44 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



to any great extent. It is well known that some country butchers 

 make a practice of slaughtering diseased cattle and hogs, but this 

 practice is very limited, and if the law requiring cleanliness in the 

 country slaughter house was faithfully enforced, little fault could 

 be found with the meat slaughtered therein. 



Another act of the Legislature necessary is one giving cities 

 more authority in providing meat inspection. The present stat- 

 utes only provide for cities to inspect the live animal. This statute 

 should be extended to give any city authority to inspect and con- 

 demn meats at the time of slaughter and to regulate the cleanliness 

 and disinfection of the plant. The statute ought to be so compre- 

 hensive as to provide cities with authority to establish a central 

 public abattoir, and require all local slaughtering to be done there. 



Another important act of the Legislature necessary is one pro- 

 viding for State control of "out of condition" animals at the pub- 

 lic stock yards. The federal yard inspectors have authority to 

 control only such animals as are affected with or capable of spread- 

 ing a contagious disease. There are many conditions, aside from 

 contagious diseases, which render an animal unfit for food and 

 for which their carcasses are condemned by federal meat inspectors. 

 Such animals are referred to as "out of condition." Some of these 

 are affected with non-contagious diseases, and some are unfit for 

 food simply on account of such things as advanced pregnancy, too 

 recent parturition and being too young. The federal meat in- 

 spectors have no authority over these animals until they are pur- 

 chased by a packer engaged in interstate trade and are within the 

 abattoir pens. At the St. Louis, St. Joseph and Kansas City yards 

 there are received altogether probably 1,000 head per week of this 

 class of food animals. Unscrupulous butchers are now engaged in 

 driving them from the public stock yards to slaughter. Unless 

 prohibited by State law, this practice is likely to increase rapidly. 

 The results are that the public is imposed upon with unfit meat, 

 and the few who are engaged in this traffic are doing a great deal 

 to injure the reputation of meats from all sources not covered by 

 inspection. The State ought to provide inspectors at once, to be 

 stationed at all of the public stock yards in this State, with authori- 

 ty to control "out of condition" animals, and require them to be 

 slaughtered, if at all, under competent inspection, where their car- 

 casses would be permitted to be used for only such purposes as 

 they were found fit. If any difficulty is found in making the pro- 

 visions under the law necessary to obtain the desired end, the 

 matter can be disposed of by a law requiring a permit from a State 



