FROZEN MEAT.
Tlie following leller haw been sent to Mr J. T. Mntson l>y Mr Jninen Hiiy of Annandale. Pigeon Bay, who is now on a visit to England :— '•To J. T. Mntson, Esq. London. May 30th, 1882. •♦ Dear Sir, —Uiave arrived in London on. Thursday'evening trom Paris, and on Saturday morning (lie firat thing i noticed in the papers w is the wife arrival of the ship Dunedin and her cargo of frozen meat, which was pronounced lo be in epiendid order. After breakfast I pro - ceedod to the agent's office, and by the kind assistance of Mr I). Waddell (Messrs P. Cunningham and Go's agent) I procured an order to the captain to view the meat. On arriving at the ship I found the captain in good spirits through the success of the shipment, end as he seemed to quite understand my mission, lie told me if I liked to delay until two o'clock I could got a good look at ail I lie meat, as they were going to open the big door of the chamber to take out some butter. I of course gladly accepted his offer, and in a few ininuteH Mr Joiin Studholme and his eon arrived on the same errand. Whilst we were wailing the captain kindly asked us to take .some lunch, and that we should have the pleasurn of tasting a leg of fresh New Zealand mutton, this being just what we wanted. The mutton was & leg, and cooked in the usual way for the use of the ship—roasted, and a good hearty meal we made. The meat was well cooked, very tender, full of gravy, and as good a flavor tin any ever tasted in New Zealand ; in fart, wo could not lihvr known from our own knowledge that it had been frozen «r was New Zealand mutton. The only little difference eitlur of us could >cc w>s th t for crossbred mutton it was a little darker in color, but not as dark as I have seen our merino mutton in New Zealand. I do not thinkjl
should have noticed (his bad I not known that it nnd been frozen. Just before we finished lunch an English fanner from one j of the midland connMes—a w>ll rn-do farmer, and owner of 800 acres—came in. He hud come mpiely out of curiosity, and also had lunch, and was astonished at the flavor and quality of the meal, pronouncing it beyond bis expectations. He h'.d two ,l helpings," which was a good mgn At fhe appointed lime the large floor wan opened, and wiih candles we made a clo«e post mortem examination. We slr'poed a sheep of i's cloth, and really it was as clean as could be—no old or fua-v Nine. 1 1, but just an if it ha') only been killed a day. The sheep weie not froiien together as I expected, but you could lift any single one enhily. and the air seemed io have β-ot around every sheep. They also had half a bullock left from the ship's use which was also in pplerulid 01 der. And we sn>v some of the lures and New Zealand fish. There was a ' harbuka' (hapuka.) wuich in New Zealand is wry bard to keep and cure, and it was in splendid onier. All the , mutton that bad been tnken out up to dale, was in Irsl-elass order, and only where tlie carcases hid touched the side of the ship were they a litt lo spotted and discolored, but the ment is quite good when cut, that in (be lower hold seeming if anything, to be in the beet condi;i<»n. Gteat credit is due to the captain and oilier* in charg' l , for they have spared no trouble, and the meat has had every attention. The machine is made by Anderson Brothers, Glasgow, and is one of Bell— Coleman's patent horse-power. The engine takes up the room of about eixtyfive tons of cargo between decks, and the boiler is in a house on the deck. I could not get full particulars >\s to the working and coal required, as the engineer had been paid off and the captain had to go to town on business, but these are things that can be ascertained in Chriatchurch. The mutton will not be all out of the ship for at least a fortnight, as they are only selling GOO or 700 carcases ft day, so as not to glut ilie market, and all that has been up u> date has averaged 6d per lb, which is a proof of its quality and keeping. Last Tuesday, I went to Smilhfield market, which was a wonder in itself. I tried at firet to see if I could pick out the frozen meat, but I could not without fiist making enquiry and seeing the brand. I made full enquiry of all the butchers who had it for sale, and they said it was in splendid condition, better than either the Australian or American for quality. The fat lambs that were sent with the 6heep quite astonished the butchers for their weight and quality. IP our meat can only be landed in the market here in good order and condition it will sell. After seeing the meat in the market I called on Mr Davidson, who, with his brother, gave me ftJl particulars. Davidson was manager at the Levels, Timai v, for a considerable time, for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, and I think that his opinion will be of great service to our company, and a great source of wealth if acted upon. In the first place, he strongly recommends that the slaughtering and freezing should bo carried on as near the ship's side as possible. He says that the Melbourne and Dunedin people have erected their buildings too fur from the ship, for when the meat has to be carried eevun or eight miles from the freezing chamber to tlie bhip, that the sheep are sure to ' thaw ' more or less, and then they get into the ship all out of shape, and of course are landed in the same manner, and if they go into the London market, out of shape, even supposing the mutton is in good order in other respects, it makes a material difference in price. Secondly, that the sheep should not be lighter than 751bs each —all wethers or maiden ewes nnd in good order—but by no means send merinos as they are too small, and apt to get blacker in the flesh. Thirdly, that the sheep or cattle should be yarded twenty-four hours before being killed, and the whole of the kidney fat taken out, also the skirting fov.nd the ineide of the ribs, as it is under the kidneys and fat that they are most likely to first go bad. The carcases must be well clothed, all shanks taken off, and the fore legs put through the flesh on each side of the neck, so as to take up less room in packing; it keeps the knuckle down. These are matters that our company ought to give attention to. r l he American meat comes over in splendid order, as to cleanness, compared to what it did two year ago, and that is the reason it is commanding so mnch better price now. I saw lots of the American beef that had come over alive, and it was the best beuf in tin* market for weight and quality ; a fine colour and not the least bruised. Since the Dunodin cargo has arrived in good order, Messrs Shaw, Savill, and Co. have made up their mind to fit up one of their ships with n freezing apparatus and I have just received ti vote frotp them to call and give them all the information I can, which I am going to do to-morrow. " I have given you all the particulars about' the method that I have learnt, Mr Davidson was not at liberty to tell me what the freight wnn por lb, but he said it was between 2d and 3d per lb. perhaps you ciiii obtain the information from Mr Brydone. I feel satisfied, that if ourmut ton can be delivered in London clean and in good order, that we can compete With any part of the world for weight and quality. I hay- seen a great numher of the European sheep, and those of Britain, nnd lam perfectly satisfied as to what can be done from our own little spot, mingled with a little New Zealand pluck and energy, as in these things we can far surpass either France or Italy—l mean as far as farming and grazing is concerned. , ,
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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 629, 25 July 1882, Page 2
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1,454FROZEN MEAT. Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 629, 25 July 1882, Page 2
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