Part IV: Agricultural Economy in General 



CANADA. 



COLD STORAGE IN CAXADA. 



OFFICIAI, SOURCE : 



Report of Investigation into Cold Storage ix Caxada under the Order in councii. 

 OF No\^mbi;r io, 1916 in The Labour Gazc.te issued by the Department of I^abour, Ot- 

 tawa, August 1 01 7. 



§1. Generat, coxditiox of the business of cold storage. 



Abotit half the meat killed in Canada, and about one fifth of the total 

 quantity of eggs, as much of the butter and a third of the cheese produced 

 in the dominion are subjected to cold storage during their passsage from 

 producer to consumer. The trade in meat, eggs and dairy produce and their 

 distribution are therefore controlled to an important extent by the owners 

 of warehouses for cold storage. 



a) Distribution of Refrigerated Space among Different Kinds of Compa- 

 nies. — Altogether there are in Canada about no of these warehouses. 

 They belong to seventy-six different companies, two of them to American 

 companies. Of the seventy-six companies seven conduct only one establish- 

 ment each ; and five are large exporting houses which own altogether 

 nine cold storage establishments and export chiefly dairy produce, and each 

 of which has at least one branch in i\Iontreal. Of those twelve of the com- 

 panies which deal chieflj' in fish two own two establishments each, the others 

 one each. Thirty-nine of the warehouses store "general produce, incmd- 

 ing meat, dairy produce, eggs and fish, in proportions varying with their 

 situation. One of these is affiliated to a slaughterhouse company, known 

 in Canada as an abattoir company, but the other thirty-eight are independent. 



Of a total of more than 24,000,000 cubic feet of refrigerated space 

 about 12,200,000 are held by the abattoir companies, 2,650,000 by the ex- 

 porting houses dealing in dairy produce and eggs, 2,250,000 b}^ the fish com- 

 panies and 7,200,000 by the companies having warehouses for general 

 cold storage. 



