Report on the trade in refrigerated beef, mutton and lamb

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1800540760

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-185131

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report on the trade in refrigerated beef, mutton and lamb

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1925

Scope:: vi, 65 Seiten; Ill., graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter II. Historical

Collection:: Economics Books

Argentine was growing fast. The centre of gravity moved south- wards. In 1907, began the ‘ American invasion” of the Argentine and, except during the war period of phenomenal expansion, the United States ceased to be a serious contributor to our supplies of both frozen and chilled beef. In 1874, the amount exported was 1,095 cwt.; in 1913 it was back to 1,462 cwt.; the American export trade had been transferred to the Argentine. (ii) Australia, New Zealand, South America.—Similar in the problem which confronted each, these three countries were in a different position from that of the United States, for all were, and the last two still are, primarily pastoral countries with comparatively small populations engaged in any occupation other than farming. Whereas, before the introduction of refrigeration, cattle-raisers in the United States had, at any rate, important domestic markets among the industrial populations in the east and the cotton growers in the south, producers in Australia, New Zealand and South America were compelled to look overseas to give their flocks and herds a value. Prior to 1880, meat in these countries might almost be regarded as a by-product of the wool and skin trade; for local consumption, measured against supplies, was a very small factor. The routine followed, in general, was to skin the animal and consign the carcase to the tallow renderer. It is stated that, in 1850, for example, no less than 800,000 sheep and 73,000 cattle were rendered down, and that, at one works alone, 12,000 sheep were rendered down in four weeks. Apart from any question of food-wastage, these figures illustrate the limits imposed on pastoral industry by the circumstances of the time. Moreover, the market for tallow was not unlimited, so that a decrease in the value of hides and skins made the labour even of killing and skinning unprofitable, any increase in numbers becoming a liability which could only be met by slaughter and destruction. Even in New Zealand, where pasturage was abundant, this drastic method of dealing with superfluous stock had to be adopted on occasions. There was, however, a growing demand for meat in this country. Some indication of the increasing pressure on our meat supplies is given by the fact that during the thirty years from 1851 the population increased from under 28,000,000 to nearly 35,000,000, while the total number of cattle, sheep, and pigs in the country had declined to about 41,000,000. This pressure on an increasing demand on available supplies did not pass unnoticed, and evidence is plentiful that the subject provoked serious study and investigation in many quarters at this time. For instance, the Society of Arts, in 1866, appointed a committee to explore the problem of food supplies; one section of this committee gave special attention to meat. A prize of £100 was offered for the best method of preserving fresh meat, hut the Committee came to an end in 1881 without finding itself

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