Shipping Live Stock to England.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7136, 19 November 1894, Page 4

Shipping Live Stock to England.

Tax results of the experimental shipment of live cattle from Sydney to London by the Maori King are now to hand. Fifteen fafc and five store beasts were sent. The store cattle were sent under the impression that they could be depastured onarrival in England, but the Board of Agriculture would not allow that to be done, as the regulations stipulate that all imported cattle must be slaughtered at the port of landing. One bullock died on the voyage, but the others were landed in «ood condition, and the fat animals realised good prices. About Ll4 represents the net price received for each fat bullock, and the net result is Btated to be a loss of 10a per head. The cattle coat L 5 each in New South Wales, and the freight, feed, etc., brought up the cost, landed in England. to Ll4 10a. This, of course, does not prove that a remunerative trade could not be built up, but rather the contrary. The expenses of such a small consignment would be proportionately very much heavier than on, say, two or three hundred. The shipment by the Maori King was not, in fact, made as a coramer cial speculation. It was primarily undertaken to test whether fat cattle could be sent to England aud kept in condition for market. The Argentine farmers have proved that they can ship both live cattle and sheep, and they are developing the trade— which, by the way, was pioneered by Mr Thompson, formerly Mr Tanner's manager at RiversSet. -•* n tctj rapid mto But ll had lv be proved whether equal success could be achieved in the longer voyage from Australia, through the tempestuous seas of the Horn. The Maori King experiment has shown that it can, and that is the really important point. As to the condition of the cattle when landed, the Times says : — " Animals no doubt deteriorate a great deal more in a short railway journey than on a long sea voyage, and the condition of the cattle on board the Maori King justifies the conclusion that they were in better condition than if they had been trucked from Chicago to New York, and then shipped across the Atlantic. Before the minimum cost at which the condition of cattle can be maintained on board vessels during a lengthy voyage can be ascertained, a great deal of practice will have yet to be gone through. It has been clearly shown by the present shipment that, not only can animals speedily accustom themselves to their new condition of existence, but they may be got to improve in condition during the voyage. It yet remains to be seen to what extent this improvement can be carried." Who will be the pioneer ahipper of live caltle from New Zealand ?