296 



The following amounts of frozen beef, lamb and mutton and 

 dressed poultry were imported : 



Quantity. \'alue. 



Beef 1,170,153 lbs. $104,303.45 



Lamb and mutton 320,260 " 31,536.96 



Poultry 116,824 " 19,331.16 



The above figures readily show that little attention was given 

 to cattle and sheep raising. The cattle slaughtered here were 

 of inferior quality and condition ; in short, they showed neither 

 breeding nor care. They were entirely grass fed and at that 

 time little attention was given to the improvement of the range. 

 They matured slowl}^, it taking four years and over to bring 

 them to marketing condition. 



These conditions remained the same for a number of years 

 until a few of the most interested awoke to the fact that it would 

 pay them to improve their herds, and so the importation of pure- 

 bred stock commenced in earnest. 



The effects of these importations were soon apparent, and by 

 1912 the average dressed weight of cattle killed at the principal 

 slaughter-house in Honolulu rose to 490 pounds. This meant 

 an increase of 68 pounds per carcass, or a total extra production 

 for the number killed, of 680,000 pounds of beef, with a valua- 

 tion at the then market price, which had remained practically un- 

 changed, of $64,600; and this being due entirely to improved 

 breeding, feeding and care. 



It must not be imagined that this improvement was general 

 throughout the Territory. It was not. There still remained a 

 number of herds in their unimproved state, but it goes to show 

 what was taking place. Live stock breeding had received the 

 stimulus necessary to bring it to the position where it could 

 supply the steadily-increasing demand for a high-class article. 



There is not a ranch in the Territory today but what shows to 

 a greater or less extent the effects of systematic breeding. The 

 ranches today are in a better condition to carry stock than ever 

 before. Proper methods of fencing and paddocking have been 

 established and the lands cleared, plowed and sown with the best 

 grass seed. What have been the results? We now have cattle 

 ready for the block in three years and earlier ; the average dressed 

 weight is 590 pounds per carcass, or an increased weight gained 

 in the last five years of 100 pounds per carcass, which means 

 that, for the number killed from August, 1915, to August, 1917, 



