THE PIG INDUSTRY

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6441, 22 January 1924, Page 6

THE PIG INDUSTRY

PROSPECTS OF EXPORT GOOD MARKET AVAILABLE k IF INTELLIGENTLY SERVED With a large annual production of pigs, the farmers of the Dominion are now investigating the possibilities ox the export trade in pork and bacon. To obtain some information on this matter, a “Star” man who knew Mr R. J. Terry, of Auckland, when he was on of the experts of the Department of Agriculture in Tasmania, asked this authority what he consideded were the prospects in this direction. THE LONDON MARKET i “I consider there are good prospects for New Zealand to build up a big and prosperous export trade with the London market both with pork and bacon,” said Mr Terry. “I am speaking now of the London market, m which I was a salesman some years ago. Various parts of Great Britain require various conditions of the same article, and the Old Country markets are very conservative, in their requirements. The class, of pork required for the London market would be a pig weighing from 60;, to 801 b, and nothing over the latter weight—a long, fairly lean and fleshy pig; not a short, fat carcase. It has to be remembered that what is wanted it a carcase to cut into joints for roasting. As regards bacon, there would be a splendid market for the right stuff, as the English people are very big bacon eaters; but there would have to be a fixed grade, and this would have to be strictly observed, when it would reach top price. What is required is a side of bacon weighing about 601 b, a long, lean side. Ido not mean poor conditioned, but lean bacon—an abundance of lean meat in proportion to the amount of fat. The side shall be as small in the shoulder as possible, or what is known in the trade as ‘long, lean,, sizeable.’ I • HOW TO EXPORT “Many people suppose that we can just cure bacon and ship it to London, but that is a mistake. We should either have to pend our sides of pork untrimmed for curing on the other side, and thus save freight, or the bacon can be partly cured here — leaving the last washing and smoking to be done in London. This is very essential, as the bacon would then have all its freshness .and ‘bloofn.’ This method is absolutely practicable, as the Canadian so-called ‘pea-fed’ bacon is all shipped to be cured, washed, and trimmed in London. If a side of bacon is cured and smoked and then frozen, it is dark in appearance, and has list that nice fresh ‘bloom,’ as the trade terms it, when placed on the market. A TASMANIAN EXAMPLE “As showing what might be done here with up-to-date freezing appliances, 1 you will remember when we first consigned bacon from Tasmania to the London market, to ease our over-supply. We had no refrigerating vans on our railways then, and had to send the carcases from Launceston to Hobart to be shipped (a 12 hour journey) in trucks that we had cooled by air' draughts from canvas chutes. Even then, the shipments were a great success, as you know, and }ve soon had inquiries from other of the world. The following season we sent sides of bacon pigs to New Zealand, and although we still had no facilities for proper handling and shipping the result was again very satisfactory, for the following season we received an order from New Zealand for 400 bacon pigs. The order could not be fulfilled, however, for by that time our markets had become regulated. A WORD OF WARNING

“There is just one note of warning in sending pork to London. Great care must be taken to thoroughly incise the, throat-glands in search of possible tuberculosis, otherwise the whole carcase will be condemned—not the head alone—if the glands are found on the other side to be tubercular.

“The pig industry, if handled carefully, should develop > tremendously,” concluded the expert, if we can get our farmers to realise that if they combine a certain amount of grain or fodder with their separated milk in feeding, they will get better results than by feeding only on the one unmixed ration, producing. more pork and of a better quality. The question of feeding requires serious study. To my mind, the whole thing hinges on the finishing of the product on its arrival at the British port, and I would say that we should not attempt to send! the finished article from here.’\ . . ,