THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1621, 23 November 1882, Page 2

T HE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Thk frozen moat trade, like all other new industries, has its reverses to contend against. These reverses are often the result of detective management on one hand, or the want of previous experience on the other. The unsatisfactory results which have attended the shipment of meat by the Matanra are traceable to a want of judgment on the part of some of those who supplied the carcases, in sending meat of an unsuitable quality. Previous experience had established the fact, that the only really saleable carcases were those of prime wethers weighing not more than SO or OQlbs each ; the meat of this character sent by the previous ship, the Dunedin, sold readily, at (Hdperlb, while that by the Mataura sold at ihd per lb, the meat being too fat, of infeiior quality, and consisting in part of old ewes. If the lesson which we have been taught by the results of this shipment will serve as a guide for the future, we shall be the gainers.' It is, however, unfortunate that the reputation which our mutton M - as so rapidly gaining in the English market shoulvl have been marred by the sending of unsuitable sheep, some of which weighed from 100 to 1201b5., and which would have undoubtedly dono better for the owners had they been boiled down in the colony, as will be apparent from the following estimate :—: —

showing a balance in favour of boiling down e^ual to 2s J)UI per head. Tho piolil would be still greater on sheep weighing over lOOlbs., as the proportion of tallow is then almost pound per pound with thp excess. Those facts should be encouraging, inasmuch as we can convert our surplus! old stock into tallow for shipment, afc a profit, leaving us the offal as manure for our rapidly degenerating soils. Another lesson which we have learned by our recent experience is, that we shall have to time our shipments so as not to arrive when home grown is plentiful. The Jfatctitrn'i, cargo arrived in October, just when grass-fed beef and mutton was most plentiful. The establishment ot storehouses will do much to regulate the trade, so that the markets may not at any time be glutted. It is well-known that the prospect of an increasing fresh meat trade with Australia and New Zealand is viewed with an unfriendly spirit by London butchers and others, as the following extract from the Agricultural Gnzrtlc will verify :— " Not many days after the arrival of the first ship (Dunedin) with New Zealand frozen meat, an irate butcher, probably forseeing no end of disaster to his trade, rushed into print, and in the columns ot The Tunis asked the British public—' How a good cook would like a lump of stone sent her to cook in the shape of a leg of mutton ?' Then, turning round on the leg in its thawed state, he affirmed that ' it looked as if had been drawn through a horse-pond,' and also, ' as it begins to thaw ifc begins to weep.' Thinking that possibly it might be the butcher who Avas weeping, and not the sheep, a gentleman in Mid-Amiaudale sent for one of the carcases, which on arrival immediately became the centre of attraction to a wide circle of friends and admirers. Cooks ciiul convivialists, each and all, pronounced it both in its raw state and when dressed, to be as pleasing both to the eye and the palate as any home - fed, and even finer than much of what the butchers supply as the first. The whole carcase, wliich was neatly encased in canvas, weighed 791b, and in the absence of reliable information on the point, was considered by experienced parties to be a cross between the Merino and the Leicester. The, price paid in London was 7d per Ib., but railway carriage added 2d to that figure, bringing, it up to 9d ; still 3d under the Dumfriesshire selling price for home-fed. ' '"Degelation ' had taken place' by a natural process, viz., the removal of the carcase from the refrigerating chamber to the ordinary temperature, but when frozen meat is wanted for immediate use it should be unfrozen by being laid in cold water, and allowed to remain ' till thoroughly thawed. To attempt to cook meat 'with' ( tlielleastiro,st jia 'it'r'esultS 'in disappointment ami' failure. *No appreciable loss of 'fld>n?qr'jehsuesjfix)m either process, as is well known in Russia, and during wintered ** fcfanacla,' where frozen prp visions. are the.rule.andnot the,exception 1 ; aiftiirom \yllence we • never 7 hear .of any unpleasant effects from congealed foo(^beyb^U<th6/ti i o'ubleof'Sifufreexiii^,,jt, jand^per)iaij|fthat! i^s* a»less/incp t nyenier?ce thau- 'tne " inhabitants "\>f hot" countries

£ s. (I. A sheep weighing 1 lOOlbs will yield 3}lbs of tallow, worth :it present prices in tlic colony ,M* per cwt., cqti.il .{',(l per lb. 0 !) 7£ Value of legs .mil off ils .. 0 J 0 0 V.i U liuilmi; down charges ... 0 2 0 011 H lOOlbs iu>7on meat, at lid 1 17 0 Ch<ir£<'b . Sl.itightci in^i frccving, shipping, imd commission, JWpcrlb 1 9 i 0 8 1 (Value- of Felt same in both cases).