PRESERVATION AND EXPORTATION OF MEAT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 912, 28 January 1868, Page 3

PRESERVATION AND EXPORTATION OF MEAT.

[From the "Australasian," Jan. 4.]

Osr Monday a meeting, convened by Mr. J. Bi Hughes, was held at Scott's Hotel, "to consider the desirability of forming a company . for preserving and shipping .fresh meat* to England. Upwards of 100 gentlemen were present, including a large and influential representation of the pastoral interest. The Hon. -W. Camptell, M.L.G.j was called to the chair.

•The Chairman observed that it was 'scarcely necessary to explain the object of their meeting to-day. They were all aware that 'they had a great surplus of stock, which they scarcely knew what to do with, and they, had met with the view of forming' a company for the purpose of preserving meat and shipping it fresh to England. Perhaps, also, it would be necessary for the company to make experiments. There were so many ways of .preserving meati that it was difficult to $eeide "which, to, prefer, .and he would suggesAhat the. company should have a wide discretion in the way of making experiments, and of testing the various systems of preserving meat. Mr. Hughes, to whom ilieywere so highly indebted for calling this. meeting, woiild be able to throw some lig&t upon the subject. He (the chairman) had no practical knowledge on the sub-"jectt-bttt-had Had' several plans" submitted ..to fiftS; 'He had seen a good thing in. the i -Iwayof^extract of meat prepared by Mr. ( Tooth,* "iiif^ew South Wales. ...There could be iio 'doubt that, being thoroughly preserved and of excellent quality, it would become very 1 inucbJ used by and by. He had also seen another preparation, made in New S6tttn r/; Walesi something of the same kind as Tooth's, but more solid. It • .contained a certain proportion of gelatine, from which Tooth's was perfectly free. It jwas thoroughly- good, for he had had a ..sample of it in his possession for six ; months, and it was as fresh as the day he got it. He had "seen Mr. Caldwell's meat in preserved 1 tms 5 after being kept for six months'^ had 'lunched off it, and had' done it ample justice. Another plan was that - o£ Mr. .Ritchie's, which' was tested lately -■ -at Mr. -Menzies' by r so many gentlemen, who would testify Wits quality. Perhaps better than all was the system of Mr. *Mdrt/ of Sydney, by Which the meat was preserved in a low temperature, but not mixed with ice— the temperature being Reduced' many degrees below freezing ". point. 1 ' They had all these various plans ' 'before them, and they had consequently some difficulty in choosing which to prefer. He might say that he had lately had arfdpportunity of. testing a saddle of mutton preserved on Mort's system. It was taken out of the ice-cave", as it was called,, at, Sydney, packed loosely up in straw, and sent down here by steamer. Eight days after being taken out of the ice; it was cooked, and was qiiite as fresh : and good as any meat that was ever taken freshly slaughtered out of a butcher's shop. There was also the system of boiling down and melting for the sake of the ' tallow,' which he for one considered a very barbarous way of turning their pro- , duce to account. He would not lend himself to J enc6urage melting down on a large scale, because he thought they could do better with their meat. He be-

lieved they could realise 50 per cent, or 100 per cent, more profit upon it, than they could do by the boiling-down way. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. J. B. Hughes said he had taken upon. himself the responsibility of asking them to meet him here to-day, and he trusted they would forgive the presumption on his part in doing so. (Hear, hear.) He. could assure them that he felt the depression in stock as acutely as any of them, and "a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." He meant to identify himself with this movement, and to endea-

