EXPORT OF AUSTRALIAN MEAT

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 567, 6 April 1868, Page 3

EXPORT OF AUSTRALIAN MEAT

[Weekly (Melbourne) Age, March o.] The problem of supplying the English market with Australian meat will in a few days be practically solved by the shipment of some two thousand carcases of mutton per Great Britain, which will sail this month for England. Viewed in the light of an experiment, the success of which is of paramount importance to this colony, a few particulars in connection with the establishment, which may lay claim to be the pioneer of this new branch of export, will possess some interest for English readers. Scarcely a week passes that public attention is not directed to some means for the preservation of meat, and various experiments have been made, and several patents taken out for what the inventors call par excellence by which meat may be supplied to the English market in its original freshness. But these experiments have not yet been attempted on any scale of sufficient magnitude to test the question at issue. An impression prevails that the best form in which meat can be properly sent home at present, is slightly cured or pickled, and the Victorian Medical Society, in their report upon such samples of cured meats as were submitted to them for judgement, pronounced very markedly in favor of the methods of preserving meat adopted in such establishments as that of Mr Patrick Hayes, at Footscray, a brief account of which we purpose giving. The shipment which Mr Hayes is now placing aboard the great Britain consists of uncooked spiced mutton in rolls. The carcasses of the sheep are boned, cured by a process of Mr Hayes’, rolled and dried, and packed for exportation. Of the sample of this meat forwarded to the Medical Society, that body reported as follows:—“7. Boiled spiced mutton. Whole sheep for exportation. Put up by Mr Patrick Hayes of Footscray. Also a specimen of raw, very palatable, fit for any table, containing very little salt, and in a fine state of preservation. Intended )o be sent to Europe packed in charcoal or oal seeds.” The premises occupied by Mr Hayes cover a very large area of ground, and contain one of the most

complete and extensive apparatus to be found in the colony, Their magnitude may be appreciated when it is understood that they are of sufficient capacity to boil 2000 sheep per diem, and that the process of boiling down may be carried on simultaneously with that of curing meat, should it be deemed desirable that either or both processes should be carried on. A sum of £7OOO has been expended upon the works,

which were originally intended for the manufacture of kerosene oil from shale, but which the fluctuations of the market here and in America have rendered unprofitable. The massive chimney

overtupping the works forms a prominent feature in the landscape of the Saltwater River on the banks of which the premises are erected. The build-

ings are constructed of iron, 100 feet long, 20 feet high and 30 feet wide, and they enclose an engine of 25-iiOrSe power, numerous boilers, stills and retorts originally intended for the carrying on of most extensive operations. It is fortunate that the whole of the machinery erected for the manufacture of kerosene oil was available for the purposes to which it is now applied. The massive stills, one of which holds 4500 gallons, have been made serviceable in boiling down the bones stripped from the carcases of the sheep, from a very fine oil and two qualities of tallow are obtained. Surrounding the premises are extensive yards into which the sheep are drafted as they are purchased, from whence they pass to the butcher’s shambles, are killed, and the skin stripped, Tiie dexterity with which the bones are removed with but a trifling disfigurement of the carcase is ouly acquired by practice. The meat is then transferred to the pickling tub, the ingredients of which are dictated by the judgement of the curer, and afterwards it is spiced, rolled, and hung up to dry. The bones are transferred to the boilers, and all their qualities extracted, and the refuse is converted by a simple process into superphosphate of lime, which forms a valuable manure. Every part of the sheep is therefore utilised, even to stripping off the wool from the pelt, washing and scouring it for the market. The processes of killing, boiling, drying, and packing, are carried on in separate buildings, sufficiently apart to preserve cleanliness and purity throughout, and there is every praiseworthy scrupulousness observed in keeping everything clean and sweet, to which end the loftiness of the building, and the perfect ventilation that is maintained contribute very greatly. Each roll of mutton consists of one sheep, the a v erage weight being about 30ibs. When sufficiently dried they are packed for exportation in oat seeds, wrapped round with canvas, aud put in tin cases, which are filled with charcoal, and will then keep for any length of time in any change of climate. The experiment so boldly and energetically undertaken deserves to be successful and if proper exertion is made to bring the meat under the notice of the English public, it will soon win for itself that position which it deserves. There are not two opinions entertained here of ultimate success in a persistant prosecution of the experiment, but the difficulties in the way lie in the English market, where prejudices and vested interests have to be combated and unceasing vigilance maintained in pushing it iuto notice. Much therefore depends upon the choice of an agent at home, for upon bis energy in a great measure will the success of any experiment at present rest. Mr Hayes having determined upon the venture has entered upon in no parsimonious spirit. He employs twenty men and boys who are principally engaged on piece-work, and his pay-sheet falls little short of £SO per week. Every precaution has been taken to give the experiment a fair trial. An ofiicer of the Great Britain visited the establishment and suggested the packing of the meat in smaller cases than was originally intended, and the reasons assigned were so obvious that the change was at once made, thougii some additional expense was necessarily incurred. The cases will receive proper attention on board the Great Britain as soon as they are received there, a steamer having been engaged to remove them from the es= tablishment to the Bay.