LONDON'S FOOD SUPPLY—IBS 3 AND 1900.

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 7

LONDON'S FOOD SUPPLY— IBS 3 AND 1900.

London's food supply, is the subject, of an,; interesting article in- 'the current number of M the Quarterly Review, in the course of which I the writer, by reference to an article which ! appeared in the Quarterly in 1853,, is able to show the contrast between the state of" the provision market then and- now. ■In 1853, he says, the foreign supply of cattle, sheep, and pigs was more than one-seventh ; in 1898 it was" roughly two-thirds of the whole number sent to London. In the earlier year, ■ out of 80,785' oxen- and calves imported into London, three-fourths came from Holland, and'^almost the whole of -the i remainder, from" Denmark," the Hanseatic towns, and Belgium. At present the United States,. Canada, andtKe Argentine Republic account among_ them for the whole of the foreign and colonial im- ' ports of cattle,.Qf.which.in.lß9£L222,'Bs3 - were brought into London hy sea. t " •• ' As regards sheep, the change' is quite as striking.- In 1853, 229,918 sheep were imported into London, of which the whole-came from ports on the North Sea, chiefly from Holland. In 1898 the number had" risen to 351,204, but the sources of supply had entirely changed. No fewer«-than 322,720 animals came v from ,the Argentine Republic, and the whole of the remainder from other parts of America. The European supply has entirely / disappeared. 1n' 1853 dead meat was to live cattle as 6ne to three; whereas in. 1898 it ,was as three to one. The writer, reckoning up the total of both live and dead meat, estimates that "in 1898 about 450;000 tons of' meat of all kind 3 passed through London, of which, roughly speaking; 'one-third, or 150,000 tons, was home grown." He goes on to estimate, roughly that -of the 450,000 tons of meat which reach , London yearly from™ all- sources, about 200.^000'- tons ' are beef and veal, and not less than 170,000 tons mutton and lanib, the remaining 80,000tons being pork, bacon, ham, rabbits, ppultry, and game. . . . Of the 300,000: tons of meat dead and alive coming into London by sea, rather more than a, half, about 160,000 tons, is the produce of other parts of the. Empire, while about 140,000 tons come from' foreign countries. _ _ , Hence, in the, final analysis, the Empire, including the United Kingdom, furnishes about 310,000 tons of meat annually to London, com- • pared with 140,000 tons derived from foreign, countries. The supply of meat drawn fromthe British Empire is, ' therefore, more than double that derived from foreign countries*

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