior, and the large sheep are even worse than the smaller ones. There is some fault in the grass there ; it will not produce good mutton. Several large sheepowners from that country have told me that they cannot grow mutton of good quality, and one of the above has been breeding large sheep for the last sixteen years. Mr. Borthwick writes :—" I now send you a few hints on mutton, butter, cheese, and even beeswax, all New Zealand produce. I had 2761b of the latter, which we sold at our warehouse to-day, at 115s per cwt, which is nearly 12$ d per lb. With regard to our meat trade, 1 find that our total number of sheep and lambs last week was 4646, and the previous week 4414, which will give you an idea of what we do. You may safely say that all butchers with low cash business advertise and ticket River Plate mutton as New Zealand; never as River Plate. This there is no disputing. I have myself seen tickets marked ' Prime Canterbury mutton' on Plate sheep. More care is now taken, for I wrote threatening to prosecute them if they persisted in doing it, and called the Loan Company's attention to it, who offered to take it up at once. My idea of how • the trade should be carried on is:— 1. Consignments should be more concentrated—that is, in fewer hands. 2. There should bo more union amongst the agents if possiblo, and they should not be continually underselling each other. 3. It is a mistake for colonists to think that London consumes all the meat. Though the bulk is sold there, the most part goes to the provinces, so that they are entitled to more attention than they get. 4. Demand is growing daily, because the better class of butchers take the best sheep, so that the day for retail shops is past. On one side they are being cutout to a small extent by the best butchers taking to it, and on the other, to a large extent, by the great increase of shops in which low-priced mutton is sold—principally River Piateand a little Sydney, which in advertisements or tickets I. have never known to be called either Plate or Sydney mutton. This mutton and American ' cloth ' beef has for years constituted the stock of these shops, so that any endeavour to start shops with New Zealand mutton only would end in failure. They could not compete with the low prices of the other shops, unless the price of the New Zealand meat keeps as low as it has been during the year, but I do not think the price will be so low again, or if it is, it will be only transient through an over-supply. sth. The class and weight to suit, I may say, any market in Great Britain, are nice fleshy sheep, the youngor the better, from 541b to 651b, and they should not be too highly finished. These would be picked out in any market at top price. If the New Zealand climate suits nothing can beat Shropshire sheep. What we call once shorn, that is over one year and under two, pleases both butchers and consumers best, as the day for aged mutton is past. Lambs of 361b weight are best. With regard to prices for the future everything points to a good steady trade for a long time to come. It may appear presumption in me to tell colonists what they should breed or feed, but my experience extends over many years, in fact from 1852, and I have always attended personally to matters of business both in the butchering trade and cattle dealing, then in extensive breeding and feeding, together with a livestock commission trade, which gave me more than ordinary chance of knowing something about it. New Zealand cheese is another branch of my business. Cheese should be sent singly in cool chambers. Those which have been sent in wicker baskets have sold best aO s(is Dei-

cwt., bub if sent in singlo cases they would answer the same purpose. If they are slightly heated they get brittle. If it were not for that they would sell better, for the American cheese is not nearly so rich. When these faults are overcome there will be a great trade in it. With regard to butter, still more care is wanted. The most suitable packages for shopkeepers are 561b kegs, slightly salted, though we have had some of fine quality in square boxes. Our chief customers are shopkeepers, and hotel and restaurant-keepers, so we make more by selling in small quantities than in large."