1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
341 
THE EFFICIENCY OF THE FROZEN-MEAT INDUSTRY. 
By G. L. D. James, A.S.R.E. 
There is room for improvement in this industry, and that some one has 
partially realized this at the London end is evidenced by recent news¬ 
paper reports, for we are informed that it has been decided in London that 
a Scientific Board of Research is to be set up to investigate the subject 
of the cold storage of meat, and that two Australasian representatives will 
be included on the Board. The information is so meagre that it leaves 
a wide field of speculation as to what particular benefits are aimed at. 
That the condition and quality of frozen meat are receiving the attention 
of at least one individual, however, is shown us by a later cable, which 
reports the fact that some sheep have been slaughtered in England, stored 
for 160 days to cover an average transportation period, thawed out, and 
bacteriologically examined. 
It is a surprising fact that our frozen-meat industry has been allowed 
to continue for so many years without a thorough scientific and practical 
investigation, and now that outside attention has been partially drawn 
to the subject it is to be hoped that the industry will itself see that the 
investigation be developed into a general one, covering the trade from the 
live stock to the retail butcher’s block in England. The operations of a 
Board or of individuals, such as reported, can be of but little value unless 
their work extends to the producing countries. 
There is ample room for improvement in efficiency, but there is no room 
for the slightest increase in the cost of the production ; therefore we must 
strive either to increase the weight without increasing the expenditure, or 
to decrease the expenditure on the present weight and to obtain full value 
for the weight we are producing. New Zealand meat commands a market 
and a price on the Home market, but I am sure that there is a limit to those 
conditions, and that had it not been for the present crisis that limit 
would have been about reached. The crisis has only postponed our 
awakening. 
New Zealand has been the envy of other stock-producing countries, 
but these have been steadily establishing their meat-works and improving 
their stocks with the idea of wresting our markets from us. It is possible 
now that these years of war will complete their preparation, and that when 
normal times again resume we may feel their weight. All other countries 
are nearer than we are to the Home markets, and in most of them the cost 
of labour is less. Investigations should be instituted without delay, so that 
whatever improvements can be obtained will be available for practical use 
to meet competition upon the termination of Imperial control. 
New Zealand has need to be self-reliant as to the methods adopted to 
increase the efficiency of her freezing-works. I have visited meat-works in 
Australia, the United States, and South America, and believe that each of 
these countries can teach us something, but yet that it would not be prac¬ 
ticable to combine the best features of each in a works for New Zealand, 
•as there are local conditions regarding class of stock, climate, and labour 
which have to be considered as peculiar to this country. There are several 
systems of refrigeration in vogue here, but no effort has been made to check 
