OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Tbou Ouk SreciAt ConitEsroxDE.Tr) BRADFORD, May 2. THE BEEF SCARE. When a loading New York paper a fortnight ago gave to the world the astonishing yarn about the formation of a Chicago beef trust or combine, which had for its main object the capture of the American and English market?, it set the ears tingling of not a few largely interested in frozen meats at sent here from Australasia and South America. The short corn crop in the United States last year had a good deal more to do with it than most people are aware of. This view of an expert on the matter appears to bo pretty generally adopted in America also, and Mr Wilfon, the American Secretary of Agriculture, has been giving his views on , the subject. In common tvith the rost of the men who know, he ridiculos the idea lof anything like a beef combine. "To me," ho says, "the rise in the price of beef is easily explained. It is due almost wholly to a short corn crop last year, and to a great demand for beef caused by the prosperity of the people of the United States. Tiie high price of corn has mado it necessary for Western cattle-feeders to send to the South for cotton-seed meal to feed their stock with Tho price- of fat cattle on the 1 hool fii the Chicago nx>ek-vaj.-da has ad.-

va-noed from. 4c or 5c a lb to 7© (3£d). Men who have fine beef cattle to sey oan almost get their own prices." That is the point of view of the United States, where the beef trouble is causing even greater anxiety than in England ; and practically the same thing may be said in regard to our own beef troubles. .At the same time too much reliance should not be plaoed on the scare that some papers are trying to make out of the present shortage, though the rise in the price of beef is a matter of serious moment to thousands of families. It is essential to understand in the fiist place to what extent the inhabitants of the British Isles are dependent upon America for their supplies of cattle, beef and hog products. This can readily be illustrated by tabulating the values of the aggregate imports for last year, and the share of the whole contributed by the United States under each category: — -

The above figures are not exhaustive; they do not include mutton, nor various classes of preserved meats obtained in large part from the United States, the country of origin of which is not specified in the official returns. They prove conclusively, however, the extent to whioh we are dependent upon the United States for live cattle, beef, bacon, and hams — the importance of which in quantity and value immensely transcends that of mutton. Out of a total value for the enumerated articles of consumption imported last year of £37,828,509, the United States contributed £28,758,972, equivalent to 76 per cent. Excluding live cattle, the share supplied by the United States was £21,465,030 out of £29,011.445. The stoppage of the imports of live cattle from Argentina, in consequence of the prevalence of foot and mouth disease, tended last year to place this country in a state of accentuated dependence upon America. The following figure* of the total cattle imports for the last three years show how the American trade has grown, and tho relative importance of the different sources of supply : —

To 6how the full significance of these figures it may be added that, although the value of imported live cattle- increased during these "years, the number of beasts decreased from 503,504 in 1899 to 492,225 in 1901. This decrease was entirely confined to the other countries, the number from tho United States actually rising from 321,229 to 403,946. The full significance of these facts may now be stated. We are becoming more ci.d more dependent for our supplies of live cattle, beef, and .hog products' upon a country in which the prices of these food commodities have been steadily rising" for several years. There is no evidence of a real shortage of stock in the United States. A succession of good harvests has placed the United States farmers in a sound financial position, and there is no disposition to place cattle upon the market when the deficiency of maize holds out the prospect of still higher prices, and it is more profitable to dispose of the feed than .to fatten the •took. The advance in the price of" animals and meat seems to have tron^ n-r, \minterruptedly vith tho growing pro ■ "rhy of general trade during recent year 3. Live cattle anl hogs in the United States have nearly doubled in price since 1896, while the advance in beef carcases has been equal to 50 per cent. Live hogs during the same interval have advancacl 87 per cent., ahd the carcases 74 per cent. Barrel beef has advanced 25 per cent., pork 85 per cent., bacon 77 per cent., and lard 88 per cent. Sheep and mutton have advanced 54 and 50 per cent, respectively. The important point to note is the gradual nature of this advance. It has not come about suddenly, but has spiead over a series of years, as the appended prices per lb of live animals and dead meat upon the Ist of April in the ycais sj>ecifietl show : — •

LIVE STOCK AT CHICAGO.

