132 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



McDonald and Humble should not be forgotten. As the result of their 

 labours, we have now a choice between any of the four refrigerating" 

 agents just mentioned, and there are absorption machines, such as the 

 Taylor type, single-acting mechanical compressors, such as the 

 Hercules, double-acting compressors, some of Linde's serve as an 

 example, and com])ound compressors, such as Humble and Sons. 



The service may be either direct expansion, brine circulation, or 

 the Linde dry air system or its modi ii cations. I will be very pleased 

 to show the members attending the conference, the machinery of the 

 Government Cool Stores at any time that may be convenient, when a 

 better opportunity will be aiforded of going into details, and a 

 practical demonstration will do more good than merely (j[Uoting 

 particulars in the abstract. 



Practical Application of Refrigeration. 



Mr. Thomas Sutclift'e Mort, one of the founders of the firm of 

 Goldsbrough, Mort and Co., and founder of the Fresh Food and Ice 

 Company of Sydney, prophesied in his opening speech at the meeting 

 of the latter Company, in 1861, that the ultimate outcome of the 

 frozen meat trade would be that " the half starved nations of the 

 earth shall now be fed." He spent fully a quarter of a million pounds 

 sterling in trying to develop the shipment of meat to England, and 

 shortly before his death expended thousands of pounds in fitting up 

 the P. and 0. Steamer Northam. Nitrate of ammonia was the agent 

 employed, but although every care was taken and no expense spared 

 in fitting u]) the vessel, the plant failed before the ship left the wharf 

 and was discharged. Mr. Mort died soon afterwards without seeing 

 the scheme he had cherished for years actually realized. The practical 

 solution of the problem of exporting frozen meat is due to Mr. (Joleman, 

 who applied the direct method of cooling air. The steamship 

 Strathleven was fitted up with a Bell-Coleman air compressing machine, 

 in 1879, and 400 carcases of mutton were shipped from Sydney and 

 Melbourne in December. Considerable gratification and excitment 

 were occasioned when after a 42 days voyage, the cargo was safely 

 landed in England in good condition. This was the beginning of the 

 export trade in perishable and frozen products, a trade that has already 

 done much for Australia. 



But it is in refrigeration as connected with the dairying industry , that 

 we are naturally most concerned. Butter was exported from Victoria 

 successfully in the refrigerating chambers in 1888. At first it was 

 thought that only chilling was necessary, and it was asserted for 

 years that if butter were frozen the fat globules would bur.st and its 

 ( piality thus be spoilt. The exact temperature requisite was long a ' 

 debatable matter and even now there are some who maintain that 

 butter should not be frozen. You will remember that the Department 

 of Agriculture some 18 months back endeavoured to bring about a 

 reduction in the shipping temperature of butter, but owing to the 

 opposition of three individual firms the attempt was frustrated. There 



