NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE

Otago Witness, Issue 3383, 15 January 1919, Page 13

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE

OPERATIONS OF IMPERIAL SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT. SOME HUGE FIGURES. WELLINGTON., January 7. A return just compiled, "covering the operations of the Imperial Supplies Department, contains some extraordinary figures showing the huge business that this little department has carried out since it was established on March 3, 1915. It should be remembered always that the department has not since that time dealt with all the products which are' now on the list. At' first it was concerned only with frozen meat. In the period of less than four years the department had made payments up to December, 31 amounting to the stupendous total of £78,509,889. The total was made up as follows :-^- Frozen meat ... ...£30,813,504 Cheese—--1915-16 season 917,748 1916-17 1917-18 season 4,855,790 1918-19 season 944,703 Butter—--1917-18 season 2,929,975 1918-19 season 726,928 Scheelite 128,802 Wool 27,082,319 Freezing companies' slipe wool 3,292,875 Sheepskins 1,381,714 Hides 704,577 Other business 1,435,997 Total £78,509,889 Upwards of 250 cargoes of meat have been loaded on this coast and despatched to the order of the Imperial Board of Trade. The quantities of meat were as follow: Quarters of beef 2,293,217 Mutton (freight carcases) 7,974,675 Lamb (freight carcases) 9,323,813 The meat in store on November 30 last, for which space had been allocated in overseas steamers was: North Island. 2,612,390 freight carcases; and South Island, 1,660,637 freight carcases. This may be taken as some indication of the amount of meat now in the stores. Some of this meat has no doubt been allocated space in outward steamers since November 30, but the amount of meat so accounted for must be at least equalled by the killings since that date. This year the season has been late, and the Wellington works are just now beginning to run at full capacity. On December 16, 1918, there were in store in the North Island 227,679 crates of cheese and 29,738" in the South Island. On the same date there were in store 189.207 boxes of butter in the North Island stores, and 27.855 in the South Island. The sum paid for wool has been naid for 1.122.279 bales, out of a total of 1,164,064 bales valued. The number of bales of wool available for shipment on December 31 was 535,411 of creasy wool and 112,244 of scoured and fellmongers' slipe

w 001... These figures take no account of the operations in freezing companies' slipo wool, which is bought under different arrangements. On December 31 there wero in shore 60,525 casks of tallow,-'making 22,696 tons. This product is not being on account of the Imperial Government; it is awaiting shipment at owners' risk. EXTENDED PERIOD OF IMPERIAL REQUISITIONS. (Fbom Ouh Own Cobbespondknt.) WELLINGTON, January 13. At last the Imperial Government has signified that it will take New Zealand frozen meat for an extended period after the war. The Minister has received advice that meat will be purchased until June 30, 1920. He has received similar advice about butter. The exporters of butter were anxious that the purchase should, in the meantime, be for one year, but the Imperial authorities insist that it should be for the longer period. This will make all the purchase schemes coterminous —wool, meat, butter, and cheese. The decision is most important as affecting meat, because the trade was threatened with serious disorganisation if the original scheme had been adhered to — the termination of the requisition three months after the conclusion of peace. With the prices of produce fixed for 18 months ahead, the producers should be assured of an easy transition from war to peace conditiona of trading.