Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1869.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 706, 5 August 1869, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1869.

.MEAT PRESERVING FOR EXPORT. At a time when sheep-farming ha* ceased to be a profitable employn.ent, , on account of the excessive depre- 1 ciation in the value of wool, it has ; become a subject of the utmost importance to the Colony as a whole, no less than to those engaged in pastoral pursuits, that the attention of sheep and stock owners.should be . directed to the subject of preparing , the carcases of their stock for exportation to the mother country. It is of course not necessary for us now to refer to the well-known aud oft repeated fact of the dearth of meat in tie populous districts of England, and the high price that has to be paid for it by the consumer there, while in this hemisphere the contrary state of affairs obtains. It is rather for us to. take into consideration what is the most practicable and profitable method that can be adopted to meet the case. Of the several methods of preparing meat for the British market, salting down apears the most ineligible, it being found that the English laborer prefers paying Is or Is 2d per pound for fresh meat to purchasing the Australian salted meat at 6d ; but what is wanted is to supply the Colonial meat in a fresh >tate, and as nearly as possible in the condition in which the English butchers supply the home-killed article. Fi esh meat in a cooked state, preserved in air-tight tin*, can, as is well known, be sent across the world without apparent detriment, and the , preparation and supply of this article has of late become an extensive branch of trade and commerce ; but neither this nor the " extract of meat," invented by Liebeg, is the thing required ; —'neither the one nor the other will come into extensive The Englishman must have his joint of fresh meat freshly cooked before him in a substantial form, or he will not be satisfied, nor patronise the article.

Several methods, more or less successful, have been proposed, and to some extent adopted, by which the required end can be obtained. One of these is the perfect exclusion of atmospheric air by embedding the meat in melted fat, which, becoming solid, acts as an air-proof envelope, and is said to answer the purpose very well, and is certainly least expensive. A more scientific method is that of reducing the temperature so low as will protect from fermentation, and keeping at the same low degree during the voyage, by which the meat is said to be absolutely unchanged. Such a process is that of Mr Mori, in a neighboring Colony ; and, as we learn from latest advices, is now being carried oiit. Processes like this, however, involving extensive complicated and peculiarly delicate apparatus, can hardly come into general practical use. In the hands of a company of capitalists, and on a large scale, it will doubtless be found to succeed; but it is scarcely the thing for the practical grazier to adopt. What is wanted now is an interchange of information betv-een pyac tical men who have made trial of different plans, detailing their experiments and their results, whether they have been successful or not, as such information would tend to prevent others entering on a course of ex-

pt riments which would end in failm v or, on the other hand, it w ou jj point out the course most likely t 0 lead to success. And if all who n* dertake these experiments adopt such a plan, there would result a mutual gain for an acquaintance with *--he working out of the of different minds in the same direc, tion, and a common fund of know. ledge and experience derived W the labors of many. We are sure that the columns 0 { the public press will be placed at the disposal of all who may ha\ e anything to communicate for the common good; and we also suggest that those who are inclined to enter on a certain line of experiment, but are in doubt as to whether it has been already tried or not, might in the same way put their queries; to those of the public who are engaged in the same pursuit; and be either helped on to success, or saved from failare by the information they would obtain in reply.