680 



carbohydrates and that it can be made leaner by feeding more protein, 

 is of incalculable value. But there is the same trouble with our other 

 meats. Our beef and mutton are fatter than need be and the excess of 

 fat is greater than we realize. 



There is, it is true, a large demand for f\it beef. This is because such 

 beef is tender, juicy, and attractive in flavor, an<l it is not the fat but 

 the lean ])art of the meat that is mostly wanted. Perhaps it would be 

 going too far to say that by jMoper feeding just as palatable meat with 

 less fat (;<mld be produced in this country. But su<li meat is produced, 

 as travelers on the continent of lOurope inive occasnui to observe. It 

 would certainly be a useful enterprise for our ex])eriment stations to 

 investigate whether and how leaner beef with the desired texture and 

 flavor may be produced. 



We see the masses of what we call fat in me:it. Init it requires the 

 microscope and chemical analysis to revenl tlie suprisingly large amounts 

 in the clear, red muscular tissu«', which we ciiU lean. Tlie feed«'r who 

 makes use of the nutrition machineiy of his catth' to ni;inufa«-lure the. 

 lean and fat of meat from grass and grain, instead of stopping when 

 tlie formation of protein is pra^-tically complete uml a reasonabh' amount 

 of fat has lieen produced, keeps on feeding, and is satislied liecause his 

 animals continue to increase iTi weight and he can get a gooil price for 

 highly fattened beef. With the taste for beef and the juice which 

 such meat brings as they are, he niay for the time be justitied in doing 

 so. lb-! «loes n«»t know, however, that in the last stages ol' the fatten- 

 ing he is drawing watei' out of the animal's tissue and ]>utting fat in 

 its place, and that as this fat docs imt increase the aninial's weight he 

 gets no ]>ay for it when he sells it. 



The <'onsunier of tlie meat if he be a man with haid muscular work 

 and without enough fuel nmtvrial in liis food otherwise, reaps a benefit 

 from this extra fat, but must i)ay dearly for it at the ]>riees at which 

 the fatter kinds of beef are sold, tor the simple reason that so much 

 material was used to make it. lie might much bett«'r get the same fuel 

 material in other foods at a fraction of the cost. If he is like many of 

 liis lellow W(U"kingim'n he will not need it. for his other food will supply 

 an abundance and t Ik- very fat meat will l»e simi)ly an expensive luxuiy. 

 Jf, (Ml the other hand, he be a num of less active ]»li.\sical exercise, with 

 such a diet as the facts stated in the preceding i>ages imply that very 

 nmny if not most of the jn'ople of the country in his circumstances live 

 upon, he will have an excess of fat in his diet and will c(uisume ]>art of 

 the excess and reject the rest. I'.oth of tin- i>arties to the transaction. 

 ]>rodneer and (u^nsunu'r, are thcieforc loseis from this abnormal i)ro- 

 ducti«ui. 



What nuikes the matter worse is the fact that the fat of meat serves 

 the same purpose in nutrition as butter, sugar, the starch of the grains 

 and of potatoes, and c(»tton seed oil, which is beconu'ng an imi>ortant 

 food product. Nor is this all. IVtndeum has hugely rephn-cd the 



