COLONIAL MEAT IN THE HOME MARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 7

COLONIAL MEAT IN THE HOME MARKET.

(From Ode Hojie Correspondent,) London, January 23. With thfl view of obtaining au authoritative /"Xpert decision .is to the b«st kiocl of New Zealand sheep for the London marked, ths carcases tf 70 sheep which were exhibited at one of the recent New Zaalaod pistora.l and agricultural pJiowb were sent to London to be adjudicated u>-on by the highest Smithiield authorities. No names or ether particulars were sent, so tbf^l tbe judging might be wholly uuMassed. The •sheep were forwarded in sevsu lois of 10 eich feu the SsiithfirM market, arrangements being made that some of tha bsst-knowa salesmen there should examine tbe carcases on arrival and should tbere sad tben decide upon the raerits of the exhibits vshich possessed the highest val;i,e and weie bast f.uittd for the Lend on trade. Tho shet'p were seat turough ihe New ZealAtid Meat Export Company, and Vfrxe ronrfigrei to Messrs 1\ and R. F]etchftr 5 of Stuithfield. They were shown &t SmithfiVul oa Monday ».nd Saturday las* and at> noted a great deal of attention. The understanding wfes that ihey should be hung up for sale liks any other sheep, and should bu judg"d as they were hanging by men who, from song fxpericrcce iu 'the trade, were best acle to judge of the class of sheep ihat would find th« ri,adiesfc pale at the best prices. All tho 70 carcas.es wrece landed in excellent condition by the e.s R'mutaka. They were bright and clear, and showed no signs whatever of chipping or r*>ngh handling, or discolouration or thawing. A numfcec of txp«rienc3d batchers and meat salesmsn attendeu to inspect the exhibits, aiid I do not think there was a single dissentient voice from rhe general consensus of opinion that thess 70 New Zealand sheep were E.s fine a lot as had ever been seen in the in&rktt, or as coald be produced anywhere in the United Kingdom. I may remark in passing tbat there was -a considerable range in point of weight ; the average w sights of the respective lo'jS ranged from 54-lfo for ?ha lightest to 83ib tor the heaviest. But there was only one io'j which weighed eiiher 801b or 54-lb ; all ths others ranged only between 571b and 63^10. It i<s a well-recognised fact that the weights most in drtnand are from 581b to 621b. The judging of the sheep took place on Monday last. Thß Agent-general for New Zealand and Mr A. C. Ovmeron (i.he New Zealand Government produce surveyor) were prcseafc, and Lo-anifesfed kdon inferesfc ia ihs proceedings. As nobody on tbis side of tha world is iv possession of the icf ormation ss to the real owners or shippers oil the various lots of sheep, I am of course unable to send more than the relative positions t?ken by the different lots according to number. The seven lots were numbered from "10" up to "16," and were adjudged in the following order according to merit; : — (1) Lot 12, average weight 621b per carcase ; (2) lot 11, avsrsge weight 61^1b per carcase ; lob 15, average weighs 57ib per carcasa ; (4) lob 13, average weight 61lb per carcase ; (5) lob 16. average weight 54-lb pet carcase ; (6) lofc 14-, average weight 634-lb por carj£se ; (7) lob 10, average weight 801b per carcaee. Here I may pDint out thai although the lightest weight aid nob secure first honours, the heaviest was decidedly last in the competition. Herein, I think, may be discsrned a valuable lesson for New Zealand producers. All the sheep were purchased by Palmer's Stores, H&mmersmifcb, where they were at once placed ou exhibition. They attracted a remarkable amount of attention on the part of customers) and also passers-by, and i& was interesting to hear the frequent complimentary remarks mada by the spectators, who recognised that the quality of the meat could hardly be surpassed. lam informed that all the sheep were "Down crossbreds." The Agent-general is getting, through Me Cameron, a special report upon the sheep from the retailers who have bought them, so that ho may be able to advise the colony as to the class of &heep that are most suitable to the London market. The retailers will be specially requested to obtain the opinions of their customers in this connection. I have since learned that the sheep brought an average of 4-d per lb. At the conclusion of the proceedings Mr W. P. Reeves addressed a few remarks in the way of approval and congratulation to the shippers of the sheep, the Wellington Meat Export Company. This feat he accompl'&hecl by uttering his worde into a phonograph, the wax cjlinder of which has been carefully packed and forwarded to New Zealand, where, on being placed in one of the machines out there, it will re-utter in Mr Reeves's voice the words which ha spo v .o.

