266 [Assembly 



water, the outside is boiled, and the inside remains badly cooked." 

 ^' If the American meat was not attended to, it would boil away 

 more than other meat, because there is more fat."' 



The shrinkage on the best meat is from 22 to 25 per cent. 

 " inferior " 35 " 40 " 



" We 23urchase the best salt provisions that can be got in mar- 

 ket, India beef and India pork, and latterly we have given our 

 crews American beef, in preference to Irish or English ; we find 

 it much superior." ^' We have purchased American beef for five 

 or six years ; and latterly when American meat of such a quality 

 as we purchase was not in market, we have sent Irish beef ^ but 

 our people do not like it so well ; they complain of it, in fact 

 the Irish meat is not so good now as it was seven or eight years 

 ago." " The Irish pork is superior to the American, for sea pur- 

 poses." 



Edward Ede, Esq., assistant storekeeper at the Deptford 

 victualling yard, on his examination stated his opinion of the 

 quality of British and foreign cured meat, that he " preferred 

 Hamburgh meat, up to the examinations of last year ; we have 

 not had any this year, but this year certainly the palm has been 

 carried off by the American meat branded "Abburger." '•' This is 

 beef, not pork ; the best pork we receive is certainly the Ham- 

 burgh pork and the Dantzic, especially the Crasemann's and 

 Koofman's brand, Hamburgh. The best Irish meat, and which 

 is the nearest to the quality of the Hamburgn meat, is cured at 

 Limerick, by Oake, or Shaw and Dufiield." 



Memoranda of the late comptroller of the victualling, dated 

 in 1846, were also handed in to this committee. The comptroller 

 states that the Deptfurd officers reported that the " experimental 

 American salt beef was equal to the Irish salt beef, &c., &c." He 

 also says, '^ since the alteration of the tariff, American salt meat 

 has become an article of great import into this country, but the 

 pork shrinks so much in boiling as not to be held in estimation. 

 Much of the beef, however, is of a quality not inferior to the best 

 Irish cured meat. There is, at the same time, a much larger 

 quantity imported that is deep colored and hard, and of a very 

 inferior quality, so much so as not to be fit for use in the navy." 