What is the moral of the above? Simply that our colonies must take the place of the United States and begin to produce more of the meats mentioned abovo. The future is bright in the extreme, and with a growing population in tho United States we shall have to look to our colonies for our food products in tho future. COURSE Of WOOL PRICES. Conditions compel us to state that things have further improved during tho past week, and prices are higher all round. This applies more particularly to merinos and fin© crossbreds, where it is now possible to obtain figures which are profitable. A good business had been done, spinners being ready buyers of tops at current prices, fearing a further advance. The question ia not will there be a move further in London next week, but what will the advance be; and we fail to see anything short of 5 per cent, all round. We only fear that a spirit of speculation, ib about to assert itself in merinos, and should not be surprised to see more than 5 per cent, improvement before the sales finish. The market continues to be well supplied with direct import", which is most profitable stock, and tho<-e wl'" Have wool are in no sense keen sellpr """ the talk is about dearer wool, and with consumption keeping up the outlook is con=idered particularly bright. The

following table shows the course of value* during the past month : —

■ aturo of linpori live Cattle .. Beef .. 're3h Pork .. Jacon ialted Beef .. [ains .. .. alted Pork .. rts. ' »• Total Value. £8,817,064 8,906,839 1,715,638 15,530,176 270,409 4,528,388 324,174 L .ts. Snare. £7 ,293,942 6,761,58"; 762,993 9,255,851 246,927 4,203,816 207,856

Description of Staple. 2M .a •« I • 1 I ~ ' 1 < d. d. d. d. Id. Lincoln hoggs Lincoln wetheis Deep-grown hoggs Deep-grown wethers White fcuper hoggs White syper wethers Irish ho»gs Irish wethers ... Shropshire hogga J»hrop>bire wethers ... Ord half bied hoggs ... Ov.l. h-lfbred wethers ... Wiltshire Down tegs Wiltshire Down ewes Super 60's, col. tops < Tdinary 60's, col. tops ... Oruionry 40'e, coL tops ... Ordinaiy 36*s, col. tops ... Ordinary {SO's, liuenoi Ajres tops Turkey avei age mohair . . . Cape firsts, mohair 7}l 71 5i 51 6 , 51 5J 5 «i, 6i 6*' 5* 7 I 7 f* 1 5} 7J 7 6i 6 9i 9} £0} 21 20 , 20 81 SJ 8 8 20 20 16 16 14 * 14 P 6} 7J 7i 7 6 §i 21 20 I1I 1 7} 5 5J 5 £ ? ! 6 9* 9j 2Ji 20| S! Si P D 51 6f 5} IP I 21* 2 i 8{ 8i 20 16 14 20} 16 14 20} 16 14

±&vv. lauu. imi. Jnited States £5,541,781 £6,500,744 £7,293,942 Lrgentine Republic .. 1,392,599 667,500 tonada .. 1,596,097 1,806,238 1,491,472 Ihannel Islands .. 33,101 33,845 31,650 >ther Countries .. .. 8,536 3,867 ■

J-OU4. ±aU±. XOt7i7. XO3I teeve? „ ,„ .. .. 7.25 6.00 5.65 3.8< ihcep »,, 6.40 5.40 4.50 3.5< [ogs .. ... .. .. 7.00 6.20 3.80 3.7: MEATS. le«f, carcases, Chicago 9.12 7.75 7.12 G.Oi [ogs „ „ . 8.00 7.75 5.00 4.6( lutton „ „ 9.75 9.00 7.12 6.51 Jacon, Chicago .. .. 9.50 9.00 5.50 5.3' [aras, Chicago .. ... 10.75 11.00 8.00 9.5( iard, New York ... 10.10 8.70 5.55 5.3! Jeef, New York .. 6.25 5.12 5.12 5.0( 'ork, Now York .. 8.12 7.75 7.75 4.3'