New Britain herald., 1919-05-15
MEAT PRODUCTION
 GREATER THAN EVER
Including Lard, the Amount Totals Over 20 Billion Pounds

NaSnlngt on. May l. -Amerlcdll
 dressed meat production, including
 ard, amounted in 1918 to 20,129. S00,
 900 pounds--a quantity never before
 approached in magnitude by the live
 stock industry of this or any other
 country. The corresponding figure
 for 1917 was 16,317, ,3oO,OOO pounds.
 Three-f -fourths of this enormous in
 crease was in pork and one-fourth
 was in beef
 The meat surplus in 1918 was so
 great that extra export demands made
 little impression on it, although 1918
 export shipment of meat and lard
 nearly doubled the 1917 figurcs-ris-
 ing from slightly less than ono and
 thrce-fourths billion pounds to slight ly more than billion poundS-and these figures do not include shipm ents to American military forces abroad The aggregate 1917 consum ption of dressed meat and lard in the United States was approximately IA 1-3 billion pounds, but in 1918 it rose to | seventeen and one-Quartcr billion 1 pounds. This means, after allowing ] for increase in population, and addi- ! ton of 23 pounds for every man. l woman and child in the country
  1 paien which in 1917 caused con- l sumption to decline considerably, While the people as a whole 1 through their abstinence averted the inm cCIiate crisis it was the farm CT 1 who was the really big factor in the ultimate situation.' says the Bureau l of Animal Industry, United States De- ! pa rum ent of Agriculture. The pro- 1 duccr of course. was expected to do l his part. but he did if with such pow l erful effect that in a single year the 1 meat shortage was turned into a pronounced surplus. Thus in 1918 1 there was not only meat enough to supply all foreign demands compati- ble with shipping facilities. but a greatly enlarged quantity was avail able for the nome consumption. ITO be sure, it cost the farmer more, much more, to feed his animals and get them to market. kew.isa, all other steps from producer to l consumer became moro costly, hence the high prices. But the unprece-
 dented prosperity of the people as a
 whole enabled them to afford the in-
 creased cost In fact, aborins, people
 probably consumed more meat during
 the past year than in pre- war times. The total number of cattle slaughtered in 1918 is estimated at l 400 as against 3,723.900 in 1 1917. Their average weights were practically the same for both years, 1 and the beef produced from them was 6,6S6, 100000 pounds in 1917 and r. 641, 100000 pounds in 1918. This was a, remarkable achievement. as it hard ly would have been credited that beef growers could increase their produc- 1 tion billion pounds in one year. The hog natures quickly. therc- 1 fore a much more rapid increase would be looked for than was the 1 case with cattle. Even so the re- 1 suits for 1918 can be described only l as stupendous. The hogs marketed 1 in 1918 numbered 69.S54.70O as 1 against 57.4S3,S00 in 1917. Further 1 more, the average weight was 9 1-2 1 pounds more per hog in 1918. Thus when tho animals are turned into 1 pork and lard we have a total pro- l duction of 11,225, 664 .000 pounds in ] 1918 as against S,47S,2S9,0OO pounds ] in 1917. an increase of 2,747,355. .O00 1 pounds, or 32.4 per cent nearly one 1 third"
 Striking increases in exports ! are also shown by the bureau 1 Beef shipments abroad in 1918 were
 a4 per cent more than in 1917--the
 chief 1918 items being 514.000,O00 pounds of fresh beef and 141, ,o0O.- l 900 pounds of canned beef Exports l of pork and lard in 1918 amounted l to 2,279, ,2S1 030--which was IT. per cent moro than the quantity sent abroad in 1917,
 The bureau shows that in the az
 gregatc moro meat by far is eaten in l hp in, l country in tho word--althoug some ! sparsely settled countries raising 1 much meat have a larger per capita 1 Consuln ption. It also says that thcre | is room in the United States for 1 great expansion in tho use of mutton l and lamb.