The Frozen Meat Trade.

Manawatu Herald, 5 February 1898, Page 2

The Frozen Meat Trade.

Mr J. G. Wilson has published a long and interesting account of the meat trade in the Old Country, in the Advocate which ia well worth the attention of every farmer. We extract a few paragraphs whioh will help to explain tha character of the article.

Mr Wilson states "I had the usual opportunities of judging. I saw the mutton shipped. I went over freezing chambers of the vessel going Home. I saw it unloaded into bargpg, and watched it being unloaded into chambers in the city, or on the south ride. I saw the*? stores ; the delivery of the meat ; the sale* of a Company ; as shown by their books, followed it up to Smithfield and Leadenhali markets (Leadenhall market mostly deals in small joints) ; saw it sold there and in the various stores and shops, both in London and in the country, and finished up by eating it. At the rink of writing again on a subject which has frequently been discussed and written on, by others more capable and with better opportunities of judging than I have had, I will S[ive your readers first of all some impressions of what I saw and the conclusion I came to.

The process of delivering over the vessel's side, there is soma ground for objection. Yet it ia true that the shipping companies have a eood deal to contend against The river is by far the easiest and most economical mean* of transit if there were only proper barges. But before the mutton gets into the barges there ia decided room for improvement. The mutton is hauled out of the hold and is slid down a shoot which has a right angle to it, so that the mouth of the shoot U in the barge. The mutton slides down easily enough, but if a slight stoppage occurs the legs are of ben broken, and of course a damaged carcase sells for very much less. Then the mutton is not alt one consignment. If it ware so, the work of unloading would not be difficult;, but when one brand is wanted first and many carcases have to ba shifted it very often happens that the carcases taken from the top are left exposed to the air for a time and become quite flabby before they are put back again. I have said that the barges are not fifcsfor the purpose. They are not cooled" down and the carcase* are only piled up and covered with a black tarpaulin. They take several hours to B team or be towed up to the stores in town, and meat cannot Ha thus taken in the be3t condition. There should certainly be a cool stow at the docks, where tha carcases could b& ported and delivered when wanted. There should be a better system of unloading, and the bargaa should ba constructed proparly to keep the temperature down. We aiw a mo9t ingenious maana of unloading the barge (which con\d easily be adopted for unloading the v a ssel) at Messrs Nelson's stores. Simply an elevator much as we see every day, in connection with thresh iag, but with a joint in it, and which can be raised or lowered to suit the tide by a very ingenious device, without interfering with the work. A carcase is put on the carriers of the elevator in the barge, carried up, and then along to the end, and caught by two men who load it on to a trolly. Why this means should not be adopted for unloading the steamer? is a puzzle.

Following the mutton on to Smith field, I spent several mornings there and was much interested in what I bbw. Nothing so gives you an idea of the quantity of meat used in London, and of the qualities of the various kinds of local and imported meat for sale. .... No number of letters from Home can convey to the grower what that five minutes will teach him. Tou see at a glance how impossible it is to get the sam» price for the long, lanky, plain shyep as for the nmall, plump, short-legged sheep which is classed as beat Canterbury. It is beautiful mutton, but I gathered that it did'nt nutter where the mutton cama from so long as it was good enough. There was no concealment as to where the mutton came from. The tickets on each sheep show that. But few know whether Gisborne or Inver cargill are in Canterbury or no*;

A sketch of the three kinds of hind quarters are given and Mr Wilson sajs " Therein lies the whole secret. After you hays seen th? cascades hanging up and see tho keen competition ihpre, you realise that if we are to get better prices for our mat ton we must make it more like No. 1 and less like No. 8.

We had an opportuoity of seeing Nelson'B defro9tiog room and there i* no reason why the meat so treated in it should not look just as well as English. Th« coat, bowtver, ii

more thai! the buyers care to pay* Some carcases we saw hanging tip, although they bad not the sain® „ character as English, y*t had as nice a bloom on it as English meat newly killed. The process is a simple one, ■, The temperature of the air .JpttUip gradually raised ; the moisture is extracted (pipes containing a freezing liquid circulating through them freeze the moisture). Insl^J of the sheep thawing as it usually doe* it remains dry and yet is completely defrosted. The butchers don't like it because they have to ray more for it, but, as I say, the whole of the mutton should be so treated. fTfa* proper thawing has a great deal to do with the flavour of (he mutton. After discussing the trials of aheep-breeders Mr Wilson is sorry to say, , therefore, that oufrtrade must apparently remain very much in the same condition as it is at present except what lies at oar end. Freights ought to come lower for ainoe the trade started prolljMis^Q very much decreased. ' And no doubt they will. Whether freezing companies can reduce charges is yet to be seen, it is only by concentration we can expect them id do so." For those who can turn out fir etclass small sheep there can be nothing to fear. They will at any rate get the best price going. Those who can turn out only second-olasg sheep are however, not so well off They may feel the effeofc bftcoml petition more, but even in their 'case. I think the natural expansion of the" trade will keep the relative values of first and second class sheep about the same. .... We have only a limited area which can turn out fint clan sheep and e?eu iieond but nearly all New Zealand can turn out third class. I am afraid most of our North Island sheep comes under the latter.

If our Agent-General w,as a tharp commercial man ht oouid do much to help. The time has gone when we want a worn out politician in London, sent there either ai a reward for past services to the Government or as a stepping stone (as some have nsed it) to a title and company mongership. Oar purchases that tha Agent-Ganeral ii supposed to look to are almost nil, A first clays man trained commercially in London would ba of use to the colony. Our Agent-General is none. The idea of having baa- - mess agents throughout Great B Titian may be good but it will certainly result in nothing unless we have a business man at their head.