FROZEN MEAT EXPORT.

Western Star, Issue 465, 27 July 1881, Page 2

FROZEN MEAT EXPORT.

■ ; [ln view; of .the attempt now being made; to form a,Frozen.Meat and Produce Export po. for Southland, the following very interesting and intelligent' description of the process is sent to the “ Clutha Loader” by ,Mr ,VY. A. Murray, 1 the'member for Bruce':—'• ‘ •••»’ . Impressed .with the importance to , this colo ii}’ of securing a profitable market for staple products, and believing that the export of frozen' meat and dairy produce would be of the highest consequence to the prosperity of the agricultural and pastoral interests,. I have made it my business to obtain so far as I

"eo'uld the fiillestiaudf must, ro&tinfcdnfoivnation-, as to what was ‘being ciono fo establish those exports from Australia. , At Qrange, 192 nnlies . from Sydney, I inspreted the Frozen Meat Company’s works, which were 'only partly completed.' A Griff arc! machine, of 25 horse-power, costing about £llOO, was at work, supplying frozen air to throe chambers already’erected, each l-ift hy 2'9(fc, and 71’fc 4in in height, fitted with iron bars for hanging the. meat; each chamber/ it was staled, would .contain 700 sheep or 240 cattle, and the time occupied in freezing Would be 3(3 hours for sheep, and 43 hours for oatfcle. The walls of these chambers are double, and are filled with 12 to II inches of dry sawdust, or, preferably, they are lined with three thick■■nesses of strong paper, and then were painted with silicate paint. They are floored with concrete, but a new chamber, 19ft by 20ft, in course of erection would be floored with timber packed in sawdust or tan, as the concrete was found to. diffuse the frost info the ground, and was both more costly and not so good as timber. I was surprised to see inferior Oregon timber used generally here as elsewhere in New South Wales. People seemed -unaware, till,! told them of’the splendid kauri of New Zealand, or appeared to have an unaccountable prejudice against it, which the New Zealand timber trade would do well to remote, and so secure this'important-market. A timber box 14in square •runs round the top of-the wdlls of the freezing 'chambers, with apertures sin in diameter arid 3ft apart, through whioh the frozen air is forced by the engine.' The snow accumulates in these boxes to such an extent that they require to bo cleared once or twice in ,24 hours. One chamber was freezing beef, and the waste air was used to freeze the other two chambers to prepare them for the reception of meat. The air in them we found considerably under the freezing point, and in the other we found the temperature 30 degrees below zero,, and the beef as hard as ice. Escape vents are provided for the waste air in the roof of the chambers, which after it has served its purpose can bo used to cool the carcasses of beef or mutton before freezing. Doors in the roof are available for hoisting the meat into or out of any room, as the side doors all open from room to room.

The principle of tho Giflard machine .is to compress a large .volume of air'into a small compass, and with it. the caloric or beat which it. contains, which makes the receiver intensely hot; this hot, compressed air is now carried through minute brass tubes, around which there should be a constant stream of cold water, This extracts all the caloric from the compressed air, which being liberated through the receiver or snow chest “(so called from the rapidity with-■ which ' snow gathers in it), passes into the chambers to be frozen, and then expanding in volume abstracts any caloric that may be in the air of the freezing chamber, and so creates a more or less intense eold. At Orange there was difficulty from the absolute want of Witter, and When heavy fain caused the creek to flow it was so hot that it had to be pumped into underground tanks, and then, though cooled by the snow out pf. the chests and chambers, the temperature could not be got below 70 degrees, thus involving a great waste of time and power. The fat and refuse are treated in two largo digesters, under a great pressure of steam. The refined fat is run off direct into casks ; the liquid is used for feeding pigs, for which extensive and complete yards are being provided ; and the bones and dry refuse are to be crushed in a bone mill for manure, for which I simeWsted the Now Zealand market. Into the works there is a si iing of the Sydney and l)ubho Railway,-where tho lire .stock is received and the frozen meat delivered, the charge made by tho company for receiving, keeping, slaughtering, freezing,'and again delivering in the close trucks, to he specially provided by Government, being one halfpenny per pound for meat and fat, tlwowners of the stock paying for the scrim in which each quarter of beef and body, of mutton is sewed up. I have to express my thanks for the great courtesy shown mo by Mr lloaton. the managing director, and by Mr Jet-rant, the manager, who had charge of the Protos experiment, where, ho states, (lie error was ira >e of freezing before tbo meat had sot (a difficult thong to avoid in so list a climate), and was