\ NiiiMo /nd Blair, Dunedin, will send Seedling £ii::ui.E Dahlias and Verbenas post free 6 c orier.3 of ss ; Kingly, 2s per dozen.

ROBERT CAMPBELL A3!> SONS. ) (.From Ocr Homb Correspokdext. ) j London, January 23. j Oa Monday last the sixteenth annual meet- • ing of shareholders in Robert Campbell and j Sons was held at Winchester House, Old Broad ' street. Mr Wjlliam Henry Campbell occupied j tha chair, lleff-rnng to tbe profit and loss . account, the Chairman said tbat the Btaticn , expenses for tbe current year were givea as \ £16,151 as against £13,072 in the previous year, j Though tha increase locked heavy, ib wa* not a j leal increabe, the fact being that up to the present a certain amount for fancing, grassing, &,\ had anuually betn changed to the permanent I improvement* account, bub this year the who'.e ' s*m-unb spent had been debited to revenue, as ' the directors considered that it wou'd bo bolter ! for each year to bear its own expenditure | rather than that the capital account should be I increased. While the rents and rates were , slightly higher, the Chairman »aid he had to j congratulate the shareholders on the great I diminution in the rabbit txpeuses. Dating ! 1896 thtfse amounted to £5535, lers £i&l6 ! iftiiised for skins, or a t;oial debit of ' £3718 ; bat in i,be. rurrei.t year the I figures were £2124. less £2*7, or a total deb\fc j of £1876. Tiiis decrease ia the number of i rabbibi meant so much more additional food tor | the shesp, and in a dry season that was a most j material point. Ib also meant (hat their flocks J would r.ot be disturbad at all times aud seasons J by j?*ngft cf rabbiters with thei" doj^. Oa the i credit &ide there was a profit of £8695 on the J sheep accoun*-, agviusf; a lofb cf £12,374 la^t j year, and he remarked that tile s&vere loas of | sheep from which they suffered some three j '. years ago was nob altogether an unmixed evil, I as a number of thore sheep were old animals, '■ and flow their flicks vtkta composed mainly of yo.ing ons-'. Tae increase on cattle had nearly doublet! itarlf. AS Station Peak they had | ( about 4000 fores of land which had bsen j leclnitneti from n, swamp, and it w?s now ex- I : tr*»!»aly rjrh pasture — whn,fc an English farmee ' would describe ss J< bullock-feeding land." AS Bsnmoro — their largest station — they had some j , country which was well adapted to reaiiog j ra'tle, ard they had always reared ?. ' RQDiidfr&ble nuinbsr there. While lie was j ia New Zealand in tho y^si 1 18&5 j ife ccci«rre»l to him that ib would be advau- j tageous to tbe company to work Bentnore with j the Station Peak cattle account, so as to com- , bins the breeding with the grazing profit. This j had been done. All their stocks, as would be j ob>sPrved from the revised balance sheeb of the J Z r & November last, now stood ab corsiierably < reduced valuations, and thi3 should put th^ J ooiqpany on a firmer basis. Tbey had aliomade frish Sfrangeznents with regard' to the London office by which the expenditure would be reduced. He thought the managers deserved credib for the energy and talent they had always displayed in the company's interest-. It was nob possible for anyone to control the seasons and markets, and r.heretore it was nob accessary to Fpetk of the disastrous years through which the company had passed. s The Caairtnan concluded by mov'r.g the adoption of the directors' report to the 31sb Decernb"r, 1397. This was seconded by Mr Harris and carried unanimously. The Chairman then moved — " That a dividend ab the rate of 2 3 61 per share (free of income tax) oa all the shares of the company b? declared payable on the 26bh inst." Tttia moiion was seconded by Mr Orr and carried unanimously. Oa the "Motion of the Chairmao, seconded by Colonel Wyllie, Mr James Orr was ra-elec^ed a director of the company, and the chairman's motion that Mr George Harris, another retiring director, should be re-elected was also carried. The auditors were reappointed at a remuneration of 50 guineas. A vote of thanks was proposed to the directors and managers by Mr Van Raille and carried unanimously. In reply, the Chairman gratefully acknowledged the thanks which had been passed to all, and he assured the shareholders that the directors' be.3b endeavours would always be at the service of the company. He said that he had omitted bo meutiovi that the cropping amounts this year only represented a pmall amount, but they had j advice's from New Zsaland that; the looal com- , mithee therp bad jusS let 1190 aores for a corn j crop at something over a guinea per acre, and he hoped that this arrangement would be increased by next season. This terminated the proceedings