THE MEAT TRADE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14304, 15 March 1912, Page 4

THE MEAT TRADE.

+- LA It fi EST WORLD INDUSTRY. (FROM OUR OWN* COHBESrO.VJJKNT.) LONDON, February 7. Lecturing on tho Moat Industry at the Royal Society of Arts, Mr L. M. j "Douglas. of the Edinburgh College of j Agriculture, sn.'d that few peonle real- .! i.*;cd that the meat industry was one of I the largest in the world. In Enron-*, alone tlierc wero 121,000,000 cattle, in North America 50.000.00 D, in South America •13.000,000. in Asia 07..000..000. in AusI tralia r_",ooo,'K)o. and in Africa i I.'ioO.OUO. People in this country wore ! the largest huyers nor head of populai tion and it was remarkable that while j meat ore-ducts from overseas came in j increasing supplies from year to year, ' our own cattle population remained 'stationary, about of wliich jwo .-.lruightored something under i 3.000,000 per annum. Tho idea of tho packing hous'r, had yet to be developed !in this co'.intrv. and many people were ', of onhiion that it was a feasible propol si tion. I In the United States there were 030 ■ pricking 1 ionics, which wero able to .ship | their produces to Europe and princ-i- ---! pally to British markets. Of cattle. 'j alone they handled 8,000,000 per ani num. but the exports were becoming I smaller and smaller owing to increase ;of population and local demand.--. ; Sviiile our supplies from North America ', were dwindling, they had increased ' from Soutii America. If the United States could not supply large quanti- ; ties of liio'i*. products to the United Kingdom, the packers were detorinined to make a bid for the trade, and one recent stet> had bee;, to purchaso 1).000.000 acres of land in Brazil for ranching purposes, so as to supply tlio demands of Europe and the British markets. Our imports of fresh, and frr-'-en meat in 1911 amounted to j 7.000.000 cwt., ot the value of £11.000,000. j In the markets overseas, where tiie handling of meat products had been mainly developed, the greatest possible care was taken to utilise tiie residual part?. The number of products from a bullock was 140, and under proper ■management it was possible to convert it into a highly remunerative animal. Thero were no organised central packing houses in this country and the abattoir.! were not designed to make these products from the 3,000.000 cattlo slaughtered every year. There was no reason why the meat industry should not be raised higher, but the education in the 2"J agricultural colleges in the United Kingdom stopped at the very point where the exercise of tho meat purveyor's art should begin.