’ 
As regards supplies at the source, there is, in the nature of 
things, very little active participation by any of the large com- 
panies. They may, it is true, own ranches, but the business of 
farming does not readily lend itself to large-scale management, 
Nor is there much inducement, under ordinary circumstances, 
for a meat company to go into the cattle-rearing business, as 
the ownership of the works, in a country such as South America, 
may be said to be, of itself, the key position. In Australia and 
New Zealand, this is not the case, as not only are there many 
more works, but there is a strong body of public opinion opposed 
to the expansion of big business in the pastoral domain. More- 
over, combinations in this field would appear to be coming from 
the producers themselves; the formation of a Meat Producers’ 
Board in New Zealand and of a Meat Council in Australia have 
already been noted; in the Argentine, the producers have, for 
some time, been endeavouring to follow suit, but so far with 
little practical result. 
With regard to the control of freezing works and of wholesale 
merchanting, it has already been noted that the principal com- 
panies in the South American trade are very powerful and prac- 
tically command the outlet for Argentine cattle. Although 
several of these companies meet each week to arrange freight 
which is allocated by agreement,* they stoutly deny that the 
prices to be offered for cattle, or the price to be charged in 
European markets, are agreed or even discussed among them. 
Owing to its perishable nature, it would certainly be a most 
difficult task to fix prices for chilled beef in this country unless 
arrivals were also controlled, and in view of the occasional gluts 
of chilled meat it is difficult to believe that this is sytematically 
done. Agreement as to buying prices for cattle would, of course, 
sensibly weaken the position of the producer overseas. With 
regard to distribution in this country, the strength of the South 
American companies depends very largely on the elaborate and 
extremely efficient system of distribution which they have built 
up. Though, with the exception of the Union Cold Storage 
Company, which is an English concern, the companies operating 
in South America do not own retail shops, they have their own 
wholesale depots in each important centre of population and, 
through these, control the wholesaling of chilled beef. But even 
in this department, evidences of agreed policy are difficult to 
detect, as each local manager is keen for business and the 
necessity for prompt disposal imposes its own limitations on 
price agreements. Complaint seems to come in the main from 
traders who find the competition of the South American com- 
panies difficult to meet. Certainly, the amalgamation of interests 
into large-scale trading units should conduce to more efficient 
processing and distribution, smaller overhead charges and less 
waste. All that can be said is that, if a working agreement does 
or were to exist among the South American companies as to 
k Gee. however. footnote. Dace 26