; 9 6 



The Live and Dead Meat Trade. [jan., 



third quality. On some days it has been hard to find any prime sides 

 at all, either of port-killed or chilled, and buyers have been compelled 

 to content themselves with second quality. It ought to be understood 

 that vast quantities of beef and other meat are always being sold at the 

 Central and Leadenhall markets, the prices of which never reach the 

 official records. The grades of quality and values are too many to par- 

 ticularise, and thus many readers may scarcely realise the low rates at 

 which inferior sorts are sold; take, for instance, the prices recently 

 made for Canadian ranch beef, killed at the port of landing : on Decem- 

 ber 2nd, large supplies of this class of beef were sold at /\\d. per lb., and 

 again on the 16th at ^\d. 



The fluctuations in chilled beef have been quite eccentric during the 

 month. On the 2nd, Argentine was fetching 4^. per lb. ; on the 9th it 

 rose to 5<i., falling again to 3fd. on the 16th. On the 23rd it was s^d., 

 and on the 30th it declined to $d. These prices refer to the best hind- 

 quarters only, forequarters on the last-named day being worth ^\d. per 

 lb. The transactions in frozen beef from New Zealand have been very 

 small. 



Carcase Mutton. — The supplies of Continental mutton have continued 

 undiminished, and have had a very great effect on the values of home 

 produce. Scotch and English carcases have been sold with difficulty at 

 prices out of proportion even to the low ones ruling in the live-stock 

 markets, the difference often being as much as i^d. to 2d. per lb., which is 

 a very wide margin for the offal. So far as the London dead-meat market 

 is concerned, this would seem to be the direct effect of the severe com- 

 petition of fresh-killed mutton from the Continent. The maximum price 

 of best Scotch mutton during the month has been 63d. per lb., except in 

 the week before Christmas, when it rose to 6fd. The lowest point 

 touched was 6d., on the 16th. Approximately, the price of English has 

 been per lb. less than that of Scotch. Continental carcases were 

 making as much as English up to the second week in December, but 

 since that date the latter has been fetching from \d. to id. per lb. 

 more. West country lamb has been very sparingly offered, and the 

 small quantity coming met with little inquiry. On December 30th, 

 however, a fair number of half-bred Dorset carcases were exposed in the 

 Central Market, and sold slowly at about md. per lb. 



Veal has been a very poor trade during the month, and on the 

 16th it was only worth 6d. to 6%d. per lb., rising at Christmas to Sd. for 

 exceptional quality. Pork has fluctuated considerably, varying from 

 $%d. to 6fd. for best small pigs. 



Wool. — There has been a decided improvement in the tone of the 

 wool trade, and values have an upward tendency owing to a good con- 

 sumptive demand rather than to speculative purchases. The London 

 sales of Colonial wool, which closed on the 12th, went off with great 

 spirit, and prices of cross-breds advanced from 15 to 20 per cent, on 

 those of the October series. Should this movement continue, as it is 

 expected to do, it must have a beneficial effect on the trade for both 

 fat and store sheep, a large proportion of the teg wool being sold on 

 the sheeps' backs during the first months of the year. 



Store Stock. — The trade for dairy cows has, on the whole, continued 

 good, and prices have been very steady, but in this branch of store stock 

 there is a very wide range of quality and values, wider, indeed, than 

 it is possible to show in tabulated market returns. The London market 