your to do away with the depression in the price of stock. It had become a necessity to find a new market beyond their "Own borders to get rid of their" surplus butcher's meat. The position in which they were placed at present was this. Australia had almost within a lifetime so accumulated her stock of sheep that at the .•present'inoment he was within the mark ;in saying there were forty millions of sheep and lambs on the continent of Australia.." : This large increase had taken place, independent of boiling down nearly four millions in former years, and independent of that which had supplied the wants of a large and increasing population. It was hopeless to expect that the increase of population could overtake the production of their live .stock, for they were now producing from a much larger basis, in proportion to the population, than they eve? Bad in any former time. He took it that there were at present in New South Wales fifteen millions of sheep and lambs, as stated by Mr. Wilson, the Minister of Lands, in the recent debate on the new Land Bill in the House of Assembly. He formed his data on returns made for levying a tax, under the Cattle Diseases Prevention Act, and as people did not send in returns for the purposes of taxation of more than they had, they might take that as not above the number. :In Victoria ■ there were ten millions, and in Queensland and South Australia there were the other fifteen millions. This large number of sheep, independent of the five millions of cattle, would produce something like four millions of annual surplus. Now, the question* might be asked, how, if this was the state of things, prices had kept up so long P f The fact was that the large influx of capital, owing directly to the production of gold, had extgnded sheep-farming, by causing men to push into new and unoccupied country. That no longer could continue. No amount of capital could do it, because as they progressed to the interior the same amount of profits could not be made that used to be made. Besides, the- further they went the greater was the distance from the seaboard, and the less "Was the value of the fleece of wool, owing to the 'extreme dryness of the climate.. They had reached the limit of their market in that direction ; and those remote districts were now reacting upon them by sending their surplus stock to their markets.^ It was known by men who had been in those regions, that there was no difficulty in travelling from the saltbush country any distance in a favourable season,;.;He could state as a fact that during the present year the finest cattle that had been in .the Adelaide market for many, %ej&9 wjtfe.rearecl oh the Flinders Kiver, near the 'G-ulf of Carpentaria, and came in Splendid condition to the Adelaide market. They could not take a view of sheep farming for any particular district or colony. They must take a comprehensive view of tae« interest of the whole of Australia. The effort that: he proposed to ask them to make, vsroujd, he sincerely trusted, be emulated and carried,out in the neigbouring colonies. \ Their plan was to look at the question as a whole— to get the facts together, and carefully to consider them ; and if ! they agreed to what he proposed, .; to establish a company to carry out a ■ scheme' which appeared to have come like fc a ;at the very time that they wanted it;.; At the very time at which j; their necessity, had arisen, they saw, as if ■ V-li^a^iKlpensatibn of Providence, on the ; Vx>|^,Bid^ pf.the world— in the finest marfeetjin tEeXworld—a demand for the very ;a|ti^i<? ; they would dispose of— a de-inand-wnjeii ne believed to be almost

