AUSTRALIAN FROZEN MEAT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5502, 29 February 1896, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN FROZEN MEAT.

INTERVIEW WITH ME JOHN COOKE. Mr John Cooke, who some years ago was the manager of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company in Canterbury, and who was one of the pioneers of the New Zealand frozen meat trade, is now on a visit to Christchurch. He has been in Melbourne for several years, and latterly he has been devoting* hi's time and attention to developing the export of frozen meat from Australia to . England, and establishing*, .tie trade from the sister colonies on a firm basis. Yesterday he gave a representative Of - this journal some . interestihg information about agricultural and pastoral'matters in Aiistralia. : .' ' A :. ,THE AUSTRAI.IA-N FROZEN HEAT TEADE. , Since Mr, Cqofce was .last here he has established freezing works at Deniliquin, New South Wales, and has succeeded in demonstrating the possibility and advantage of freezing in the interior, close to thp pastures upon which the sheep are fattened, and transporting the carcases in a frozen state to the seaboard. In reply to questions as to what time was occupied in transit, and as to the state in which the mutton arrived at the ship's side, Mr Cooke said that loading was commenced about 9 or 10 a.m., and the mutton was conveyed by special trains Of fifteen trucks containing about 5500 sheep, which were despatched at 1.30 p.m., and reached their destination at 10 p.m. The transfer from the trucks' to the steamer's hold was effected during the night, and. therefore the whole time from the commencement of loading at the works till the carcases were stowed in the cool chambers of the vessels was only some.seventeen or eighteen hours. No mechanical or freezing appliances were employed, but the trucks were well insulated, and the meat was put oh board the ship in exactly the same condition as it left the -works. Owing tb " the heating of the axles in some hew trucks delaying the trains, meat had on two occasions during the summer been as long as forty hours ,on-the* way without the slightest signs of thawing "being apparent: His experience went to prove" that frozen meat could be safely carried in* summer in New South Wales and Queensland to the seaboard when the time occupied in the process did not exceed, say, twenty-four hours. Indeed, with sheep hard frozen and heavier insulation of the railway trucks, he did not hesitate to assert that the Conveyance of meat in a frozen state was practicable from any railway station in Australia to the nearest port. '•:••' * ' . Asked as to how the New South Wales sheep compared with those from New Zealand, Mr Cooke said that almost the whole of the 'output- from Sydney consisted of merinoes, and therefore did not meet the requirements of the Home trade in the same manner as cross-bred mutton did. PROSPECTS OP THE TBADE. Notwithstanding the very severe drought the export of frozen mutton during the last few months had been very large. The total shipments from Australia during 1894 was 900*000 sheep, whilst during the months of October, November, December and January last no fewer than -700,000 sheep and lambs had been shipped, and the first half* of February maintained that average ; but in the immediate future the exports would largely decrease. The shipments from Melbourne had how almost entirely ceased, whilst the absence of fat sheep in New. South Wales, caused by the drought, would steadily reduce the quantities from Sydney for several months to come. EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. * . The. first effect of the drought Mr Cooke said was to increase the export, because producers could not hold the stock, and whether suitable or otherwise it was forced upon the markets.' But now that splendid rains had fallen the demand for re-stocking properties would be very large, especially in view of : tiie substantial rise in wool. He liad given particular attention to the subject of the -losses by drou-ghtj and he'had no hesitation in saying that in New. South Wales alone the* decrease in the number of sheep would reach not far short of 12,000,000. The Government statistics gave the decrease as nine millions and a half, but as these figures were obtained about shearing time, since which the losses . had* been very heavy, he felt quite safe in assessing them at fully 25 per cent more. Moreover, there must be a very poor lambing during the current year, so that there would be no real start made in restoring the deficiency until the lambing of 1897. The losses in Queensland would not be very heavy, and Victoria would about maintain its numbers. DISTRIBUTION OP FEOZEN MEAT AT HOME. In reply to a question as to whether he

