496 JoURiVAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. DeC, 1922. 



tit the abattoirs. At the Johaimesburg Municipal Al)att()ir the 

 practice is in vogne of contracting for tlie supply of hides to dealers 

 at per quantity for a period of montlas, with the result that no 

 attention is paid to the quality of the hides turned out. The depreci- 

 ation of South African hides by bad flaying and unwise branding is 

 said to amount to anything up to 7s. per hide. At the Capetown 

 Municipal Abattoir a " Perco " flaying machine has been installed, 

 and it is understood that two similar machines will be provided in 

 the near future at the Johannesburg- Municipal Abattoir. This 

 machine is a recent invention, and is said to do perfect flaying. 

 Notwithstanding' this, however, tanners urge that the grading of 

 hides according to the manner in which they have been flayed should 

 be introduced. It is, therefore, proposed to put the provisions of 

 the Act mentioned into force in this respect. 



The Cape, Orange Free State, and Transvaal Provinces have 

 Brands Acts. In the flrst-named two, the choice of brand, and of the 

 part of the animal to be branded, is left with the owner. In the 

 Transvaal the owner can select one of a number of brands allotted to 

 his district by the Government, but the law requires him to brand on 

 the best part of the hide, while in the Cape and Orange Free State 

 the best part is generally selected by the owner, because branding is 

 facilitated and the brand shows up most clearly. In view, however, 

 of the injury done to the hide, our branding system is in urgent 

 need of revision and legislation to this effect is proposed. 



It is calculated that the depreciation of hides by bad flaying 

 and the present svstems of branding entails an annual loss to farmers 

 of about £180,000. 



28. Meat Export.-— The beef export trade had a serious set-back. 

 While the number of cattle greatly increased, the export of beef 

 dwindled to practically nothing. The following figures speak for 

 themselves : — 



1918. i;i20. 1!:I21. 



.Number of cattle 



in the Uni(m ... 6,851,924 7,655,072 8,557,089 



an increase oi; 11 per cent, in the two years 1918-1920 and of 11 per 

 cent, also m the one year 1920-1921. 



Export of Beef, 1916 to 1921. 



Quarters. Quarters. 



1916 115,992 1919 285,367 



1917 309,214 1920 69,885 



1918 123,354 1921 13,326 



The causes of this decline are threefold : the termination of the 

 war, during which our export trade in meat came into being ; unsuit- 

 ability (as yet) of our meat for the English market ; and collapse of 

 the markets on the continent of Europe, for which our supplies are 

 suital)le. 



The importation of frozen meat into the United Kingdom was 

 in 1920 1,076,700 tons and in 1921 970,300 tons, as compared with 

 764,900 tons in 1913, while the prices between 1920 and 1921 declined 

 from 140 per cent, to 23 per cent, above 1913 prices. In these circum- 

 stances the Continental markets received unusual attention from 



