"PRIME CANTERBURY." (North Otago Times.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 7

"PRIME CANTERBURY." (North Otago Times.)

I At first "prime Canterbury" was a name j given to mutton which had been fed and fafcj tened in the provincial district of Canterbury, and its exporters conjured by tho name, ' conjured so successfully, indeed, that not only did sheep bring several shillings a head more in Christchurch, but "prime Canterbury" ou the London market realised a halfpenny to a penny per lb more than mutton from other parts of the colony. In the North Island the I sheep are coarser bred, and the prico would ! naturally be expected to be less than for the i finer quality exported from Lyttelton ; but {-.in the South Island the case is entirely «dift ferenfc. The sheep are similarly bred, and the ■ food in every respect is tho eamo, for in a turnip grown in Canterbury thoro is no cjssonlial difference from a turnip grown in Otago. j Tiie cause of the difference in price musfc therefore bo looked for in another direction and we find it in the reputation that Cantorbury has built up for carefulness in trading Lvery Canterbury sheep, whether old •or young, fat or lean, is not designated "prime Canterbury "as soon as it has passed through Belfast or Islington. Tho sheep are graded with the moKt exacting carefulness, and only that which is up to the standard is ticketed I prime Canterbury." That which docs not | reach the standard in quality is graded as ! secondary. On the certificates issued the j mutton is sold at Home. Buyers do not go | down to tho docks and inspect every sheep | they buy. They buy on the reputation tho different brands have secured for themselves. To gJvo an evidence of how this reputation affects the value of the mutton we may , state that if a line of "prime Canterbury" was ticketed with an Otago or Southland ■ brand it -would bring no .more than Otago : and Southland mutton usually realises. The j carefulness exercised by fcho Canterbury ex- ! porters lias resulted in their ability to give a higher price for prime sheep than oither Otago or Southland, and this is the reason why all tho best fiheep in tho South Island find their way to Chrisfcchurch. As an example: it there is a difference of a halfpenny per lb in favour of Canterbury, a 701b sheep will bring 2s lid more in the London marker, ihia small difference will iooro than pay the cost of railage, etc. It has now come to be recognised that (.ho best quality sheep must go to Christchurch if the highest prico is to bo obtained. The Canterbury works are thus running full whilo those in other places probably fill in halftime with difficulty. We have made no, reference to the by-products of the sheep, which Canterbury utilises to the fullest extent, and which other places do not. In this alone there is sufficient to account lor a substantial difference in price, and if tho two are added together it will be apparent thai Cant.erbury has now the best of the frozon meat trade in the hollow of her hand. For tins she* has to thank the energy and carefulness of those who control the export trade, u-hilo tho positions filled by other parts uf ilio colony are in a large measure due to the neglect to take advantage' of circumstances cr to the realisation of the fact that a second place is all that can be attained. But here let, us say that had the same care been exercised in tho southern part of the island as in Canterbury in the grading of mutton the reputation of Otago and Southland would have stood as high as docs that of Canterbury. Only recently an expert grader in this district passed a number of sheep as prime for Otago, but tho owner was subsequently induced <o send them north. The result was that the great majority could only obtain si secondary certificate. Secondary Canterbury mutton brings the same price in London as " prime Otago," and iv this case the utilisation of the by-products would be expected to pay the cost of railage. The purchaser would, iherefore. lose nothing by sending north. The thousands of sheep that are being railed north at tho present, time may not pjA-s^jvith a first-class certificate, but those that do will probably bring from 3s to a head more in London than if they had been shipped from the south, and tho by-products have also to be reckoned in. The purchasers must, therefore niako a profit as between shipping from LytteUon and a southern port. We have not (he slightest desire to disparage the southern freezing works. They Ime been, and are yot, of the greatest advantage to the sheep breeder and jrrazier, but they now stand as an evidence of the absence of "go" in those who control them. Want of capital it may be now, but. in the first instance it was decidedly want, of carefulness. Circumstances may have arison that forced the southern companies to adopt, a lower grading standard, but the injuriousness of this is seen now in the liiyher price "prime Canterbury" brings in London, and gie ease with which the Christchurch exporters draw all the best sheep to themselves. They can now afford to 'outbid the whole colony, and have the trade pracically in their bauds.

Constables Brennan, of Caversham, anof Martin, of Anderson's Bay, exchange stations,

Nimmo and Blair's novelties of plantfj seeds, &c, as advertised in another column should hn f-rrovm in every garden*