A NEW EXPERIMENT IN FOOD SUPPLY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1035, 25 November 1882, Page 3

A NEW EXPERIMENT IN FOOD SUPPLY.

Amongst the latest arrivals in the West India Docks is the Mataura, sailing vessel, 1.600 tons burden, Captain Creenstreet, bringing a large cargo ot fresh meat from New Zealand. This is the first voyage of the kind which has been made. Hitherto the large consignments of fresh moat from the Antipodes have been made by fast going steamers from Australia, Now Zealand having hardly been thought of as a possible source of meat supply for London Still less had it been contemplated to bring dead meat in the old fashioned sailing vessels, which, besides taking a far longer time upon the journey, have not the resources of steam vessels f ugenerating the necessary power for the refrigerating machines used for the preservation of the meat. The experiment, nevertheless, has proved perfectly successful, and is interesting as putting to the severest imaginable test the practical utility of the system of preserving which is due to the ingenuity of Messrs Haslam and Co, of Derbyshire. The Mataura sxiled from Dunedin at the beginning of last June, having bn board over 4,000 carcases of sheep, weighing from 90 to 160 pounds each, besides a quantity of poultry, fish, and provisions. For 102 days the vessel was driven slowly but surely by the ‘ winds’ towards home, and all this time in the hottest as well as the most trmperate climates the cabin tables were well provided with the sheep, hares rabbits and fish which were killed before leaving port. For no less than two months before arriving at the Western Islands off the Continent of Africa the thermometer as may be ween from the neat and accurate log wdiich was kept stood at 64 deg. Fahrenheit in the shade and 120 deg in the sun. Nor was it only in respect of the supply of fresh meat that the officers and men were especially lucky The refrigor iting chambers were used for keeping all kinds of provisions, and thus the men were enabled under an equatorial sun to enjoy butter which was perfectly bard and cold instead of being served up as is generally the case in the form of oil. The refrigerating apparatus is now too well known to bear a minute description. It need only be said it resulted from the discovery of the apparently simple scientific fact that air when compressed and afterwards expanded produces cold. In the present case an sngine of 70 indicated horse-power, lias been fitted up’n the hold, and with this it is possible to produce a temperature inside (he refrigerating chambers of 60 to 70 deg Fahrenheit below zero, ft is found, however, that a temperature but little below freezing point is sufficient for practical purposes, and, as a matter of fact, the average temperature during the journey was about 18 deg. below freezing. Even at this point it was found possible to freeze liquids, including sea water, in a very sboit space of time. The difference between the inner and outer temperature of the ship’s hold is strickingly felt as one plunges at a step from the hot engine room into the great storehouse for the carcases of sheep. Here the beams, from which hang innumerable carcases, enveloped each in a calico cover, are covered with a thick hoar frost, which glitters in the sunlight as the door is opened. Leaving a warm sunny afternoon to plunge into these Arctic cabins, one is surprised to see one’s breath issuingforth in a long white stream as on a raw and misty morning. Everything is frozen. The meat is as hard as iron, and here and there are some hares and rabbits which would le no less difficult to carve, or some water which has become as hard as tlie basin in which it stands. The refrigerating process is kept up at an expenditure of little more than 25 cwt. of coal a day. the total consumption for the voyage having been about 180 tons. This expense added to the cost of carriage or freight, and the insurance, which lat f er sum, as in all new business ventures, is indeed * serious one, docs not increase the original cost of the meat by so extravagant a sum as may be supposed ; the vastness of the consignment reduces the expenditure to comparatively small proper!ions. Of course an article, as political economists say, is worth what it will fetch in the market ; and therefore calculations as to cost are only interesting as having a bearing on the future of the question. With regard to the present it is not likely that the carcases brought over by the Mataura will, any more than those brought over by the same process from Australia, fetch any sensationally low prices. The meat is pronounced by thoie who have tasted it to be excellent quality. There are Southdowns and Leicesters ,as well as some sheep of a good mixed breed, and are said to be superior to Australian cattle. New Zealand, the England of the Pacific, as it is sometimes called, possesses, as is well known, splendid pasture lands in a mild climate, which is not subject to the changes and droughts common in Australia. The sheep farms in the former country, moreover, are situated nearer to the great ports, so that live stock have to be driven two or three hundred miles to the port, as is often the case in New South Wales and elsewhere. On the other hand. New Zealand is one week farther from England than Australia, so far as the sailing vessel is concerned, and this has to bo taken into consideration. The sheep which are now waiting to be unloaded and sent to the London market were killed in the docks at Dunedin just before the sailing of the Mataura. The price of mutton in that port is from about 2d per lb wholesale price to about 2£d retail. With meat at sixteen and eighteen pence a pound in London, it will be seen that a good margin is left for the expenses of the importation which is now shown to be perfectly practicable. There appears little reason to doubt, therefore, that a new source of food is opened up to Londoners and time and enterprise will no doubt enable New Zealand meat to be sold hero at a price at which not even the most careful of housewives could complain. Hares and rabbits, too, although they have an yet only been brought over on a very small scale, may possibly give rise before long to a groat importing industry. They

nfest th© cultivated lands in New Z a- - land, doing great damage to the standing crops, and the Colonial farmers would bo only to glad to get rid of ihem. The fish on hoard the Mataura include sonic very curious specimens, among them an albicore, weighing 1301 b, which was caught at the Equator. This monster, which iesembles a small shark, will be offered by Captain Creenstreet to the British Museum.—Daily News.

The Company is projected to manufacture European Flax into Fibre, Eope, Twine, Oil and Cake. There is at present a large and increasing demand for fibre, in the shape of rope, and binding and other twine. £44,429 is annually expended in importing binding twine and cordage. Owing to the replacement, of wire by twine for binding purposes, this amount may reasonably be expected very shortly to be exceeded considerally, rot to mention the other numerous applications for which the fibre may be utili ed. It is anticipated that the manufacture of Oil will be one of the most lucrative operations of the Company. The quantity of Oil imported into New Zealand last year was 229,029 gallons, costing £33,385. It will therefore be seen that the demand for this substance for painting and other industrial purposes is practically unlimited. It may he noted that there is a protective customs duty on Oil of fid per gallon ; also that the Government offer a bonus of £SOO for the first ten thousand gallons. After the expression of Oil from the Seed, the residual product, or cake, is of considerable value for fattening stock, and commands a price at homo of £l2 per ton. It would therefore pay to export, if the local demand was not equal to the supply. It is proposed to obtain machinery with the latest improvements, capable of placing the above-mentioned products in the market at the lowest possible cost. It is anticipated that the supply of raw material will yearly increase, ns doubtless the farmers of the district will find it advantageous to cultivate European Flax—directly, by the uniformly remunerative market for the raw material, and indirectly by the reduced price of locally-manufactured products, compared with the imported article. The promoters have no hesitation in recommending the Flax industry as a most profitable enterprise to both fl ix-grower# and sliareh ddo a. The incalculable advantages to the district of an industry of ibis nutu'e in our midst, cannot fail t.o be patent, t> ail, and the numerous applications of ilax fibre in the Arts will undoubtedly lead, at no Hist/ nt date, to the establishment of other kindred industries. 9 o