MEAT PRESERVING.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 14, Issue 1140, 1 April 1870, Page 3

MEAT PRESERVING.

(From the "Lyttelton Times," March il.j How these colonies are to supply the over-peopled countries of the old world with fresh meat at a moderate price maybe a difficult scientific problem, but it is one that is certain, sooner or later, to be solved. So much attention is now being given to the subject by scientific men all over the world, and recent discoveries are so encouraging, that it is impossible to believe that complete success can be much longer delayed. When that is achieved, and when tbe almost unlimited markets of the old world are placed at the command of colonial farmers and grasiers, a new lease of prosperity will dawn upon the colonies. When that time arrives, it is quite certain that New Zealand will obtain its full share. For it may be affirmed that no other colony in these seas can fatten as large quantity of stock, acre for acre, as New Zealand. The soil of some of the Australian colonies is perhaps superior in depth and richness to the average soil of this colony, but the climate of New Zealand is incontestibly superior. From one end to the other of the islands, artificial grasses can be grown in their highest perfection, and, over a large part of the colony the growth continues throughout the year, for, even in the coldest parts, the winter is comparatively short, and the growth of grass almost unchecked. This facility for growing artificial grasses, will be a source of abundant wealth to the colony, as soon as a way is discovered of sending home meat in a natural fresh state. And that discovery, if we are to believe what has been told us, has been already made. On a recent occasion we published a memorandum forwarded from London by Mr. Verdon to his Government at Melbourne, describing shortly a process by which Professor Gamgee preserves meat in its natural fresh condition for certain indefinite periods. If a more intimate experience confirms the promise held out by the memorandum, it would not be premature to assume that at last a method has been discovered of solving the difficulty which has hitherto stood in the way of meat-preserving. That difficulty may be bi'iefly summed up, as consisting in the impossibility of preserving meat for more than a few days in a condition fit for the butcher's shop. If we are to believe Pro\ fessor Gamgee, he has completely solved this difficulty. Carcases cured by his process and sent from America, are stated to have been hung side by side with fresh killed meat in the London market without exhibiting any difference in taste or appearance. A meat salesman of the Metropolitan market states that he has received carcases which remained perfectly fresh for a period of ten weeks after they had been submitted to»the preserving process. But the public will before long have the best possible opportunity of testing the value of the process. A quantity of the meat has been placed by Mr. Gamgee on board the Crusader, an emigrant ship,bound to Melbourne, and may shortly be expected to arrive. The Government will doubtless open the packages, and publish the result as soon as possible, and then it will be known whether the discovery is likely to be valuable to these colonies. The process appears to be simple and inexpensive after the first outlay for the apparatus has been made. The principle consists in saturating the carcase with two kinds of gases in certain definite proportions. . Or it is possible to begin while the animal is alive, by making it inhale carbonic oxide out of an air-tight hood. When insensible, it is thon bled and the carcase submitted to the action of sulphurous acid in a chamber constructed for the pu rj» >se. The process takes from seven to twenty days according to the character of the meat and the size of the animal. The cost of an apparatus for curing 600 sheep a day, would be about £4000. An addition of one-fourth to this amount would enable more than twice the number to be preserved. The process seems to be labour-saving in the extreme. When in full work, the largest establishment requirs only two men to attend to the preserving process. And when this is properly completed, it is said that no perceptible flavor is communicated by the gases owing to the fact that they neutralise one another. When preserved, the meat requires no peculiar care in packing, as it is sent from America in ordinary deal packing cases wrapped up in cloth. If all this is true, it is cleor that a most valuable and important discovery has been made. It is satisfactory to think that we shall only have to wait the arrival of the Crusader thoroughly to test the experiment.