202 



NFW SOUTH WALES. 



l|d. in English mutton owing to a decrease in the number of sheep in 

 the United Kangdom^ but there was scarcely any advance at all in 

 frozen mutton, as the importations of that article were large. In 1890 

 and 1891 there w^as a steady all-round fall, and no wonder, as in those 

 two years there was an increase of over 2,500,000 sheep on the 

 market, of which 1,500,000 were drawn from the United Kingdom. 

 It will thus be seen that the sympathy so often expressed for the poor 

 English sheep farmer has so far been thrown away, as frozen sheep 

 importations have in no way affected the value of prime, home-grown 

 mutton, though without doubt it does come into competition with 

 inferior home grown. In considering the English market, it must 

 further be noted that side by side with the large increase in frozen 

 meat imports, during the eight years previous to 1894 there had been an 

 enormous increase of United Kingdom sheep, in fact 5,000,000, giving 

 an increase of some 300,000 additional sheep annually. That the 

 United Kingdom has been able to absorb so great a number augurs 

 well for the future of our trade. But it is well to mention here that 

 while the total meat bill of the United Kingdom amounts to over 

 £100,000,000 sterling a year, of which one-third consists of imported 

 meat, Australia up to last year only contributed 2 4 per cent, of the 

 imported article. 



The share of British trade enjoyed by the principal exporting 

 countries can best be seen in the following table : — 



Imports of Frozen Sheep and Lambs into the United Kingdom. 



It will be seen that Australia has doubled its exports since 1892, i.e., 

 in four years, while New Zealand increased its output from 1,500,000 

 to nearly 2,500,000, the advance being principally in lambs. The Plate 

 also increased its exports b}^ about 500,000 sheep in the same period. 

 The total addition in the foQr years was nearly 2,000,000 head, or over 

 55 per cent, advance. 



In spite of the largeness of the above figures, only about 23 per 

 cent, of the meat supply of Great Britain is drawn from abroad though 

 the dependence on outside sources for food is each year becoming 

 more evident. In this connection a comparison between the home and 

 imported article, and the total meat consumption is of interest. 