one cause of the Protos not being so good as it should have been. They speak in tha highest terms of the superiority of tho Qiffard machines over the Bcll-Coleman, having tried both, and express tho most absolute confi* donee in tho certainty of success. The price of beef ami mutton at Orange, the most con* vpniont place for its supply in New- South Wide’s, is 'under 10s per lOOlbs, but tho quality is inferior, though (he supply is immense. They have to contend on tho other hand with great deficiency of water or nsne at all, with a hotr.climate and a long land carriage to Sydney bf 192 miles. In New Zealand these difficulties need not- exist.' -We haVe efiay coni-*' inculcation between the producing districts and shipping 'ports, where abundance of water I'd’. or.xaayJie-ia^olmosfiA nil cases, while ip. this, teinperato climate there neod-bd Wtrouhlo about setting (he meat before freezing. -■

The droughts which sometimes destroy such , numbers <Jf stoeve anti render thq 4ujjplv,p£: fat stock uncertain in Australia are unknown " in Now Zealand, where the supply’of butcher-meat-and'dairy produce is only limited bvtho profitable dbhlancl, for with a climate and soil so practically suited for turnip and green crop husbandry, for artificial grasses and cereals, it is difficult to estimate the, continually increasing, wealth-creating power of the improved and' systematic agriculture which would result. Though sailing ships- might temporarily bo used, direct steam communication with Europe would be an early if not au immediate necessity, for, though the New Zea- ■ land Shipping Company.charge but 2d or 2Jd per lb. for the conveyance of meat and dairy produce in frozen chambers from the Colony to Europe, provided they are guaranteed a certain number of tons at any port, would not long serve the growing requirements of-' the trade which tho increasing production of A grain, dairy produce, meat, wool, &c., stimulated by an ui limited and lucrative market would create.' ■ The successful .colonisation' of". Nevv Zealand would b,o assurejl, by_ the settle- ;r i ment on tho land of men, with prosperity before them as thu_ certain reward of iutolligonfc industry, and not, as now, a struggle, too often without success, to avoid insolvency; population wool I increase, wealth would man i ufactureS“Wouf’d'’bo-esWblfshed; imdpro- | perty would assimilate,to -British values. Tha* configuration of Nevv|ZsaJanid would necessir .. tale inany 'freezing establishments, whieli might add to the cost*of freezing, &e;, and of ■" shipment, and yet might,be tpitha convenience of producers and increase, the sources from, which steamsrs would draw ’their support:'” Theinerease- in pride whichcwould assuredly take [place would be partly modified by the, . gi’eat increase of production, and would still leave a handsome profit; ButchCrM- mOatAha? been sold for little over a penny per pound; butler for 2Jd to 4d. For butchers’ mo\h7<l 3 per lb. may be confidently expected iii'Bfitaiu.The cost would.be —l na 70 mil ;idi.,e v d. Killing, freezing, etc., per lb, Charges to Britain (including'insurance) w say ... . ~..,y,r . ..j: 2k . Charges, commission, etc., 'in N say -■. . .’** ** f ■.. • ' ‘ 1 Prieeto producers fiore, say ' ... ... 3 Selling pries per lb, in Britain ' ".V” '7d For butter, if good, one shilling per IB would be a low average in’Britain, while tho cost would be to Britain—- ' . /yG ; n,r •■ - ;/.Od. Freezing, freight, etc. (including insurauee and all charges and commisSS»I 8, * on * n Britain), say per 15 ... 4, Price to settlers in New Zealand 8 > . 1 That tho export of moat to Em ope is profitable will he admitted when it is known t hat even > under the old extract, process tho Australian Meat-preserving Ci mpanj at Ramornie, New. So.ct h Wales, in nine-years made a profit of £90,000, and as in tho above estimate the proceeds ■■from the sale of Tallow, sheSpskins, bides, are not included, it will be seen that these provide a considerable margin for contingencies, . In conclusion, I may add that a matter of such.truly colonial importance well doservea the 'consideration, of .Governm at by providing facilities for transit iu the Colony and shipment;'from : it of its'staple products, and even in; aiding in eatablisjdng direct steairt communication with Europe, thus connecting . us with our chief, if not, indeed, our only customers, oven-if we: should have to'abandon the San Francisco service subsidised largely, for tho benefit of our competitors. Though Government withholds its aid, I trust that those gentleman-who are working earnestly and unostentatiously will persevere in .their efforts, and while benefiting themselves may succeed in conferring an-'-incalculable booh upon New Zealand, and- they will have done more for their fellpw-colonists “ than. this whole rage, of pbliticiflos.’’, ' .. .