LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5027, 4 May 1877, Page 7

LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

A stranger on visiting Messrs. Gear's meat preserving establishment, off Lambton-quay, must be surprised at the magnitude and importance of the trade carried on there. About 800 tins of beef and mutton, tongues, kidneys, soup, and similar provisions, all of first-rate quality, are sent out every week, ready for immediate use or exportation. The ships Adamant and Eakaia took between them about 1000 tins for the London market, where the demand for preserved meats of all kinds has been rapidly increasing of late. The war news lately to hand is also certain to give a stimulus to the production of food ef all kinds, especially of such as will keep sound in any climate, possess all the nutritive properties of fresh killed meat, and are easily carried. Largs, therefore, as this present trade is here, there can be little doubt ol its being considerably augmented, and in catering for the public in this direction, Messrs. Gear are supplying a want much felt at the present time, especially in older countries. Here, with the abundant supply of fresh meat, which is within reach of almost everybody, th.e demand for tinned provisions is never likely to be so large in proportion as at Home, where the butcher's bill is an awful item in household expenditure, and where the poor rarely if ever taste beef or mutton, or indeed any other kind of animal food ; but even here there is a , pretty good market for preserved meats, and on board the coasting vessels and at some of the out stations up the country they make a pleasant variety to a bill of fare, which otherwise might be regarded as somewhat monotonous. We must not forget to mention that the various details of Messrs. Gear's meat-preserv-ing business are carried on with scrupulous cleanliness, and "that the employes appear to get through a great amovmt of work with a rapidity and dexterity that none but practised hands could accomplish. There is nothing wasted, the refuse of the sheep, bullocks, <fcc., bein<* boiled down for tallow, and not a scrap of anything appears to be thrown away as valueless. Messrs. Gear's establishment is one of the most complete of its kind we have seen, and is a credit to its enterprising proprietors. The method of sealing cooked provisions in; airtight metallic cases is not generally known, bein<* of comparatively recentinvention,thatis, it has only been brought into use during the present century. The previsions, of whatever kind, are put into the tins and closely packed, and the interstices filled in with water or other appropriate liquid, such as gravy in the case of flesh food. The lids are then soldered on very securely, one small perforation is made in each lid (it is sometimes the practice to make two), and the cases are set in a bath, in which muriate of lime is dissolved, and heat is applied until the whole boils, and the air is expelled through the small openings in the lids of the cases. When this is complete, which the operator knows by practice, the small holes are quickly soldered up, and the tins are' removed from the bath. The muriate of lime is used because its solution can' easily be maintained !at a heat of 270 deg. to 290 deg. Fahr., without material evaporation. The tins after they have been put through the process above described are placed in a test house, and allowed to remain there some days, the object being to test the condition of the preserves, and it not unfrequently happens in the case Of bad ones that the lids fly out. The tins are made on the premises, as also are the boxes used for carrying them when large quantities are Bold.