318 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



these gentlemen do not think that any artificial cooling is necessary 

 in winter, neither do the other shippers who prepare their meat at these 

 yards. All of the quarters are bagged; that is, sewed up in canvas. 

 Messrs. Gillett & Sherman send from forty to sixty sheep with each ship- 

 ment of beef, but no hogs, as they are so unsalable in the English market, 

 Englishmen not having learned to eat fresh pork sufficiently to create a 

 demand beyond the home-production. Forty cubic feet of space are 

 estimated to hold a ton, according to ship-measurement, and the shippers 

 of fresh meat are charged, according to this rating, 30 shillings, English 

 money, per ton. Shippers in all cases have to be at the expense of fit- 

 ting up the refrigerators, and have to furnish the engine, pumps, and 

 fans, as well as the ice required. 



Under the Bate system no extra man is required to go with the ship- 

 ments. Shippers are required to pay for the space occupied by the refrig- 

 erators and ice-chambers on the outward passage, whether used by them 

 or not. On the return voyage they are usually filled with fine goods, 

 being a secure place for such freight. 



Though Gillett and Sherman are intending to increase the numbers 

 of refrigerators, and are now negotiating with the National line for this 

 purpose, Mr. Gillett is of the opinion that the future does not look as 

 promising for success as he wishes it might. The English market is ex- 

 ceedingly sensitive and changeable, and in London the prices,of beef 

 have been known to vary a penny in one hour, and two pence in twenty- 

 four hours. They have been obliged to sell as low as four pence per 

 pound, but their average sales have been about six pence, at which 

 price it would pay to ship. 



In mutton we can successfully compete with the English and Scotch 

 graziers, as the quality is equal to theirs, although not so fat usually or 

 so thick on the rib; and if our beef was as carefully fattened we could 

 challenge competition, and there would be no doubt of the future suc- 

 cess of the trade. 



Samuels and Company ship from New York on two steamers, on the 

 National line, directly to Loudon, whenever their steamers go out. 

 Each one is fitted up with a meat-chamber large enough to hold one hun- 

 dred cattle. They use the Smith process, which is similar to that of Bate. 



Daniel Tofit'ey and Company also ship on three other steamers of the 

 National line, whenever these vessels sail from America. The refrigera- 

 tors on these three ships are each calculated for one hundred cattle, and 

 this is the number they send forward. They use the Banta process, 

 which is also similar to that of Bate. They send lighter beef than the 

 others, the carcasses not averaging more than GOO pounds. They do not 

 contemplate, with the present outlook, any increase in their trade. 



Martin, Fuller and Company and Messrs. Morris and AUerton ship 

 from Philadelphia, using the Cravens patent. These two firms together 

 ship five hundred cattle per week. They have all the necessary outfit 

 of chilling-rooms and other appliances under these patents which are re- 

 quired to make their business a success. Live cattle are sent from Phila- 

 delphia, but not in any considerable numbers. They have also been 

 shipped from New York in small quantities, but the space required is 

 too great for any extensive trade. From Portland, Maine, about six 

 hundred cattle are shipped weekly by Wells and Company. 



When greenbacks get to be at par with gold the margin of profit will be 

 so reduced that, in the opinion of shippers, it can only be maintained 

 by a reduction in home cost and a better quality of meat, so as to com- 

 pete more successfully with the foreign beef. It is not probable that the 

 cost of transportation of cattle from the West to the seaboard, and also 



