N.Z. CHILLERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 22, 10 February 1937, Page 15

N.Z. CHILLERS

Hawke's Bay Display at Smithfield

LONDON, January 14, An outstanding cvent of the New Year at Smithfield was the simultan* eous arrival, in the m.v. New Zealand Star, of two consignments of "show" chilled beef from the Dominion. From the Imlay works, one consignment con* sisted of 124 hinds and the same number of fores from prize-winning cattle exhibited at the Wanganui Show. On the whole, the conditioa of the beef on arrival was satisfactory, although there wa# some ice in the tissues, as might be pxpected from chilled beef which was just over fiftyf our days in transit. Many of the quarters were of outstanding quality, but some wero far too heavy and carried too much fat for the London trade, a defect which led to the unplacing, when judged at Smithfield, by those well-known experts, Messrs J. J . Hamilton and W. Bates, of the quarters which were placed first on the hooks in New Zealand. Gas-staining Evident Incidentally, gas-staining was again evident, due to a combination of faulty stowage, chafing, and imperfect air circulation in the hold. The long period in transit, was, of course, due to the vessel having to wait for Auckland and Hawke's Bay lambs, and the opinion at Smithfield i* that it would havd been well worth while to have' delayed killing the cattle for the beef to have been sent north by rajl for shipment at the last moment. The hnproved butchcring at the Imlay worka was again evident, sufficient of the white connective tissue having been left on the legs to give the dressed quarters a good appearance. The Smithfield judges' awards were' as follows; Pen No. 40, Angus-Short-; horn crossbreds from Messrs J. Wyley and Sons, who. were also winners last year, 1; pen No. 13, Herefords from Mr D. B. Jackson, 2; pens No. 39 and 41» AngusiShorthorn orossbreds from Messrs J. Wyley and Sons, 3 and 4. The hinds averaged 3s 6fd per stone, and the fores. made around 2s 21d per stone on a dull market. Hawke's Bay Beef On the following day, an impressive display of quarters from prize-wfnnJflg cattle at the Hawke's Bay A. ihd P. Society 's Show was staged at Smithfield by Messrs W- Weddel and Go., Ltd. This consignment, comprising 104 quarters, was judged on the hooks by Messrs G. Bolton, F. Gardner, and W. Fiske, and attracted a good deal of attention. The judges awarded points purely from the standpoint of the requirements of the London trade, and the winning quarters were placed in the following order: Pen No. 516, 1; pen No. 515, 2; pen No. 512, 3; pen No. 518, 4; pen No. 510, 5. In the opinion of the judges, the first-prize quarters were outstanding, and bore evidence of perfect breeding and feeding. Conformation throughout the consignment was inclined to be uneven, and many of the pens were poorly matehed. Thus, while individual quarters here and there probably justified a place in the prize list, they were accompanied by dissimilar quarters of lower grade. As in the case of the Wanganui beef and for the same reason, there was a little ice in the tissues, and while the bloom on the whole was very fair, the internal fat showed signs of diseoloura* tion. The breeds or crosses from which the quarters originated were not known at Smith field, although it was believed that Apgus-Shorthorn crossbreds predominated, and were to the fore in tho prize list. It may be mentioned that, during the last three years, AberdeenAngus crossbreds have produced beef ,of a far more outstanding and regu»«.r quality than that obtained from purebred Angus cattle.