THE AUSTRALIAN DROUGHT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12446, 1 September 1902, Page 5

THE AUSTRALIAN DROUGHT.

RAIN IN NEW .SOUTH WALES. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. SYDNEY, August 30. (Received August 30, at 10.00 a.m.) ltain has fallen heavily in the south and in many central stations, but very little in the northern highlands. Rain continues heavy on the coast. THE MARKET FOR NEW ZEALAND MEAT. ' V SULLIES OF FROZEN MUTTON AND BEEF. In view of the long-protracted season of drought in New South Wales, and now happily broken in some portions of that colony by -welcome rains, as cabled on Saturday, and its probable effect on the. New Zealand meat market, a representative of this journal waited tin Mr W. A. Moore, manager in Dunedin for the Shire line of steamers, 'to".- ascertain, his impressions gathered during a visit to the droughtstricken colony, from which' he has just returned. It'is scarcely necessary to describe the effect a, long-protracted dry- sea/ son has upon the country in; New South Wales and Queensland: th© grass becomes shrivelled up to dust, the small watercourses disappear, the larger - dwindle ■to mere stagnant pools, and the. parched and blistered ground is given over to the all-prevailing dust. ■ The sheep and cattle depending for their sustenance upon the water and grass—so plentiful in favourable seasons—must either bo driven off to more .favoured lands, or else left to perish beMoath the pitiless glare of the sun. When warm rains fall upon this temporary desert the growth is of marvellous rapidity:, what was dust to-day may be green with vegetation on the morrow', but, unfortunately for the larger portion of New South Wales and Queensland, that rain has been withheld until within the past few days. Mr Moore, when approached on the subject, pointed out that if warm rains fell,in the droughtstricken districts the stock remaining alive would just be saved, and if oold rains the stock would perish from exposure, while if too much rain fell the first flush of grass would mean tremendous mortality amongst the starved sheep. Mr Moore particularly instanced a station in the western district of New South Wales where, while in ordinary seasons 150,000 sheep were carried,, great difficulty was now experienced in keeping 80,000 alive at all, and these wore kept . existing only bv artificial means, costing £70,000 during the past five or six months, including transport and water. The cost .of 'keepinjr slock alive had been so serious a matter that owners of stations,, even afteiliaving gone to great expense,' had debated whether or not it'would be cheaper in the end to let the stock die. The immediate result-would,be a benefit to New Zealand, as, live and frozen mutton would be in great demand in Sydney and the larger towns of New South Wales. The Homebijsh yards (Sydney) put through on an average 30,000 sheep a week for butchers' consum--tion, but now, of course, the supply was not forthcoming. In view of this fact, said Mr Moore. New Zealand would be callcd •upon for large supplies,, and a Shire liner would leave .Sydney, this'Veek to load frozen mutton and beef, at Port Chalmers, Bluff, and Lyttelton, talcing on board about 15,000 carcases of mutton and about 2500 quarters of beef. In addition to this, accommodation would bo provided for 2500 live sheep and probably from 50 to 100 'head ot cattle. The people in New South Wales were being forced to take frozen meat, in spite of the general prejudice against it; The Union Company's ,boats were carrying live stock, but they could not convey sufficient to meet the demand, and consequently frozen moat had to be accepted. The large hotels, institutions, etc., in Sydney, to which butchers supplied meat on contract, were now agreeing to accept frozen meat, as freshly-killed meat could not be obtained. Needless to say, remarked Mr Moore, the butchers are losing considerable sums. As tho cold storage accommodation had but little tax ution it, those who cared to take the risk mii?bt feed 1 the market: but the 'Sydney market was a very sensitive one. For instance, the Whangape had conveyed 4000 live sheep to Sydney, and a high market was expected, but, owing to t-he butchers from the northern coastal towns, who were coming to the yards to buy against the Sydney butchers, being delayed at seaby rough weather, and arriving a day late, the Sydney buyers had command of the market, and consequently prices were lower. Mr Moore thought there was an excellent market in New South Wales for New Zealand mutton. At last Sydney sales live sheep had brought splendid prices. To give an instance of the consumption of meat, ho mentioned that the Buteshire had landed 1000 tons of frozen beef from Townsville at Sydnoy. and it had all brought a good price, while the carcases were such as would not be frozen in New Zealand. While Mr Moore .thought there was a splendid market in the drought-stricken country for live and frozen meat from New Zealand, hs did not think tho demand for live sheep could be met for Ion?, as the weather would got too warm, and then it would be a. case of taking frozen meat or nothing*. The question of restocking was a big one, and even under the most favourable conditions it would take fully 18 months to restock the drought district in New South Wales,, so that during that time there should be a splendid market for New -Zealand frozen meat.