BRITAIN’S IMPORTS OF N.Z. MUTTON

Southland Times, Issue 23825, 24 May 1939, Page 6

BRITAIN’S IMPORTS OF N.Z. MUTTON

“NO SENSE IN DECISION OF MEAT BOARD”

“I cannot see any sense in the Meat Board’s decision to restrict the importations of mutton from New Zealand into Great Britain,” stated Mr J. Keith Kilby, of Smithfield, London, to a reporter of The Southland Times yesterday. Mr Kilby has been in New Zealand for the last 18 months, and he expects to spend two months in Southland. He will visit Australia before returning to England. He did not understand why the board should restrict the importations of old ewes because, in England, they comprised the poor man’s meat, Mr Kilby said. In this way the poor man was penalized. If any restrictions were to be imposed he thought the board should cut down on the quota of heavyweight lambs and lightweight wethers. This meat was bought by members of the public who could afford to pay the English price. Mr Kilby said that he had discovered why New Zealand, and particularly Southland, produced the best lamb. It was the result of the right type of ewe being crossed with the best breed of ram, the Southdown. In England they did not want fat lambs—or at least lambs carrying too much condition—but they required lambs with more meat. In the North Island the quality of the sheep was good, but the quality of the lambs was not up to the same standard.