CHAPTER III. 

 PACKING HOUSE BY-PRODUCTS FROM CATTLE. 



When slaughtered, the average steer yields over 40 per 

 cent, of offal. In the early days of the packing industry the 

 only by-products of a beef animal which received attention 

 from packers were hide, tallow, and tongue. The remainder 

 of the offal was either thrown away or sold for almost nothing. 

 In some instances, packers even paid for the carting away of 

 offal. In a short time glue works, fertilizer works, soap fac- 

 tories, oil and tallow factories sprang up in the vicinity of 

 the packing plants and grew to be large industries. Soon the 

 packing plants went into the soap business for themselves, 

 then into the glue business, the fertilizer business, and so on, 

 until today packing house by-products are numbered by the score 

 from what was formerly mere waste. The modern packing 

 house is living and depending for profits on what the packing 

 industry of a quarter century ago was throwing away. The 

 utilization of by-products is one of the chief reasons why pack- 

 ers are able to compete so successfully with the local butchers 

 of the country. Were it not for this conversion of waste ma- 

 terial into saleable form, the cost of beef would be considerably 

 higher than under existing conditions. 



The most important of all the by-products of the animal 

 is the hide. Cattle hides have increased in value enormously 

 in the last few years. In 1904, the average price for packer 

 hides was $10.63 per cwt. In 1918, the average price was $24.77 

 per cwt. The average cattle hide, which weighs about 75 pounds, 

 therefore brought $18.57 in 1918. Next in value to the hide 

 stand the fats derived from the abdominal region. The fats 

 of the steer bear the general name of "tallow." Out of the 

 finer and better of these fats, those which may be readily de- 

 tached by cutting and pulling, is made oleomargarine or butterine. 

 This food product appeared in 1866 and has since come into 

 extensive use. The "butter fats" average in weight from 60 

 to 75 pounds to the animal. One Chicago plant has a capacity 

 of fifteen tons of oleomargarine a day, and in a year this concern 

 has put out between eight and nine million pounds. The 

 production of oleomargarine in the United States has increased 



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