THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3884, 31 December 1883, Page 4

THE FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

[BY TELEPHONE.] Auckland, Saturday

Mr Joseph Banks sends the Herald the following :—I have read in your paper since my return that tho failnro of the shipment by tho Mataura was owing to tho kidney not being taken out of tho sheep. ,As many of your renders elo not know that J was in England when that vessel arrived I wilt 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 tho trade. When I told them I bad left flic kidneys in a groat number of the sheep they said '' You have made a mistake." So of course when tho news spread that tho cargo was nearly all bad it was reported at once that tho causo was owing to the kidneys being left in. I was quite sure from the first that this had nothing to elo with if, and so that there should be no misunderstanding on tho question I asked Mr T. Russell to kindly accompany me to Sniithfield Market and sec for himself, which ho did. I selected one of tho Fencourt sheep with the kidneys in and had it sent to his house, and from Avhat be saw at tho market and tho soundness of tho sheep which I scut him ho was quite convinced that tho kidneys had nothing to do with the failure. For further satisfaction I selected one of Messrs Grico and Parker's, and had it sont to the house of a gentleman with whom 1 was staying. I asked him if he would kindly havu the saddle cooked after hanging a few days. This was done, and I can assuro you, Mr Editor, that finer flavored mutton I never tasted, and the kidneys Avcro just as sound sis if the sheep had been fresh issued. Tho market valuo of these shoep Avas s|d per lb, lj-d lesson account of mildew and discolor caused b} r tainted moisture of the infected portion of tho cargo. At the time I Avas loading the Mataura tho idea camu to mc that hindquarters of mutton in the English market avouU. be worth lid per lb more than whole sheep. If .correct I saw at onco it would pay much bettor to only send Homo tho better parts and preserve the i'orcquarters hero. As a trial I ordered 200 boxes to be made large enough to hold 1001b of hindquarters each. This plan of packing costs a little more, but the saving in freight balances the cost. I road in your paper that the idea was absurd, and .hatit was impossible for meat to keep sound if packed in boxes. As an argument in favor of an idea so far as keeping tho moat sound is concerned, there Avas not a box of meat bad, and some of the best brought as high as 7d per lb ; but the demand is very limited as compared with that for whole carcases, so'tbat this can never bo douo on a large scale. At tho Bamo time, with each shipment it -will always pay to send 10 per cent, of hindquarters of mutton, providing the forcquartcrs can bo di.sposed of here. The morning the Mataura arrived there a\ .is not a frozen sheep in tho market, and if tho cargo had como to hand in a sound condi-. tion T believe tho return would have been the highest yet made. I had arranged for consignments to bo fonvarded both to Liverpool and Manchester. The loAvest wholesale prico for English mutton during my stay of three months at-Home was . .|d to lOd cash on delivery, and Avitliout tho slightest feeling of prejudice I am sui. that it is not better than our New Zealand mutton, and this is not only my opinion, but that of men of great experience, and I think

a test of this may bo taken from tho fact that it is sold as English. It is only a question of time and good management when the difference in the wholesale price will not be nearly so great as now. I also notice a remark in your paper relative to my visit to Chicago. As the report is not correct you will please allow mo to give you the facts. I called on Messrs Armour and Co. of that city, and was 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 to look over the works ? He said they made a rule of giving everybody an order to do so, but this only extended to a certain point, which I told him Avas no use to me. I wanted to see behind the scenes, as I was going into the same business, but as we did not expect to do as much business in a w r eck as they did in an hour I thought ho might allow me, as any opposition from our quarter was not worth a thought. After some conversation he granted me permission to do so, and very kindly told me that what machinery I saw and wanted I could take all particulars of and get made by his machinist. After telling him our position and tho exact cost of stock with, us, I asked him 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 in the retail trade with the better parts our meat would have to be bought at a very low price to enable us to preserve on a largo scale with profit. Their briskets aro salted and shipped to Europe, and the rounds are made into beef hams for the Scotch market. Messrs Armour and Co.'s average killing is SOO cattle and 2500 pigs per day. The cattle cost from £0 to £20 each, and the pigs from £2 to £5 10s. In their busiest season they kill 10,000 pigs a day, and employ as many as 3000 hands. Their reported annual turn-over is quite beyond belief, unless to those who have actually seen this enormous establishment. A deal of prime beef is placed in refrigerat-inc-rtars and forwarded to New York and other places, a distance of nearly 1000 miles, and quantities arc also sent to England. I called on Mr Libby, tho head of tho wellknown firm of Libby, M'Ncil and Libby. He told mc much tho same as Mr Armour regarding our chance of success in the meatpreserving line. This firm makes it a rule of never allowing anyone to see thoir works, so to a great extent my visit to thoir establishment was a waste of time. I have no hesitation in saying that in Chicago they can preserve meat at 50 per cent, less cost that in any establishment I have seen working in New Zealand or Australia, and as a proof of the superior way in which i' is got up, I found in England that Libb-

M'Ncil and Libby's meats and those Armour and Co. could not be purchaser less than OJr per lb, >>- ' if the markc bare the prico - "> 7d at one Libby »'- ! iey could »-■■ / t]lil Xcatt_ _- plant Avas cqi. •illocks a day, bui iths they had not the sake of com- „_ New Zealand or ,_v_d and salt meats, and „v find? Tho English merchants

..lorm me that although tho meat Avas known to bo sound, and of better flavor than tho American, it was not saleable except at a great reduction, seldom making over od per lb, and all OAving to the inferior Avay in which it is manufactured. I need scarcely say that Avhen I saw Avhat could be accomplished with their machinery I it once ordered a complete set, and I feel sure avc shall be able to manufacture as good an article as any in America.