56 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



"The prospects after the war are of the brightest. The good 

 profits reaped by fai-mers from the war prices may be expected 

 to stimulate settlement and increased cultivation of land. Just 

 what the measure of this may be no one can tell, but no better 

 stimulus to these operations could exist. It is generally recog- 

 nised that the bringing into cultivation of more land must in 

 the North Island be very extensive for years to come, and that 

 the South Island is also far from its limit of production in meat. 

 Other markets than London will be competing for our meat. It 

 is believed that Anu^rica \Vi\\ want the quality of mutton and 

 lamb which we can give them and which they can never get at 

 home. And so the trade which has re-made New" Zealand 

 during the last thirty years, may be expected to continue its 

 great contribution to the country's prospects. 



"It may be said that New Zealand differs from Australia in 

 not having yet found other markets for meat than the Ignited 

 Kingdom. There Avere great hopes of a trade with Canada a 

 few years ago, but it only reached a volume equal to 80,000 

 sheep in its highest year — 1913." 



Sir Thomas Mackenzie, K.C.M.G., at a recent meeting of the 

 British Cold Storage Association, said : — 



*' Refrigeration Avas the means of the development of the 

 Overseas Dominions. What were the conditions prevailing 

 before this industry was initiated? Cattle and sheep were 



almost unsaleable. A leg of mutton could be bought for a 

 shilling. Why, even a sheep was sold in his country (New 

 Zealand) at from 6d. to 1/- Boiling-down works were estab- 

 lished for the mere purpose of extracting fat from the sheep, 

 the rest of the carcase being wasted, and that at a time when 

 meat was so urgently required in the great centres of population 

 in this country. In Australia cattle — splendid bullocks — were 

 sold at £2 per head. His friend, the late Mr. Christison. who 

 had established the first works at Poole Island, Queensland, had 

 told him that such was the case in that Colony. In the "History 

 of the Frozen ]\Ieat Trade," of which their Secretary (Mr. 

 Raymond) was part author, there was a statement to the effect 

 tiiat eight hundred thousand sheep and seventy-three thousand 

 cattle were boiled down for tallow, i)roducing 110,000 tons, 

 which were sold for £300,000. That worked out at 2/6 for each 

 sheep, and less than £3 for each bullock. They could never too 

 greatly honour the enterprising men who began the work in the 

 Overseas, such as Brvdone, Roberts, Cooke, Reid, Grigg, 