unlimited. He found that The Times, immediately on learning the position into which they were drifting, directed the attention of the people of England strongly to the question whether this meat, which they did not know what to do with, could not bo taken home to supply their urgent . needs. This led to a correspondence from all parts of the world — for there were people from all parts of the world at all times in London. It seemed, said The Times, that they were gravely asked to do, in this nineteenth century, what beleaguered cities did iv the last extremity — to supplement their animal food by eating horseflesh. The same journal went on to ask why, when prime beef was selling at Is. 2d. a pound, and ordinary meat at lOd. and Is., the . science and capital of Englandcouldnot bridge over the distance, and take from them in -Australia the fresh meat to those who so much wanted it. He directed attention to the correspondence in The Times, because it culminated in a strong recommendation that the people of England should use their Australian "meat. One father of a family wrote that he had purchased a tin of this meat, which, without bone, was selling at 7d. a pound by the tin of 61b. He (Mr. Hughes) had also a letter from his brother by this mail, who, knowing that he took an interest in the question, purchased a tin of meat. He ftmnd the meat to be in excellent condition, without any washy appearance, as if it had . been immersed in water. On the contrary,- it was like a beefsteak pie with the crust taken off; and the" third day after he opened it— the day on which the mail left—it was quite as sweet as the day on which it was bought. He had received that morning a letter from another brother in Adelaide, confirming the view that there was an excellent market for this meat, at 6d. wholesale and 7d. retail, by canister. The only means they had now of disposing of their stock was by boiling-down; but those who had, like him, been twenty-eight years in the colonies devoted to pastoral pursuits, did not like the boiling-down system. In those times, he had himself boiled down as fine a flock of wethers as he had ever seen, and they had produced 6s. 3d., which was the largest return which had been got for a flock of sheep ; and that was barely a penuy a pound. These, however, were very fat ; and from all that he could learn, he did not believe that they were now getting more than 4s. per sheep from boiling down. He did not think that any man would be able to show him that they would realise a penny a pound from boiling-clown this season ; and if that were the case, why should they not try and save the meat, which was utterly wasted, and send it to the English market, where it was so much needed, and where they could net threepence a potmd for it ? (Hear, hear.) He i asked them now to join in what ought to be a national effort. It was their duty to themsolves that they should form a jointstock company, and endeavour to utilise this process, so much approved of, and open up a market in England. By that means they would utilise every portion of the sheep ; they would save the meat, they would render the tallow, they would sell the skin and bones, and, if possible, use the tripe, and the scraps could be well made into some sort of soup. They must take a leaf out of the book of their elder sister, and form such an establishment as that existing at Eamornie. If people were to buy meat with confidence, they must buy it with a brand, and the only way in which they could introduce their fresh meat was by a powerful company, which would be careful to ship only a good article, with a uniform label on ev,ery tin. It must, too, be introduced in lai'ge quantities, and in every considerable town in Great Britain. They ought to introduce it into the manufacturing districts, and enlist the sympathies of that most powerful body, the manufacturers, "vvho had fought and overcome the Legislature to get cheap bread to their workmen, and who would be ready to aid them in getting cheap meat for them. No private person and no wejik company could carry out this work in the way in which it ought to be done. If they combined — if they took each. £100 or £200— it need not be all paid up at once, but be a sort of guarantee to the directors as to what extent they should go. He urged upon them not to cripple the company by subscribing too small a capital to begin with. It had been proposed by Mr. Garr — himself a person of some experience, and holding a good billet under the Government — that the state should become cooks, and ship this meat. He (Mr. Hughes) repudiated anything of the kind;. (Hear, hear.) They could and ought to help themselves. They all knew •that Government interference was the worst and most expensive method that could be adopted. It lacked the essential of. personal and direct interest. (Hear, hear.) If he could devote the time, he would willingly give it gratuitously to establish this company, but it was impossible, because he must attend to his own run. He hoped that this meeting would appoint some of their mercantile men, and some of their squatters who had a colonial reputation, and he would with confidence subscribe and leave the matter in their hands. Mr. Carr proposed that the Government should put a tax of £10 a thousand sheep on all of them. Confound his impudence, he (Mr. Hughes) said. How were the Government to distinguish between liiverina sheep and their own ? — and unless they could tax all the sheep there would be no fairness in the scheme. He differed from one remark which fell from the chairman, and thought the company ought to concentrate its attention on this one scheme. He did notajsdsh to interfere with or disparage any other^rocess, but he wanted to try this one which was spoken of so highly. He had heard it said, "Why don't you send pickled meat?" Well, because the people would not buy it ; and besides they could not pickle sheep. ' He spoke here as a sheep-farmer, and the men who owned cattle could take care of themselves as well as he could. This meat, he. was satisfied, put into tins, would sell as well as beef did. He did not mean to disparage the process of ' freezing, but he thought that meat preserved in that manner would be principally used in the large ports and towns, while meat preserved in tins would be better adapted for the supply of ships' crews, of remote towns and villages, and of isolated families. They would find that meat preserved in tins would compete favourably with salted meat, and would command a large consumption where it was not thought of at present. There was no hope of the population of Australia overtaking the increase of sheep, and on the other hand the dearth of meat at home had grown day by day and year by year. There could not be the slightest hope of stock ever increasing in England in proEortion as the population increased. They ad, therefore, this great statistical fact to look in the face, that this was not a temporary want, but one which would increase, and they might look for a large consumption. He would conclude with a quotation from their great poet : — Thero is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leada on to fortune ; Neglected, all the voyage of our days la east in shallows, and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat ; And we must take the current when it serves, . Or lose our, ventures. Let it not be said of them as of the wag-

