BONED BEEF.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 2

BONED BEEF.

A TOUGH SUBJECT. WHAT IS TO BECOME OF THE OLD COWS? Much attention lias suddenly been directed toward boned beef. Tho boned bcof from America, recently referred' to in The Dominion, was assailed on sanitary grounds, but there are not the same objections in tho case of the meat that conies from New Zealand. What Is Boned Beef? Now Zealand boned beef is tho flesh of portions of animals 'that are not of sufficiently prime quality to in the carcase. Tough old dairy cows, servico bulls that have bad their day, " healthy " parts of "partially condemned" make typical boned beef. : ■ ;.' . Government officials dislike tho trade, because they fear tho boned inferior meat may bo sold by retailers as New Zealand to tho detriment of tho trade generally, but others reply that this danger does not exist, because it is never sold as New Zealand'at all, but simply as unqualified "beef." Who Eats its It is sold chiefly in Liverpool and Glasgow and tho Midlands, and is said to bo appreciated by tho British working man. Tho remarkable statement is made by some that thc : characteristic toughness of this aiicient meat is a quality in its favour, for tho British worker likes something he can chew! In tho exporting trade, the views held regarding bonpd beef are rather conflicting. Ono contlomnn condemned it on the ground that it gave an opportunity to unscrupulous people to market parts of uninspected or condemned carcases. Tho same danger; ho said, did not exist in regard to tinned meat, which was much more: rigidly Watched. Another gentloman, who took ail opposite view, declared that nothing could.. bo said against boned beef that could not also bo said with oven greater force against tinned beef; The source of the meat was exactly the samo, aiid tho inspectors always witnessed the destruction of tho condemned animals, so that tho possibility of diseased meat' being boned was thus removed. ' Extent of the Trade. Wellington is not much interested in the question, because very little boning is done here. Tinning- is _done. instead. Tho boning 13 nioro prevalent in Auckland, Tatanaki) ana Christchurch. . A large -Quantity of boned beef, however'; is. put aboarcl shin at Wellington from other centres. One ship last month took from Wellington port-'boned beef equivalent to over 3000 cattlo, and probably twenty times that quantity .goes away in the cour3e .of,, a year. If boned beef were ; 110 longer Saleable, it would either close an' outlet tor cullod dairy stock and other animals, which, though'tough, are still healthy, or the timing industry,would have to extend. Tlnnod Moat, '. . Tinned, meat'has been gradually oreeping back to public favour, for tho'Chicago scandals are beginning to bo forgotten, and if the downfall of boned beef docs not carry the tinned articlo with it, there .should be •a' revival of tinning in New Zealand. '.'A'trouble; that .has hindered the tinning business in' the past-is that we do not possess largo supplies of cheap cattle, such 7as exist, in Australia and some other countries, and, consequently, New Zealand tinned meat-has had to com-, peto against cheaper productions from other countries. . The outlo.ok has not' encouraged ..any ..extension 1 of-.the tinning industry beyond what was needed toi dispose of the'surplus not suitablo - for export in the. carcase. " It is tho same difficulty probably that accounts for tho lukewarmness with which past! proposals' to take lip arniy contracts have been received. An Army Contract. . .Perhaps ,thc. new. c0mp10>",...-ii .of affairs,willgivo added interest to the British array contract, closing . 011 September ;5i next, , for 533,400 I2bz. tins and 2GG.-700 240z. tins of meat-, for delivery next January. No New Zealand firm ,has.hitherto, been able to take" a whole contract upon-its own shoulders.: ..but ,it has been proposed to; combine , and make a |oint tender.Such a movement -would' come within ,the spirit- of. the proposed conference suggested from Auckland, of -which moro; may- yet be heard. Probably the contract will be mainly beef, because, it is stated that-'tho British soldier eats mutton only twice,a week and beef five times. Tho chief , present .destiny of New Zealand tinned beef is the. large. Scotch and West.Coast : cities, where it is retailed, in slices to make cheap and nourishing' luncheons for tho workers. . . -■

' On the whole, : it seems/that our old'eows r.nd bulls, and tlio others that aro thinned out ;n drought times, will have to go somewhere, and if. the boning and- tinning arestopped, they .will have to bccome merolv tallow candles..