THE WORLD'S MEAT TRADE 87 



The diminished beef supplies of Canada and 

 the States was seen to have been caused, like that 

 of the smaller sheep stock, by the advent of the 

 plough. The passage already cited from the 

 United States Year Book of Agriculture for 1909, 

 cannot be too often quoted. " More profitable 

 crops have made more valuable land and cheap 

 beef is not the product of high priced land." 

 While the competition of agriculture has dimin- 

 ished the cattle stock, the demands of increasing 

 population have only been satisfied by trenching 

 upon the breeding stock. " The Breeders' Gaz- 

 ette," published in Chicago, in reviewing the cattle 

 trade during the year 1912, fully bears out this 

 view of the position in the United States. 

 — " The long-predicted cattle shortage passed 

 from the theoretical into the actual stage." — 

 " Every week's market run during 1913 was a 

 draft on future supply." — " It so happened that 

 during this period of scarcity, industrial condi- 

 tions reflected prosperity creating heavy demands 

 for beef in face of a limited supply." The same 

 issue of this journal notes that thin cows had 

 been sold for canning and that the high prices 

 for veal had led to the slaughter of calves in 

 thousands. 



The shortage both of beef and mutton in 

 Canada cannot be gainsaid. The position in 

 Argentina has already been sufficiently sum- 



