Agricultural History Review, Volume 60 Part 2 (2012), pp. 288–308

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exports of frozen mutton and lamb from New Zealand grew dramatically. Their destination was Great Britain, whose growing population demanded quality meat, and lots of it. Refrigeration technology enabled the trade in frozen meat between New Zealand and Great Britain, but its establishment was more than a matter of equalizing antipodean supply with British demand. This article argues that the trade in frozen meat depended on colonists’ abilities to remake their flocks in such a way as to balance the demands of colonial environments with those of British consumers. This resulted in the formation of new breeds like the Corriedale, an inbred cross between the merino and longwool types from Britain, whose hybridity guaranteed suitability for colonial topography and terrain, while its genetic roots ensured that it remained British enough for ‘Home’ consumption. 

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