No. 4. 



The Provision Trade. 



107 



The Provision Trade. 



We make the following extracts from the circular of 

 a highly respectable house in Liverpool. They cannot 

 fail to interest those of our readers who deal in the 

 articles spoken of. When a little extra care will en- 

 sure a ready market and a fair price, it is certainly 

 bad economy, to sacrifice to carelessness and inatten- 

 tion, the conveniences of the one, and the profits of 

 the other. We learn that one of the partners of thi 

 house, has been extensively through the United States 

 and Canada with particular reference to this subject. 



Ed. 



Our new tariff being so favourable to the 

 introduction of American provisions into 

 England, that we have the prospect of an 

 extensive and steady import of various arti- 

 cles of produce from thence, we would throw 

 out, for the guidance of those who contem- 

 plate engaging in the preparation of provis- 

 ions for our market, some suggestions which 

 we conceive to be important, and a com- 

 pliance with which will operate favourably 

 to the interests of those engaged in the 

 trade. We are aware that the shipment of 

 beef and pork to England, this year, has 

 turned out a very unprofitable operation, and 

 in consequence, many persons feel discou- 

 raged from prosecuting the trade, having got 

 the impression that a prejudice exists in this 

 country against American provisions. Such 

 is not the case however. It is true that those 

 articles have been almost unsaleable in our 

 market, but the reason is found in the fact 

 of their entire want of adaptation to our 

 tastes, and their general inferiority to what 

 we have been in the habit of receiving from 

 Ireland and Hamburg. Of this inferiority 

 there is sufficient evidence in the fact, that, 

 while Irish pork has been selling freely at 

 70s. a 75s., the American has been with 

 difficulty disposed of at a price equal to 48s. 

 duty paid. 



This inferiority as regards pork, arises 

 principally from the hogs being generally 

 fed on beach nuts, or other wild feeding, 

 which makes the meat soft and oily ; but it 

 is partly owing also to the hurried way in 

 which provisions have been cured and pack- 

 ed, especially in the Western country, and 

 to the use of an inferior salt, quite unsuit- 

 able to the purpose. We would urge strong- 

 ly on shippers, the propriety of bestowing 

 more care on the selection and preparation 

 of pork for our market in future, as a soft 

 and inferior article is almost unsaleable with 

 us, and the shipment of such will be cer- 

 tainly productive of loss to the owner. These 

 remarks apply with equal force to beef, which 

 has been inferior, not only in consequence of 

 insufficient fattening, but also from being 

 very roughly handled. The form too, in 



which both articles have been cut, has tend- 

 ed to occasion this depreciation in our market, 

 and although it may not appear of sufficient 

 consequence to affect their value, yet taking 

 into consideration that our buyers have been 

 accustomed to a certain cut tor many years, 

 it is reasonable that their tastes should be 

 consulted. Of one thing we feel assured, 

 that shippers will find it to their advantage 

 to fall in with the requirements of our 

 market. 



Fine leaf lard, if unmixed and well man- 

 aged, will, we think, be a profitable article 

 of shipment. It is put up in neat white 

 hooped kegs, containing about 40 lbs. each. 

 The lard is poured into the kegs at the head, 

 and so soon as it has cooled and settled down, 

 the surface is made level and covered with 

 white paper, which prevents it from adher- 

 ing to the lid when opened for inspection in 

 our market. It is also put up to a consider- 

 able extent in bladders, and shipped in hogs- 

 heads, packed with bran or cut straw. It is 

 important that the bladders should be well 

 cleansed by scraping and the use of acids, 

 so that they may be tolerably transparent. 

 The inferior lard may be put up in packages 

 of any size, which, when large, should be 

 iron hooped. 



By the subjoined extract from the tariff, it 

 will be seen that the different duties in fa- 

 vour of colonial produce are so great, as to 

 give a decided advantage to Canada, in the 

 shipment of all provisions for our home con- 

 sumption. Lard is admitted on favourable 

 teims, and as our demand for that article for 

 machinery manufacturing purposes is very 

 large, we would strongly recommend that 

 the soft pork should be melted down and 

 shipped in that form. 



The high duty on foreign butter being re- 

 tained, will prevent any regular trade in 

 that article from America, except when 

 prices are so low as to make it an object of 

 attention for shipment, as grease ; under this 

 name, it is liable to a duty of Is. 8d. per 

 cwt. only. In Canada the soil appears to be 

 very favourable for the production of this 

 article, and under the present modified colo- 

 nial duty, it will become, we think, one of 

 very large export. The principal fault in 

 Canadian butter at present, is, that the milk 

 is not sufficiently pressed out, and conse- 

 quently, when shipped on a long voyage, it 

 becomes rancid before it can be consumed. 

 It should be packed in casks containing from 

 70 to 80 lbs., which must be air tight. 



Cheese has already been shipped exten- 

 sively, and as the quantity produced is in- 

 creasing every year, it is likely to become 

 an item of considerable trade. This article 

 has been shipped heretofore without much 



