THE NATION'S FOOD SUPPLY. 139 



sale price of the raw product at the nearest market. It 

 is clear, therefore, that the figures do not in any way 

 represent the amount actually spent by the consumers. 

 Cost of manufacture, as in the case of wheat, of slaughter- 

 ing and dressing in the case of live animals, and in all 

 cases cost of handling and distribution must be added 

 before the amount spent by the consumers could be 

 ascertained. This calculation I shall not attempt. I 

 must be satisfied if I have succeeded on the present 

 occasion in giving some approximate indication of the 

 magnitude of the nation's food supply and the relative 

 proportions of its native and extraneous supplies. 