»__-_-_____________—-__«-. ii M-n—a mi-iii- --- recognised the necessity of extending tho distribution of frozen meat in the United Kingdom, Mr Cooke said he certainly did, and for many year 3 past' he had been preaching that doctrine. He had been largely instrumental "'. in securing the charter of the Gulf of Siam, the first direct steamer despatched from Melbourne to Manchester. In fact the bulk of that steamer's cargo was shipped by clients of his. Despite the threatened opposition of the Argentine, they considered tliat Australian sheep were so suitable to the requirements of the manufacturing districts that it -traa intended to establish this trade upon a permanent basis. He was glad to say that he also, h^dbeeh successful in opening iip hew channels in Liver- \ pool, Glasgow and. Cardiff,. whilst after a very severei struggle against strong opposition the Mediterranean ports, had .been opened, to" Australian beef ahd mutton. Regular shipments' were now being made tb Malta, Gibraltar and Port Said, and the quantities taken demonstrated that the consumers appreciated the quality and condition of the meat. There was no doubt that the British troops used the bulk of the shipments, but he had "reason to know that a public- demand was alsb being created by the superiority of tho meat over the importations of live stock from Algeria, Russia and elsewhere. Mr Cooke said that he did not agree with the statements made that the bulk of the mutton sent to London was consumed within that city. The account sales he was continually receiving from London agents proved that the distribution was very widespread indeed. The weak feature, in his opinion, in. sending nearly the whole of the meat to London was that when the stores there got pretty fidl the whole of the butchering trade in the. metropolis became acquainted with that circumstance, and regulated the market accordingly. If the same quantity of meat were spread over the stores in the varipus centres of population, the," visible supply" would be. difficult to assess, and prices, would accordingly -remain more ; stahle! A WOOL PROSPECTS. „• ' Mr Cooke is ,of opinion that for several years to come the wool market will be in a very healthy condition, and that a considerable increase on present values may be retted upon. The shortage in the Australian clip of 1895 .will, he thinks, be about 180,000 bales,, and he has the strongest possible conviction that the growing clip will fall short of its predecessor by nearly an equal amount. The break-up of the drought came too late to produce ah average, or even fair, lambing, whilst the. poor lambing last year,' and the i subsequent heavy mortality amongst young ! as well as old sheep must tell greatly upon J both the weight and number of fleeces to j be baled next season. | . BUTTEE. - ■. . i The season for dairy produce in Australia has bsen a very disappointing one in •respect to the quantity of the output, this ■result, of course, being due to the dry | weather. Preparations had been made in :New South Wales to begin the export of butter on a scale of some • magnitude, but, ■unfortunately, that colony had had to supplement her own supplies by imports irom Victoria. The total exports from Victoria had- been expected to reach 16,000 tons, or 3000 tons more than in 1894-5, but the season had closed with a total ex-port of 7000 tons, or 5000 tons short of the shipments of the previous season. Fortunately, the quality had been' considerably improved, and the prices •realised displayed a substantial advance on those previously ruling. All the Australian Governments were now assisting the producers in every possible way, not only in offering facilities for land trans- i port, but also in securing cheaper ocean freights and in supervising the quality of ithe exports. They have also devoted considerable attention to improvements in the methods of sale and distribution in the Old Country, although as yet not much sue- j cess had been achieved in that respect, j The fact was that the butter trade was too much controlled by speculative agents. The remedy for this, in Mr Cooke's opinion, lies in the hands of the producers themselves, who should employ only salesmen" or brokers who do a purely commission business, and whose sole interests would be to obtain the highest value for thenprincipals.. Mr Cooke concluded a most interesting chafeby stating that it is his intention to proceed tb England in April with the object of thoroughly examining all the ramifications of the export trade, and if possible remedying some of the anomalies ;— --not to' say abuses— which have gradually but steadily rendered it less profitable to the sheep grower. ;