6 On an Eatraneous Meat-supply. [Jan., 
pounds), and a little water being added the lids are closed, a small 
hole being left in each cf them; and a considerable number are 
then placed in a bath in such a manner as to leave the upper part 
of the tins exposed. This bath contains Chloride of Calcium in 
solution raised to about boiling point, and whilst the contents of 
the tins are boiling, the water escapes as steam through the holes 
punctured in the lids. After a time the air is all expelled, the 
holes are soldered up, and the tins with their contents trans- 
ferred to another bath, but raised to 260 degrees, and should 
any of them be imperfectly soldered they at once begin to leak. 
After boiling there for some time the meat is in a fit state for 
being kept any length of time, and it only remains to ascertain 
whether the air has been perfectly excluded. For this purpose the 
tins are placed in a dry chamber warmed up to about 90 degrees, 
and are left there for a time. The workman then gives each tin 
a light tap at the upper end, and if it emits a hollow sound, in- 
dicative of a space below, he is satisfied there is a vacuum and 
marks the tin as perfect; but should the sound be dull, as though 
the meat were in immediate contact with the lid, such a tin is not 
considered fit for retention and is set aside. Meat so preserved 
is already very largely employed for ships’ use, and it 1s hardly 
necessary to say that as so simple an operation may be, and is, per- 
formed abroad where meat is cheap, as well as in England where 
it is dear, the development of this branch of industry will have a 
most important effect upon our meat-supply. 
The great desideratum will be to provide a quality of meat 
suitable for preservation, and as that applies to all systems, 
whatever they may be, we shall now direct our attention to this 
phase of the subject. Of the remarkable facilities which exist on the 
River Plate for the breeding of sheep and cattle we have already 
spoken, and we would now, in passing, direct the reader’s attention 
to the illustration accompanying this paper, which will convey some 
idea of the appearance of an Hstancia, or cattle-breeding and sheep- 
shearing farm in Uruguay. In the foreground are the cottage with its 
Corral, or cattle-pen, its store and shearing house, and in the distance, 
the sheds, wharf, and vessels loading hides, tallow, and wool. These are 
the chief products of the live stock, besides the calcined bones, which 
the breeder aims to secure, the flesh being quite a secondary matter, 
and all authorities are at present agreed that the meat offered for 
sale on the River Plate is not suitable for preservation and exporta- 
tion. The reasons are that the cattle is wild and unfit for slaughter, 
that no attempt on a large scale has been made to breed such as 
would produce good meat, and that if even the stock sent to Buenos 
Ayres be of a good description when it leaves the Estancia, it 
arrives there “miserably fatigued, the effect of which on the meat 
cannot but be disastrous, as after that its nutritive power is 
