222 Growth and Dcfelopmeni of the Trade in Frozen Mutton. 
Charges on 1,000 lbs. of mutton. 
Hate per lb. 
1886 
Bate per lb. 
1888 
Petty expenses, bags, ex- 
change, &c 
Insurance 
London charges . . . 
Since the estimated loss 
in weight is 5 per cent., 
there is for sale 950 lbs. 
Eemaining to remunerate 
grower on each 1,000 
lbs. of mutton . , . 
\d. 
\d. 
5Z.5«. per cent, 
on value of 
bd. 
per cent, 
primage 
¥■ 
bd. 
£ s. d. 
2 18 
1 0 10 
110 
9 3 4 
2 18 
^d. 
\d. 
il. per cent. 
on value of 
i-d. 
lld^. and 10 
per cent. 
primage 
¥■ 
iid. 
£ s. d. 
1 11 3 
1 0 10 
0 14 0 
5 14 7 
2 18 
15 8 6 
19 15 10 
11 2 4 
16 16 6 
4 7 4 
5 14 2 
Unless, therefore, I have made some error in the items of my 
estimate, it is clear that the existing charges have been reduced 
somewhat more than the price, and that there remains, with 
mutton at only 4|fL in London, a larger surplus to the local grower 
than when bd. was being received. If, therefore, the trade, how- 
ever short of the original hopes of the growers, was capable of 
being maintained and expanded through two such years, it is 
clear that at the present values it can still be carried on. 
A search in some of the more recent colonial papers fur- 
nishes illustrations of the so-called sustaining power of the 
frozen trade as an outlet previously unknown to the New 
Zealand flockmaster. 
In the province of Canterbury, whence the very best class 
of our supplies come, the current market reports of the Lyttelton 
Times, on January 24, 1889, quote the top price of the day 
for "very prime wethers" as 10s. 'id., and half-breds at 8s. 5d. 
But these values were, it is acknowledged, affected by an inci- 
dent which had caused a sudden cessation of the freezing demand 
at that particular spot. That incident was the burning of the 
Belfast works of the Canterbury Freezing Company early in 
December. The works had been engaged up to nearly their full 
capacity for some time in advance, and the directors had taken 
steps to obtain a vessel with freezing appliances on board, to 
enable them to tide over until new buildings could be reinstated. 
