NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10625, 21 March 1896, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE NOTES.

(Feom Our Own Correspondent.) London, February 7. X recent arrival from New Zitalnnd wrs talking to me yesterdny about the frozen meat trade. Ho said : " Before I came to Englaud I could not understand what you meant in your letters by always harping on the necessity of the bast New ZeaUnd produce being sent , Hume. I thought; and I know that most people j in New Zealand think that almost all the meat and butter prodnee in New Zealand is the besb to be found iu the whole world, and certainly should be good enough for anybody in England. We always imagine that the '. starving millions' of England would jump at the ch&nce of obtaining oar surplus produce at the comparatively low prices at which it is sold. But directly I arrived in England, I snw that you were qnite . right and how needful your warning was. I could not help noticing how very good everything needed to be to be sold in good London shops and at good London prices. I can assure you it was quite a revelation to me, and I shall tiks care to write out to my friends in Canterbury and Otagostrongly supporting your views, and warning them that it U utterly useless sending to London for sale anythiug but .the be«t produce that can be made in tho colonies." Farther he remarked:—"Just before I left Canterbury I fceari tome of the farmers grumbling About your rtatement that a good deal of inferior mntton had lately been received from Now Zealand, and I admit that this did seem to me at first Bight improbable, knowing as I did of what exeallent quality most of the meat waa that was exported from my own neighbourhood But here again I find you were quite richt;, I have ! examined a great deal of New Ze&land mutton I siucs I arrived, aud I have beeu both surprised and eorry to see that so much of »n inferior quality had been sent Home. It is quite I evident to me that at some of the New Zealand I freezing works, in urderto ko?p tbeir machinery employed, they freraa and ship a great maay sheep of a ela«s that certainly ought nq.t to be exported and, sX any rate, that should not be sent to tue London market. But, the great difficulty is to make people in New Zealand see this. I can quite understand now why you hare found it necessary to i reiterate the same advice time after time, and j even now I am afraid there are many in the i colony who are not convinced." j An excellent appointment has been made of I a produce expert in London for the New Zea- | land Government. Some months a^o I mentioned the name of Mr Henry Gray, formerly of Messrs Coey and Cj,, tha well-known produce merchants of Toolsy street, as the best man the New Zealand Government could possibly get if they wanted a übw produce expert. The Agent-general having received authority from his Government to appoint such an officer has conferred the appointment upon Mr Gray who has accepted it tentatively at the rather small salary authorised to be offered— viz., £250 per annum, —and will enter upon his new duties at once. An office has been set apart for him at the New Zealand Agencygeneral ia Victoria street, and he will begin operations without delay, or at any rats so soon as any produce-iad^u voieel arrives for him to operata upon. Mr Gray is a singularly thorough-going ami capable man. He has made a careful studv of the whole produce trade. The New Zealand dairy trade is indebted to him for many important improvements in regard to steamer carriage. Mr Gray has bad pleuty of colonial—as well ag London— experience. He lived for sona'e time in Canterbury, and is well np iu all colonial matters. He is a man who wilPtake a pride and a joy in his work, and in doing it as well as it possibly can be done. That's the sort of man New Zealand wants in such a post, and I think the colony is decidedly fortunate in securing his services. FROZEN MEAT. There is a decided improvement in the frozen meat market since last weok, the best Canterbury mutton selling briskly at 4d per lb, and occasionally brinps a nlightly higher price. Other classes of New Zealand mutton do not show such decided improvement. It must, of course, be distinctly understood in this connection that " Canterbury ", simply meauß thn best in the sense of tho highest quality in the markot, and the classification "Canterbury" includes pome of the bcs>i meat sent from Wellington, H*wke's Bay, and Otago. If carcases are of the fiiißSt qrmlifcy and the size mo3t favourable at Smithfield, then that becomes "Canterbury," no matter where may be ths place of origin. The C.C. and D. Company say : —" A alight advance iu prices has been made, and the best Canterburys offering have made 3£d per lb, a very few, for special requirements, going at^d to id per lb more money; but with qualities so varied quotations are difficult, many selling at 3|il down to 3^d per lb, and where the merino is too sppareut at even less. Dunedins hava made 3jH to 3£d per lb, Southlands about ths same when fairly bright, but too many are stule nod bleached from iong storage. North Island sheep have advanced £d per lb, and are worth 3id per lb. Trade is not brisk, lacking the demand usual at this season, otherwise conditions are favourable, stocks much concentrated, weather seasonable, and vessels afloat and arriving mnch bolow full complements." . DAIRY PRODUCE. Best English wheat is now worth 31s to 33sper quarter. ThTe is no New Zealand wheat in the market. New Zealand oats are dull aad prices are unaltnred. •' MISCELLANEOUS. New Zealand flix is leokiug up, and 211 bales wero sold at last Wednesday's sali>s. Price* ranged as follow : Fine Aucklaud, £17; fair Wellington. £15 10s; good Lyttelton, £16—common, £15. Messrs W. Weddel and Co. Ml me that; tue proaent stock of flax in London amounts only to 2050 tons. Last; year at this time the stock was la'gor by 25 per cent. Preserved meat* are dull now that the atmosphere is more peaceful. A sale of hides was held yesterday, but there was little demand, and prices had a tendency to weakness.

As to New Zealand batter, Messrs W. Weddel and Co. write to me this afternoon :— " The d«m»D<i for Australian and New Zealand butters during the current week has beon pronouncedly slow, aud is even more sluggish thin the most pessimistic imagined. It appeixs thftt the retail trade have set their hearts on retailing Australian and New Zealand butters at Is, and sinless they can buy at such prices as will enable them to do this they purchase other buttars instead. The prices that colonial has lately been realising has left too floe a margin of ptoat for the retail trade, and consequently Australian aud New Zealand are being neglected, and until the values are reduced to snch a figuro as will allow a fair profit to grocers and buttermon when retailing at Is there will b« no great demand." Latest quotations for New Zealand butter are 104s to 110s for choicest factory, 98s to 102« for best factory, and 90s to 100s for secondary.