FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12464, 25 May 1911, Page 5

FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

BRIGHT PROSPKCTS AHEAD

The Hon. Thos. .Mackenzie. Minister for Agriculture, jn the course, of an interesting speecji at the opening of the Auckland Winter Show dealt very fully with the position m regard to our frozen meat trade. The first, shipment to leave New Zealand was sent away m 1882, and a controversy arose as to whether onr flocks could" stand a drainage of 300,000 carcases annually. Our flocks then totalled 12,000,000.; Last year we exported five and a-hnlf million carcases of. mutton and lamb. Meantime our flocks had supplied all local wants, and increased to 24.000,000. Of the' 150,---000.000 carcases of, .mutton and lamb imported into Great Britain, New Zealand had contributed half tho total. Never was tha position more assured than at present. Favorable seasons m Australia have enabled them to increase their output to £4.200,000. The Argentine was practically stationary (fast year being 200,000 carcases behind). Owing to the prosperity of the Mother Country, the whole of the increase had gone into consumption at remunerative prices. Anyone, however, taking "a careful survey of the possibilities of trade development m meat could readily recognise they were on the verge of; great possibilities, especially m Europe. Progress had been made with the introduction of frozen meat into Austria and Italy. A trial of 22 tons of Argentine beef was sold m Vienna. Switzerland was also about to adopt modifications m order to admit frozen meat via Genoa. Portugal had withdrawn altogether the prohibitive import duty on all imported meat. In France no change hnd taken place. In Germany they must look to tho next elections with the hope that-some modifications might take place. In Austria a very fierce discussion arose ovor t he high price of victuals, when they decided by 24 votes to 17 m favor of unlimited 'importation of frozen meat from Argentine up to the end of the year 1911. although n- change of Government had not taken place. . The world's flocks m the total m 1895 were 522.000,000; the latest returns give them nt 502.C00.000. In 1894 the 'flocks m Australasia wero 125.000,000; now they are 115,000,000. In North America beef supply was decreasing, whilst that of the Argentine was increasing. In 1900 tho value of American beef sold abroad was £6,200.000. In 1909 it wns only £3.000,000. In the same period Argentina's exports of beef rose from 24,590,000 to 210,000,0001b5. New Zealand meat was excluded from Germany largely by the influence of the Agrarian pnrty m its Parliament, but t lie Agrarian population was decreasing. The proportion of the German people engaged m agriculture (including their families) had fallen from 42 per cent m 1882 to about 27 per cent m 1907. The area of cultivated land per head of the population dwindled from 2^ acres m 1878 to an acre and a-lialf m 1900. Germany has, therefore, to live for 52 days m the year on foreign foodstuffs or starve.