Although British farmers rear very considerable numbers of livestock, they depend ver y largely upon foreign supplies. They import the living animals, as well as dead carcasses of beef and mutton. In the year 1886 the value of the live animals alone imported into England for food was ?7,143,430 sterling. Most of England"s live cattle are sent from Holland, Denmark, and North Germany. They imported carcasses of beef, during the same year, to the value of ?2,187,576; and mutton to the extent of ?1,404,888.
The modern invention of freezing the carcasses whole, and sending them in that state thousands of miles by sea to the English market, has proved a great boon to the poor.
In the extensive sheep-farms of Australia and New Zealand the sheep are reared and kept solely for their wool; the dead carcasses are of little value. Hence they can be frozen, shipped to England, and sold in markets at marvellously low prices. The ships employed in this trade are fitted with refrigerating chambers, in which the carcasses may be kept in a frozen state for any length of time. Someidea of the extent of this trade may be formed from the fact that in 1893 New Zealand alone shipped 1,840,000 carcasses of frozen mutton and lamb to England.
England also import large quantities of tinned meat from the same countries. The farmers of Australia and New Zealand used to throw away as refuse what they now put into these tins and send to England. The carcasses are thrown into great coppers, and boiled for the sake of the fat or tallow. When this is removed, the remainder is closed up in tins for food, and very wholesome food it makes.
Butter and cheese are also imported largely. In addition to their home production, they imported in 1886 cheese to the value of ?3,867,896; and butter and butterine worth?8,140,188 and ?2,958,300 respectively.
Impor ts of bacon and hams for the same year amounted to ?8,379,342; the total from the United States alone being valued at ?6,291,607, or about three-fourths of the whole supply.
North America is the great swine-breeding region for almost the whole world. As an industry of the United States, pig-raising is not yet fifty years old, but it has made the most marvellous progress during that time. Colossal fortunes have been amassed by it, and it has given employment to many thousands of men.
We may form some idea of the vastness of the capital engaged in it from the fact that, upwards of twenty years ago, the total stock was assumed to be not less than 33,630,050 swine, representing a sum of ?26,750,000 sterling; since then there have been more extensive developments of the trade than ever. The principal centers, where the slaughtering, dressing, and packing are carried out, are Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Indianapolis.