THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



47 



THE MEAT CONSUMPTION OF FRANCE. 



The article from the French, published in our last, 

 opens up an hiteresting inquiry as to the causes of the high 

 price and scarcity of animal food in France. It is one 

 in which we are also somewhat interested, seeing that 

 the production of meat with us scarcely keep pace with 

 the increase of population and wealth, judghig by the 

 high prices maintained. The grazier and breeder lay 

 the blame of this enhanced price on the butcher, while 

 the butcher in return retorts upon the breeder. Judg- 

 ing, however, by tho wholesale prices current for a series 

 of years past, the retail butcher would certainly seem 

 to be the one who makes the larger profit in these 

 transactions, especially in the meti-opolis. France is 

 suffering at present under two grievances — a deficiency 

 and high price of bullion, and a scarcity and dearness of 

 the equally essential necessary, animal food. 



The article in our last paper observes, " Meat is 

 dear in price, and insufficient in quantity: that is an 

 established fact. It will be so a long time yet, because 

 the number of consumers increases in geometrical pro- 

 portion, while production progresses, with great trouble, 

 in a proportion simply arithmetical. On the other 

 hand, the removal of the population, which continually 

 increases in the cities, and sensibly diminishes in the 

 rural districts, multiplies the great consumers of meat, 

 at the same time that it takes from the fields a part of 

 the strength necessary to produce it in greater abun- 

 dance." But the writer, notwithstanding much elabo- 

 rate theory and general disquisition, does not treat us to 

 anything in the shape of argument or facts to guide our 

 inquiries. Let us then pass under I'eview the progress 

 of meat production and consumption in Fi'ance, as far 

 as the details are within our reach. 



It appears from an account recently published, that the 

 consumption of meat in France, which in 1812 only aver- 

 aged 17 kilogi'ammes for each individual per annum is 

 now54kilos. In comparison to the number of inhabitants 

 the consumption is greater in towns than in the country 

 parts. Paris consumes 10 kilos, each person more than 

 any other place. Next in quantity comes the north of 

 France, where the average is 64 kilos, each. The two 

 provinces of Poitou and Limousin are those which con- 

 sume the least, the quantity being only 41 kilos. It 

 is singular that in the departments where the most 

 meat is produced the consumption is the least. 



In 1830 the total consumption of butchers' meat was 

 300,172,965 kilos, of beef and veal, and 87,485,622 

 kilos, of mutton, giving a total of 393,658,587 kilos., 

 or an average consumption of butchers' meat to each 

 inhabitant of 12^ kilogs. In 1840 the quantity 

 of meat consumed had decreased 15,000,000 kilos., 

 and the average for each inhabitant was then only 

 about 11 kilos. But this did not show the full de- 

 crease ; for the weights were calculated on the scale 

 of average weight previous to 1830, whereas it was 

 found that the oxen slaughtered had decreased in weight 



seven per cent.— cows 16 per cent, and calves 3§ per 

 cent. Sheep had, however, increased in weight a little 

 over 1 per cent. 



The diminished consumption and increased price in 

 this period were most remarkable in Paris, Lyons, 

 Rouen, Marseilles, Havre, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg, 

 The average price of beef and veal, weighed alive, 

 was per kilog,, in 1822, 87 cents., in 1839 1 franc 9 

 cents., and in 1841 1 franc 36 cents. From that pe- 

 riod to the present time there has been an increase in 

 price of from 40 to 45 per cent. It was thought that 

 when the butcher's trade was thrown open, early in 

 1858, that of consequence there would necessarily, by 

 competition, be a fall in the price of meat. But this 

 has not been the effect : the price still tends upward, 

 and seems to be caused by the gradual disproportion of 

 the quality and quantity of meat to the annual increase 

 of population. 



The importation of foreign cattle, we are told, has 

 also decreased, the raising of the native breeds has not 

 increased, and the consumption has certainly continued 

 its onward march, owing to the improvementin thesocial 

 condition of the people. Under the influences of these 

 causes, it is easy to foresee that, far from being lower, 

 the price of meat is much more likely to advance than 

 to maintain the present rate, which is already found 

 too high. The Government of France, with all its 

 efforts, has not succeeded in effecting a diminution in 

 prices. 



In 1840 the number of oxen in France (exclusive 

 of bulls) was 1,968,800, of which were slaughtered 

 yearly 492,900; of cows, 5,501,800, slaughtered 

 718,900 J of calves, 2,066,800, slaughtered 1,487,400 ; 

 of sheep 32,151,430, slaughtered 6,804,700. 



In Algeria the quantity of stock held by Europeans 

 in 1854 was 21,340 head of cattle, 29,700 sheep, and 

 800 swine. But this number is insignificant compared 

 to the quantity owned by the Arabs, which numbered 

 1,031,740 horned stock and 6,850,000 sheep. This 

 ratio in live stock among the natives is attributable to 

 the extent and abundance of pasturage. None, how- 

 ever, of the other colonies of France have any grazing 

 or pasturage capabilities. 



In 1846 it was stated in the Journal of the Paris 

 Statistical Society that the domestic animals of France, 

 and their food products annually, were as follows : 

 9,936,538 head of cattle, &c., which yielded of veal 

 102,000,000 kilos,, of the value of 81,600,000 fr. : 

 258,356,000 kilos, of beef, of the value of 53,013,000fr. ; 

 and 134,500,000,000 kilogrammes of tallow, valued at 

 l,345,000,000fr.; 35,000,000 sheep yielded 625,000,000 

 kilogrammes of mutton, worthl fr. per kilogramme, and 

 20,292,000,000 kilos, of tallow, worth 202,000,000 fr. 

 The swine numbered about 5,000,000. This estimate 

 appears, however, to have been rather a vague one. 



In 1850 the number of cattle for the empire was ap- 



