Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1894.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6897, 8 February 1894, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1894.

REVIEW OF FROZEN MEAT TRADE. A copy of Messrs Weddel and Co.'s review of tho frozen meat trade for 1893 is to hand. The report states that the course of the trade during the past year has been more than ordinarily eveutful, and that its character at the time o^ writing (December 29) was undergoing change m several important respects, while the prospect for the near future was by no means clearly defined, though m some respects bright and attractive. It is stated that during the year tho undesirab'e constantly happened. Prices fell when on previous experience, they might have been expected to rise. Arrivals were heavy when with advantage they might have been light, and were absent just when they would have sold well. Drought m Europe forced supplies prematurely on the market, and strikes m England diminished the volume of demand. On the other hand, low prices proved the means of opening up entirely fresh markets, and thus laid the found»tiono£.eifeenc!od" oTTii~ of such adverse circumstances m 1893 one might have expected that lower rates would haveobtainerlduringtheyearthandisclosed m a table attached to the report. The following is the New Zealand average for the past six years, the quotations being for prime qualities only and representing top prices current at Smithfield on the dates of Messrs Weddel and Co.'s fortnightly reports :— IBBB, Ud ; 1889, Ud : 1890, 4gd j 1891, 4gd j 1892, 4£d ; 1893, 4£d. The decline may have been greater, and probably was, for the ordinary run of meat. The importations of frozen mutton into Great Britain during 1893 exceeded that of any previous year by over half-a-million carcases, New Zealand's consignments amounting to 1,893,604, as against 1,539,605 m 1892, and 1,894,105 m 1891. During the last three years the Argentine increased its export of frozen mutton by about 260,000 carcases, whilst Australia also exported an increased quantity. Regarding the industry m the colony, tho report says :— " Farmers m New Zealand continued to realise their full prices for fat stock m their local markets, >.owing to free competition amongst freezing companies, shipowners, and speculative shippers, all of whom appear to have operated throughout tho year with 'more or less disregard of the values current m the London market. Tho past twelve months, though doubtless profitable to growers, covered a period of loss on the bulk of capital engaged m the trade. The published reports of some of the freezing companies, and at least one of the shipping companies, are eloquent on this point, and there can bo no doubt that tho operations of Colonial shippers and British purchasers alike were unprofitable m the aggregate." We may remark that the frozen meat companies which conduct the largest business m this Island paid fair dividends to their shareholders on the operations of 1893.

Referring to the general outlook, the report says that as regards Home statistics, the prospect is on the whole favorable, from the point of view of the colonial producers. The agricultural returns for the United Kingdom for 1893 reveal a falling off amounting to 312,000 head of cattle and 1,868,000 sheep, the drought being the chief cause of the reduction. The returns for the Continent were not available, but there was a concensus of opinion amongst agriculturists that there has been a shrinkage m numbers m most European countries, the drought also being the cause. In America there had been a considerable decrease m cattle, and a further small reduction m sheep. In the United States, a falling-off m the meat supply is more significant than would be the case elsewhere, for the demand is constantly increasing at an enormous rate. In 1893, 1,470,000cwts of American chilled beef was received m the United Kingdom ; but m 1892 the quantity was 1,951,887cwt. The time is fast arriving when the consumption m the United States will overtako the supply. We extract the following from report : '• So far as the supply of frozen meat is concerned there is every appearance of its fully maintaining its volume from nil sources. In New Zealand .the flocks showed a further increase m 1892-3 to 19,357,000 sheep, as compared with 18,475,509 m 1891-2, and the increase appears to have been pretty general throughout the colony. Some additions have been mado, or are m course of completion, at several of the freezing works, and the aggregate annual output is now theoretically 4,000,000 carcases of mutton. In Australia the available surplus of beef and mutton promises to keep the various freezing establishments well employed, and new works are m contemplation at teveral points - more especially m New South Wales. The estimated maximum capacity of the works of Australia is now the equivalent of 3,000,000 carcases of mutton. No change has taken place m tho exporting capacity of the Argentine Republic during 1893; but, after two seasons of drought, resulting m a diminution of suitable supplies, there is every promise of a favorable season ; and the

continued high premium on gold will, doubtless, tend to facilitate the production of mutton at a low cost. It seems hardly necessary to repeat the warnings of previous years as to the certainty of competition increasing between Australia and tho River Plate, but the closeness of prices lately m these two descriptions of merino mutton shows clearly the need of recognising this aspect of the trade ; while the fact that about 50,000 crossbred carcases, averaging nearly 601bp, have been landed from the Argentine Republic during 1893, proves that South American producers are fully alive to the possibilities of the trade, and that they can ship as fine crossbred mutton as any hitherto received from Australia, should the British market continue to offer sufficient inducement. It is, of course, quite within the range of probability that the indefinite multiplication of crossbred sheep may serve to efface, or at least, minimise the existing premium on that description, as compared with merino mutton — especially as it is held by many Australian experts that it is only necessary to kill the merino on its accustomed pasturage (thereby retaining the proper quality, condition, and flavor), m order to insure its more ready acceptance by Home consumers."