The Meat Experiments Provide Much Food for Thought

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17781, 17 May 1932, Page 8

The Meat Experiments Provide Much Food for Thought

THOSE who expected Dr. W. A. Bowie’s meat experiments to In 1 confined to within tin 1 walls of the freezing works lmve discovered their mistake. At the outset, lie stressed the importance of proper handling prior to slaughter. Now he has gone a stop further still, and at the meeting of farmers on Saturday ho hinted that till' whole system of fattening may have to be reviewed. It can be safely left to Dr. Bowie and those responsible for rlic freezing end of tin 1 industry to carry out such further investigations ns are believed {to be necessary. In the meantime I the farmer can do much to assist in turning ins fat stock into bettor meat. The ante-mortem treatment was referred to by Dr. Bowie as one of the most important in the freezing industry, and farmers should not take this advice too lightly. The statement that Waikato-fattened lambs acquire a better bloom than those fattened in the'Gisborne district, 'even though the lambs from the two districts may,have been bred on the same Poverty Bay property, may not lie pleasing information to sheep farmers of this district, and .steps will be taken, no doubt, to have the reason fully inquired into. A valuable theory in this respect was advanced by Mr I*. .T. Roberts, who suggested that the additional top!dressing done in the Waikato may be I the cause of the better bloom. Mr Roberts has carried out a certain amount of top-dressing himself, and his experience bears out that of other farmers that quicker fattening results from the judicious use of fertilisers. 'The speeding up of the fattening process is in keeping with the theory that better meat with a better bloom should ! bo the result of feeding on top-dressed I pastures. I It has been .suggested that the DeIpartment of Agriculture should investigate the matter. Departmental inI vestigat ions are thorough, but necesf sarily slow. In the meantime, ihfor- | mation of much value might be obtained by comparing the bloom on lambs I drawn from fertilised and unfertilised : paddocks on the same property. A few such small experiments may give ; a lead for something on more lavish j linos, and may provide at least a tentative solution of the theory adI vanned. j It is impossible to estimate to what extent the Gisborne district and the j whole Dominion will benefit by the adoption of Dr. Bowie’s methods, but . meat that is better in appeavHpeo and jin taste is certain to command a,better sale than formerly. The effects [are likely to be substantial both to | the individual and to, the country as I a whole, and for this reason each far- . mer should do his best to assist by ' whatever means lies in his power. The j careful handling of his stock for 1 slaughter is one of the means by which \ he can co-operate.