The evening times., 1900-04-02
AMERICAS MEAT TRADE.
Development of the swine and Cat
tie Raising Industry.


The present agitation in Germany for the
exclusion Of American meats lends a spe-
cial timeliness to the monograph OF the
Treasury Bureau OF Statistics on 1.-The
Provision Trade of the United States"
This monograph. which appears in the
Monthly Summary for February, is one
of a series of articles dealing with the pro
duction. distribution, and consumption Of
American staples. and especially with their
transportation within this country
The development OF swine and cattle
raising In the United States presents feat
ures of peculiar interest. The United states
has achieved a unique position among
swine-raising countries, with total of
more than one-half of the worlds supply OF
swine. The discussion shows that the de-
velopment within the country has consist
ed chiefly in a movement from the East to
the West. following the broad course of the
corn belt and that this Westward move
ment has been to still greater extent
true of the horned cattle of the country.
The great growth of Americas swine
raising industry has been of the utmost
Importance to the farmers of the country,
since il has furnished them an outlet, 9TH
erwise difficult to obtain. for their sur
plus corn. The hog has become not only
converter. but a condenser of values.
and as such has sought out Eastern and
European markets in eases where it would
have been quite Improbable 10 transport
corn.
The development of swine and cattle
raising has also been influenced by the
phenomenal growth of the packing indus
try of the country. This evolution pre-
sents features of interest from the time
when in Colonial days primitive packing
was carried on in New England down to
later times. when, about 1920. the prOtO-
type of the modern packing house was
established in Cincinnati In those days
Cincinnati possessed peculiar advantages
for this industry. Adjacent to the corn
fields Of Ohio Indiana. and Kentucky, Gin
cinnati possessed the further advantage
of being situated on the Ohio River down
which her packed products were shipped
to New Orleans, 10 be reshipped to Phiia-
delphia, New York. and Boston. The west
ward movement of the centre Of he corn
belt, however. and the successful cOmpeti-
tiOn of the eastbound railroads with the
long. devious and uncertain Mississippi
route. gave TO Chicago in the early sixties
an immense advantage. and achieved for
that city a pre-eminence 1t has since
maintained although Kansas City and
Omaha are now rapidly forging TO the
fore.
The monograph to which reference has
been made traces this development Of the
packing industry down to the present time
Ii also gives statistics OF winter and sum
mer packing at various centres together
with receipts and shipments OF live ami
mails and of provisions as well a. statis-
ties OF the routes by which they are re-
-eeiyed or shipped and OF their source or
destination
A detailed analysis is made Of Americas
foreign trade in live animals and PROV
sions, and statistics for the last ten years
are furnished showing the changes in the
ports OF expectation or in the country Of
destination. The article further contains
tables on the French and German i'm
pOrtati0ns of meats. showing the effect Of
the policy of restriction in the early sos
and considerable space is devoted TO the
treatment Of the British market for pro-
visions The monograph concludes with 4
series of tables showing the statistics of
cattle sheep. and swine for a number OF
years in all the principal countries Of the
world.
The United States is now the worlds
greatest producer and exporter of meats
which form one OF the most important feat
ures of American export trade In 1857 the
total expectation of provisions and live
animals was Sl02 "a $40 and in 1899 their
total was S2O7 ,10j, 637 having thus doubled
meantime and forming in 1889 ~ per
cent OF the total exports of that year