The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-05-01
GREAT RECORD
IN PRODUCTION
QF MEAT IN j. {.


WASHINGTON. April :n.-Amcrican
dressed m"a; production. including lhrd.
amounted in 1alS 70 20.l"?. 500. 600
roundS--a quantity never before ap-
preached in maSnitud" by the liv" stock
industry uf this or any other country.
The corresponding figure for 1871 WAS
lG.211. son. hnh pounds.
Thrrc-rnurthS uf this enormous in
crease WAS in pork and onc.fourth was
IN bH"C
The meat surplus in 1915 was 50
crra, that MIRA export demands mad"
little IMPRESSION on il. although .9lS
export shipments If meat and lard
nearly doubled The 1911 MISUNDERSTANDING
from slightly less than ono and three
f"urths billion pounds To slightly NOR"
than three billion pnunds--and these
figures do not !ncIudc shipments TO
American military forces abroad.
Tho aEErrcnic 1917 consumption Of
dressed meat ana Lard in the United
states WAS approximately III. billion
pounds. hut III 1919 il rose I" TX bill
lion pounds. This means. after allowing
for increase in population, M addition
Of IS pounds for ivory man. woman
and child in the country--dcspitr the
food conservation campaign which in
1917 caused consumption Ia decline con-
Sldrrably.
while tho people As whole through
their abstinence ;tvrrIcd thr Immediate
crisis. it was tho farmer who was tho
really big factor in the ultimate situa-
ton. says thL bureau If animal indus
try. United States department OF agri-
sulturc "Th" producer. Of course. was
expected 10 do his part. but he did It
with such powerful effect that in a
single year tho meat shortage was
turned into a pronounced surplus Thus
in 1915 there was not only meat enough
10 supply all tho foreign demands COM
patihlc with tho restricted shipping
facilities. but n greatly enlarge quantity
WAS available for the home consump-
tlor.
TO be sure. il cost tho farmer more,
much moro. to feed his animals and get
them 10 market. Likewise all other
steps from producer To consumer be-
came moro costly. hence thu high pr1ccs.
But the unprecedented prosperity OF
tho people as Il whole enabled them to
afford the increased cost In fact. la
boring people probably consumed more
meat during the past year than in pre-
war things. :.
"Thc Total number Of cattle slauSh-
tered in l9lS is estimated II IL. So
800. as against l5.1"3."IO in l?lI. Their
average weights were practically the
same for both years. and the beef pro-
ducch from them was G.6SG>. 1000
pounds in 1917 and 7.64l 100000 pounds
in l91S. This WAS 4 rcmarka hlc
achievement. as i; hardly would have
been credited that hrc. growers could
increase their production billion
pounds in one year.
"T1C lnr- p,nI,IrcS ruickly
much more rapid iurrraS" would hc
! looked for than WAS the case with cat
/ tie Even SO, tho results for 1918 can
be described only as StupendnuS rho
hogs marketed in 1918 'nUmhCrcd So
%54.7hh. IA against j7.+S3. 500 in 1917.
! Furlh"rmorc, tn" average weight vas
9ic pounds more per hog IN 1918. Thus
when the animals arc turned into pork
and lard we hav" Il total production IL
I ll.""5. $4,000 pounds in 1919 as against
| S.@S9,oo0 pounds in 1917. m in
! cr"as" Of 2.7i1,%5j.OnO pounds. or 3".4
! per cent. nearly onc-third."
Striking increases in exports arc also
| shown by ne bureau. Beef shipments
! abroad in 1918 were 81 per cont moro
. than in 19l7thc chief 1915 items beng
: - I.nhh.h00 pounds nf fresh hccr and
l4l .nhn. 400 pounds Of canned berf IN
p'''S ~ T"rk ana TARA IN i?!h amounted
, In ".n79, Isl. 03o---which was - ncr
cert than the quantity sent abroad in
1917
! The bureau shows that in the arrrc-
! cat" NOR" meat by far is eaten IN Tho
! United States than IN any other crun-
=. try in n" world. although som. sparse
} ~ settled countries raising much mrat
nay" a larger irr Carita rnnSump,I"n
II also says that Their" is room IN lhn
, United states for Il great expansion IN
. The use nf mMitnM and inmh