RIVER PLATE MUTTON AND BEEF. –

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 124, 17 October 1885, Page 7

RIVER PLATE MUTTON AND BEEF. -

"* — , Decidedly the most Important event o recent date to producers of . mrittonj ii the decision of . a~ largo -firmz-'oB tneai salesmen in Liverpool 1 to ."ericour-age th( importation of River Plate mnfctou itf the Mersey, as against the importation from New Zealand to the Thames, .This firm (Messrs: Nelson ftnd Sons} have hitherto been large buyers of mutton from this colony^ bat they seem to see a better opportunity • for themselves and their. customers in Lancashire and Yorkshire iii the encouragement of the itiver Plate trade. They intend to go into this thoroughly. Several vessels of the Houston line trading between Liverpool and Buenos Ayres have been fitted with refrigerating machinery, as also have been the storage rooms at Brnmley-Moore Dock, whero the first consignment •of 8000 carcases was received the other day. -Against the advautages enjoyed by the River Plate producer — such as their comparative nearness to marktt and the ropulousnuss of i he districts they are invited to snpply — mnst be sot at present these dis-. advantages i— (l)*Taking into account the small cargoes at present shipped compared with' the euoruous loads from New Zealand, and the heavy harbour dues of the Mersey, the intermediate charges will not be much, if any, less than if the mutton weft brought from New Zealand. (2) The River Plate, mutton is a long way inferior to Kew Zealand — in open market in London it always lags behind in price. Several steamships have been fitted up with refrigerating apparatus, and large stores have been built at Liverpool for preserving the meat till it can be conveniently marketed. If tlui sheep breeders of the River Plate improve their fl< ttks with sufficient speed, they will be in a position to compete keenly with New Zealand and Australia. The Queens tauder leferring to the River Plate beef says i~ " South America has for a long time threatened to be a formidable opponent of Australia in the production of fine wool, and now threuteus to run us close in the matter of beef production. ]?or years past selections from some of the finest purebreeds in the United Kingdom have been shipped to Buenos Ayres. On the 9th May last a magnificent collection of Olydesdale horses, shorthorn cattle, and Oxford Downs and Lincoln sheep were shipped by the it.M.S. Tagns. On the 9th June another large collection of shorthorns and Lincoln and Oxford Downs sheep) and on the 24th June lix yearling colts and fillies (thoroughbred) were exported, all for Buenos Ayres. It is noteworthy that nearly the whole of the shorthorns sent Were either Booths or Scotch, the River Plate breeders evidently favouring robustness."