goner in the fable of iEsop, that haying got into the mire they prayed to Jupiter, and did not help themselves. Let them put their shoulders to the wheel. It would take a little time to get a company into working order, but with energy and determination, he had no. doubt of their success. Mr. Hughes concluded by reading an estimate of the cost of preserving meat in tins, furnished to his brother by a Liverpool meat preserver. A complete apparatus for cooking and preserving 25001 b. per day could be put up for £500, estimating thirty pounds meat per sheep, and twenty-live pounds tallow. To keep this going would take three tinsmiths, one skilled preserver, one engineer, four men for preparing, cutting up, and packing iii tins the meat they bring from the butcher (one butcher could kill all the. above sheep). The tins must be packed in wooden cases, for carriage, &c. Tins cost for six pounds meat,;.6d. Total cost in England is estimated : — ld. per lb. on m.eat will pay for tins ; Id. do. do. for butchers, cooking,. &c. ,do.. do. for freight ; total, 3d., Our informant would readily buy all we could send at 6d. ; and adds, that if we think of going into it, and give an order for the machinery, a person could be taught to use it, and. sent out with it. , . .-..■■

December, 1867. — New South Wales, 15,000,000 sheep and lambs ; Victoria, 10,000,000 do. 1865.— South Australia" and Queensland, 10,571,000; in December, 1867, say 15,000,000 do. Total, 40,000,000 sheep and lambs. In addition to supplying the population, there have been boiled down, chiefly previous to 1860, 3,750,000 sheep, and 602,000 cattle.

The Chairman explained, that in referring to the various systems of meat preserving, he did so merely with the intention of. drawing attention to them. He did not express himself in favour of one , more than another. Ho thought that if a company vras formed, the board of directors should have a wide latitude in making experiments as to the best process of preserving meat. Mr. Hughes then moved — " That a company be formed, under the Limited Liability Act, with a capital of £50,000, in 10,000 shares of £5 each, for the purpose of preserving and shipping fresh meat to Europe." • Mr. Brodribb seconded the resolution, and observed that this was not a process that had been introduced for the first time. It was in operation in H^ew South Wales, and they were now shipping constantly to London, where the meat was selling well. Mr. S. S. Bitchie said he had been ac- • eustomed to the business of meat preserving for ten years in London, and had large experience in the manufacture of all kinds of preserved meats. The time had now arrived when meat might be sent home in large quantities to England. All that he had stated, both publicly in the papers and privately, had been borne out by the results, both as to the need of this meat, the facility with which it could be sold, and the price at which it could be bought. The estimate read by Mr. Hughes singularly agreed with his, which was that it could be rendered in London at 3d. a pound ; but if it were manufactured in large quantities it might be even less than that. The system which he proposed had been in use for many years. ile had himself been engaged ten years in the business, so that he was not speaking of any new or experimental process. The Clarence Eiver establishment, in New South Wales, carried on its operations by tlio identical pi'ocess which he proposed ; and he would open a case which had been preserved there, exported to Glasgow, and brought from that port by the master of the ship Kenilvrortli. Mr. Uitchic then briefly explained his process, which has already been described in our columns, and which is shortly this : — The meat is put in tins, which are placed in a chemical solution in high temperature. They are kept until the meat is cooked, and the air evaporated so as to create a vacuum. The tin is then sealed, and is ready for export. Several cases of meat preserved on this principle were then opened, and very general satisfaction was expressed with its quality and flavour. The case of beef which Had been exported from JScw South Wales and been brought back to the colony from Glasgow was found to be thoroughly fresh and well preserved. The meat was a little over-cooked, but of course this was a mere error in the process. Mr. J. Campbell Grassie stated that he had returned from the old country by last mail, and that while there he had spent as much time as he could spare in looking after the processes of preserving meats. He visited Mr. M'Caul, the agent for the Bamornie Company, and he had then plenty of meat in his store. The only mistake they had made was, overcooked, and they had a good deal of ifc sent back to them ; but the meat was pretty well liked, though it was rather heavy in the market. The second shipment they got was much better, and Avas taken up more readily than the first shipment. To show how readily a market might be found for Australian beef, he would mention a circumstance which occurred while he was in England, in September last. The Government advertised for tenders for preserved meat, to be supplied to the Abyssinian expedition. • A large meatpreserver in Leith, Mr. Gillan, got the tender. One day the well-known cattlesalesnien, Messrs. Swan and Son, requested him (Mr. Grassie) to go and see some cattle which had been sent over from Ireland for sale. He went, and saw fourteen or fifteen bulls, from fifteen months to four years old. They appeared to be regular " scrubbers," not fit for dogs' meat ; and the lowest butcher from the Grass-market, or the Cowgate, would not buy them to make sausages. Afterwards they were sold to this Mr. Gillau, to be preserved for the Abyssinian expedition. (Laughter.) This was the class of meat that was bought up to be preserved — all the rubbish that the respectable butchers would not buy. He was confident that if Australian meat were sent home in good condition, it would meet with a ready market both in Scotland and England. In a manufacturing district near Glasgow, he found that the mass of the workers never ate beef, except once a week, and perhaps not even then ; and he believed if they could supply good meat at sd. or 6d. a pound, that they would have unlimited demand for it. There was a prejudice against salt beef from Australia, and the reason of that was, that what had been sent home as salt beef was the refuse of the butcher's shops — what they were not able to sell fresh. (A gentleman. — "That's a fact.") They had never at home had a really good sample of their Australian beef.

