BOILING DOWN SHEEP.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 194, 20 August 1867, Page 3

BOILING DOWN SHEEP.

I Tbe following letter on the above men- | tioned subject, from Mr. Nixon, the agent | of Messrs. Tooth, of Sydney, has been I kindly handed to us for publication. A | comparison of the statements contained in i this conimunk_ tion, -which is obviously of | the most reliable character, with that ; which appeared in the Colonist some three weeks since from a Riverina correspondent, will show that the results given in the latter letter are far in excess of those furnished below, and to all practical men we. submit this as being the more reliable information : — Alford, 16 July, 1867. L D„A_ Sirs— l give you with pleasure I all the particulars in my power respecting | boiling down. In such an establishment I you would require a killing shed with I yards convenient, a digester capable of 1 holding as many sheep as you wish to boil 1 per. diem, a steam boiler and tallow re--1 finer. The sheep, when killed, are roughly I cut up, and put into the digester and I boiled by steam for ten hours, the tallow i\ is then drawn off into the refines, and _ again boiled by steam, run off into coolers, j and then put into casks. I The offalkeeps a large number of pigs, I and the usual calculation is that these pay I expenses, either boiled down into lard or I made into hams and bacon. I believe the I average Australian returns of tnllosv is 1 151bs per sheep; IJo not think we should 1 get more here off native grass. The ouly I experiment I have made here was EugI lish grass for Merino sheep; three ewes I averagipg 441bs each gave 591bs of tallow. I Three wethers, averaging 551bs, gave 1 621bs of tellW. I allow it is a high I average." . | Estimating .tallow to be worth 45s 6d ; per cwt. in London at 4|d per lb, these I sheep would be 7s lld each for tallow and 28 for wool, as t_ey were. boiled in March. | This would make them worth 9s lid less carriage expenses etc. Seven and ] sixpence is, I believe, the Australian cal.equation.;. .'.".."'' Jt. s almost impossible to give you an estimate of the cost of such an establishment; ,80 much depends oh price of labor . and carriage. The last you would find a 4 very , heavy against the tallow, % unless you had water-carriage convenient. ft Messrs Royse, Mudie, & Co., pit -