, 1880-12-04
Americas Meat in England.


The Commissioners appointed by the
British Parliament 10 investigate the pro
babIe effect Of American competition upon
English farmers, after giving IN their
rero-t rather pssorinq account as to wheat
give UP when it comes 10 mear Coin
menting on the report, the A9fae"ia''a
Eoqaomist, of London, says:
THE beef question, perhaps, requires
even more consideration than any other.
because the fefris ratdr system for con-
veyins fresh meat ter long distances Is
conparatiyely new, and may possibly, II,
future, become a FAX greater element IN
enabling producers IN America to make
use Of English markets than cheese, or
even VIII. at itself. No one can persue
the report OF thes. commissioners without
becoming convinced that the fresh meat
trade has not yet been perfectly developed.
The system Of sending is perfect enough
but fat cattle Of the right character to be
sent arc, as vet, few IN number. The re-
port says: Anyone who has seen the
splendid American oxen which are import
ed into this country, and the massive
quarters Of prime beef which tind their
way across the Atlantic, might be some
what surprised and disappointed at the
cnmpa ativ.ly few really well bred cattle
that are TO be found IN the United States
Only such are at present to be found IN
Kentucky and the surrounding States,
where there are thousands OF beautiful,
robust, pure-bred short-horns- But IN
the Eastern States the cattle are mostly
ordinary dairy stock Of no s<eat merit.
while in the South and West the Texan
and other similar breeds pr dominate--
big, broad, slow grading animals, not flt-
ted until they have greatly improved by
crossing, Ia produce beef for expectation
1T is only the primrst bHli,'cks, says the
report. that are exported dead or ailfe
to Great Britain. The market iii England
will not answer TOR any hut the best beef,
as the expenses uf transit are almost as
heavy upon an an inf=r:or rs a really good
beast
But" says the agricultural journal
above mentioned, "The great question to
be considered is. how ION" VIII this state
If things lasii \" very great length OF
time Is required t. l"l"''' any breed of
cattle by cru>sii.", and de enormous use
which las been made # short-horn and
Hereford bulls, with which t. c-oss the
native cattle of the rlsins, since the fresh
meat trade with Great Britain came INTO
existance, SEEMS PREGNANT with mIgnty
results III the future. OGe at the Com
missioners rnintln.. 'h,s "ut remarks: A
single lngr firm 81. kentucky breeders
sends yearly as many as 40 short-born
bull calves INTO these plains Consequent
lv the Improvement VII ch must tax
place in these CATH i'll i few Years can
moi but be considerable. This, together
with the enurnnuS Increase "f cattle III
Texas and the far west, mns. make the
ssockmen master nf the situation 1t Is
generally acknowlg,l.el that The average
protit in this branch uf business has been
as high as - Yer cent, and Is now the
most profitable Of American farming
And again: at is almost AZ cheap and
easy to manage 5000 cattle as TO attend
to one thousand The expenses Of herd
ing and keeping for twelve months do not
exceed 81 30 rer head, and III some cases
not more than 81.
We have only further space a: present
TO give the conclusion arrived at by the
as To the price that Amerl-
.., ,,,.,+ ,-,., ba ,r,,pc.l and axt.nrta1
to England remuneratively. They say
/" After balancing the various opinions Of
the meat exporters it appears that really
prime beef can he delivered i'll England
and sold at a profit Tor SIX and a half
pence per pound, ti.at seven pence gave
margin Tor a m"st lncra';re trade, while
six pence per pound would hardly he
sufficient to cover all risks and give ex-
porter profit.