THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1038, 31 December 1883, Page 4

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

_-.Mr Joseph Banks sends the Auck- , land Ha aid the following “Auckland, December 24th, 1883. I have • read in your paper since my return ’ that the failure of the shipment by the ? Mataura was pwing to kidneys not ' being taken out of sheep. As many I of your readers do not know that I was ( in England when that vessel arrived, 1 vail give them my experience of what I ' saw. I was in London quite a month ‘ previous to the Mataura’s arrival, so ' that I had an opportunity of talking to ' meat salesmen and others interested in the trade. When I told them I had left the kidneys in a great number of the sheep, they said, ‘ You have made a mistake,’ so of course when the news spread that the cargo was nearly all bad, it was reported at pnce that the cause was owing to the kidneys being left in. 1 was quite sure from the first this had nothing to do with it, and sothat there should be no misunderstanding on the question, I asked Mr T. Russell to kindly accompany me to Smithfield market and see for himself, which we dii I selected a sheep with kidneys in, and had it sent to his house, and from what he saw at the market and the soundness of the sheep I sent him, he was quite convinced the kidneys had nothing tp do with the failure. For satisfaction I selected one of Grice and Parker’s and had it s'ent to ihfr house of a gentleman with whom I was staying. I asked him if he would kindly have a saddle cooked after hanging a few days. This was done, and I can assure you, Mr Editor, that finer flavored mutton I never tasted,and the kidneyswerejust as sound as if thesheephadbeen fresh issued. The market value of these sheep was s>£d per lb, ij£d less on account of mildew and discolor caused by the tainted moisture of the infected portion of the cargo. At the time I was loading the Mfttaura the idea came into me that hind quarters of mutton in the English market would be worth per lb more than the whole sheep. If correct & saw.at once it would pay much better tpkmlysend some of the. better parts, and preserve the fore quarters here. As a trial I ordered 200 boxes to be made, large enough to bold roolb of hind quarters each. This plan of packing cost a little more, but the saving in freight balances this cost. I read in your paper that a idea was absurd, and it was impossible for the meat to keep ibpapked in boxes. As an argument in favor of the idea, so far as keeping meat sound is concerned, there was not a box of meat bad, and some of the bestbrought as high as yd per lb, but the demand was very limited as compared with that for the whole carcask so that this can never be done on a huge, scale, At the same time with each shipment it will always pay to send xo per cent of hind quarters ot mutton, prqvidiijg fore quarters can be disposed o ti here, j '• The' niorninjg the Mataura arrived there was not a frozen sheep in the market, and if the cargo had come to.hand in a. sound condition I believe thfe return would have been the highest yet made. ; I had arranged for the consignments to be forwarded both to Liverpool and Manchester. The lowest wholesale price for English mutton duijug my stay for three nibnths at hmnewas 9#d to.iod cash on delivery, ana without the slightest feeling of prejudice I am sure that it is not better than our New Zealand mutton, and this iscobt’only my opinion, but of men of great experience, and I think the test of this may be taken from thkfict'tßat'il is sold as English. It is oijly, $ question of time and good mapagement when the difference will npj pearly be so great as now. I also nftfioe a remark in ybur paper relative to my visit to Chicago. As the report is-tmt correct you will please allow me to I’give you the facts. 1 called on Armour and Co. of that city, yras very kindly received by Mr P. Armour, the head of the firm. I explained to him the nature of my business/: and asked him if he would allow me loiook’over the works. He said they made .a rule of giving everybody an.prdef to do so, but this only extended to a certain point, which I told him was no use to me. I wanted to sep behind the scenes, as I was going intt> the' satne - business ; but as we did nm ekpSctf to do as much business in a r weak fts they did in an hour, I thought be might allow me, as any op posuionfrom our quarterwas not worth a thought- After some conversation he granted me permission to do so, and- very kindly told me that what machinery ! saw I wanted I could take all particulars and get made by his machinist. After telling him our positlop and the exact cost of stock with us,*TaSkedhim what he thought of our chances in his line of business. He said that we were at a great disadvantage because we had not a market for our prime cuts, and unless we could supply the public or retail trade with the better pacts our meat would have to be hpught at a very low price to enable us to preserve on a large scale with profit.} i Their briskets are salted and shipped to Europe, and the rounds are made into beef hams for the Scotch, market., Armour and Co.’s killing is 800 cattle and 3500 pigs The cattle cost from L 6 to each, and the pigs from L2 to L 5 10s. ? In ■their busiest season they kill 10,000 pigs sL day, and employ as many a & > 3.s oo ,hands. The reported annual turn over is' quite beyond belief, unless to those who have actually seen this eqqrmpus establishment. A deal of prime beef is placed in the refrigerating can and -forwarded to New York and other places, a distance of nearly 1,000 miles, and quantities are also sent to England. I‘called on Mr Libby, head well known firm of Libby, McNeil and Libby. He r told me much Ih&same as Mr Armour regarding our cbsnps of success in the meat preserving line. This firm makes a rule of never, admitting anyone to their works, SO talr|plat* extent my visit to their establishment was a waste of time. I hmre .-no . hesitation in saying that in Cmcago tliey can preserve meat at 50 per cenf less cost than in any establishment 1 have seen working in New Zealand'cr Australia, and as proof of the superior - way in which it is got up, I found jit England that Libby, McNeil and Libby, and Armour and Co.’s meats cotilp hot be purchased for less than 6j£d per lb, and if the market was bajre the price was up to yd at once. Miß Libby assured me that they could not keep pace with thpjr orders now cattle were .getting so scarce. |

Their plant was equal to put through 1,000 bullocks a day, but during the last few months they had not averaged 900, Now, for the sake of comparison we will turn to New Zealand or Australian preserved and salt meats, and what do we find ? English merchants inform us that although the meat was known to be sound and of better flavor than American, it was not saleable except at a great reduction, seldom making over 5B per lb. I need scarcely say that when I saw what could be accomplished with their machinery, I at once ordered a complete set, and I feel sure we shall be able to manufacture as good an article as any in America.