Mr. Thomas Shaw, juu., said he had been highly pleased with the clear manner in. which Mr. Hughes had placed the matter before the meeting. It appeared to him that this was the proper time to go into the matter. Among the plans for disposing of, (their surplus produce, there was no plan which had been presented to

his view that he approved of so much as this one. It had the advantage of preserving the meat and the tallow. The boiling down of stock was utterly repugnant to his feelings, when he knew that on the other side of the world there were so many millions of people wishing to eat their meat. There was a great deal of force in the remarks made by the last speaker. When the Government required preserved meat for the Abyssinian expedition, that meat was prepared from animals that no butcher would buy. He had not the slightest doubt that the salt meat that had been sent home from this country had injured the sale of their meats, because it was composed chiefly of the refuse, that they could not eat themselves. He was prepared to maintain, that if once they sent their really good meat home, it would surpass the mutton that was now produced in England itself, and the flavour of their mutton, and their beef also, fed upon natural. pastures, and not upon artificial substauces, would gain them a place in the English market . from which they would never be driven by any other kind of meat preparations. This question, though a personal and selfish one, was also a national one in the widest sense. It affected both them and the mother country ; and he 9 thought it would be but little of a burden upon their large pastoral holders to try this plan even as an experiment. If they advanced the capital, they would reap tiie benefit, if not in great profits as shareholders, at least on the stock that they should retain in the colony, and in giving" better tone and security to their stock market than it now possessed. Every one who had an. interest in the colony should join the company , even if it was not going to succeed; but he had not the slightest doubt that it would be a success, and was sure that the company would pay. He would suggest that the capital should be £50,000, in 10,000 shares of £5.

Mr. Hughes acquiesced in the suggestion, and the resolution was amended accordingly.

Mr. Jervis did not think the directors should be limited to one particular process, but should have a discretionary power to adopt any other process that could be carried on at the same time.

The Chairman pointed out that this suggestion was fully covered by the resolution, and that it tied the directors down to no system.

The resolution was then agreed to unanimously. Mr. Brodribb moved — "That each shareholder shall not be liable for more than the amount of his share."

The resolution was agreed to. Mr. Blackwood then moved — " That the following gentlemen be appointed a provisional committee for receiving applications for shares and deposits ; and be instructed to call the shareholders together for electingpermanent officers : — The Hon. W. Campbell, Messrs. John B. Hughes, John Cumming, F. W. Desailly, 13. J. Hogg, W. A. Brodribb, James White, Hastings Cunningham, D. G-ibbs, Hugh Glass, &c, with power to add to their number."

The motion was agreed to. A subscription-list was then opened, and 820 shares subscribed.

In Australia and Nsw Zealand. Year. Sheep. Cattle. In 1842 4,966.000 916,000 In 1860 9 200,000 3,836,000 -In 1805 -"- .;. ... 38,700,000" 4,132,000