PIG PRODUCTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 293, 11 December 1929, Page 27

PIG PRODUCTS.

STIMULATING EXPORTS. LATEST RESEARCH FINDINGS. INVALUABLE TO DOMINIONS. {From Out Own Correspondent.) LONDON, OCTOBER 28. If 'the Dominions south of the line intend embarking on the- export of pig products they cannot do better than get the twelfth report of the Imperial Economic Conference just published. While a .good deal of the matter is common knowledge this excellent blue book is a eixpennyworth —nearly 100 pages— dealing with every aspect of the trade ! and within its covers can be found detailed information and statistics, about foreign competitors and our friendly competitors within the Empire. Any country intending to set out in a campaign to create an export trade cannot do better than acquire this compendium. Its cheap price brings it within the reach of all. Intensive research now going on at Cambridge is subsidised by the Empire Marketing Board. The experiments, so far conducted, show that thoroughly satisfactory bacon can be obtained by the usual methods of curing, from frozen pork which is now transported in good condition in commercial quantities. Any defects noticeable are attributable, not to the freezing of the pork, but to prolonged subsequent storage. But mild-cured bacon has not, as yet, been successfully transported from the southern Dominicns. The board recommends that all assistance possible be given to this research. On the general question of the southern Dominions the report says:—"They are all of them well suited for successful pig raising—especially New Zealand, the coastal districts of Australia, . and the highlands of Kenya. In some of the hotter countries it may be desirable to substitute black pigs for white, but generally speaking the climates are favourable and pigs can be housed more cheaply than in the northern competing countries. "Moreover, land values (except perhaps in New Zealand) are low and feeding stuffs are cheap. The nature of the feeding stuffs varies, but generally speaking, there are ample supplies of pig food of one sort or another and there is no need to import.

On the other hand the local markets for pig products are relatively email and undeveloped. Even when measured per caput the consumption of bacon and hams is low compared with.the United Kingdom and Canada: The United Kingdom, 2jßlb a head; Canada, 251b; New Zealand, ,181b; Australia, 121b; South Africa, slb. \

This no doubt, is due to differences of climate. It follows from thu that if a considerable pig industry is t j be developed, the expansion must be sought in an export trade."

But laboratory experiments conducted tin a small scale have shown that, by freezing bacon at minus 25 degrees C (minus 13 degrees F) and storing at minus 10 degrees C (plus 14 degrees F), the usual tranrport temperature, the thawed product remains perfectly satisfactory even after 48 days in store. If these experiments can be repeated with success on a commercial scale, the transport of bacon manufactured in ihe southern Dominions will become feasible. The board recommend that all assistance possible be given to this research. It emphasises the fact that the growth of dairying accompanied by increased production of maize and barley provide the factors favourable .for a forward movement in the pig industry, advocates stimulation by each Dominion of its home market and notes with approval that proprietary bacon factories in Queensland have already under consideration a scheme for cooperative advertising. It has been suggested that a publicity campaign on a wider scale might well result in an increase of home consumption. Touching the best type of pig it says:—"Nothing like standardisation has been reached and a wide divergence of opinion exists as to the most suitable breed or cross. It is probable that different breeds would be demanded for the hot, maize-growing regions of Queensland and northern New South Wales from those needed for cooler, barley-growing regions of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. But the first step in any efforts to develop overseas markets is to ascertain by experiment the types of pigs most suited to produce the kind of bacon required by those markets," and supports the council of the Australian pig industry in asking agricultural colleges to implement the search for suitable types. . - Standardisation of type and methods of curing, the grading of carcases, are all discussed; and its remark oh the association of the small scale farming of closer settlement and pigkeeping is stressed. Rather than extend the present cultivated area in the southern Dominions the board says intensive use of the land already settled—as recommended by the British Economic Mission to Australia —is an aim in which pigkeeping would play an important part.