io THE IMPORTS OF MEAT 



£2.8 millions from foreign sources, which might in part 

 be replaced by home-grown produce. To sum up the 

 part of the table that is concerned with food materials of 

 vegetable origin which are produced also in the United 

 Kingdom, the importations amount to £77 millions 

 against a home production (admittedly under-estimated) 

 of £64 millions, and of the importations less than half 

 (£30 millions) come from countries within the Empire. 



With regard to animal products, the importations of 

 meat and lard amount to over £60 millions annually 

 (£14 millions, or 23 per cent., from British Possessions), 

 against which we have to set an estimated home pro- 

 duction of £82 millions. This latter estimate is subject 

 to two errors : in the first place it represents the value 

 of animals on the hoof as sold by the farmer, whereas 

 the imports are dressed carcasses ready for sale, i.e., 

 meat alone. However, we may take, as a rough rule, 

 that the value for sale of the meat in an animal is about 

 equal to seven-eighths of the price received by the 

 farmer. But if the value of the home-grown meat is 

 thus reduced to less than £74 millions, something should 

 be added to the home production for hides and skins, 

 tallow, etc. 



On the other hand, though the farmer's output is 

 estimated at the value of £82 millions, this is too high 

 a figure for the value of the meat that reaches the con- 

 sumer, because the Irish output has been reckoned like 

 the British, as animals ready for slaughter. A large 

 proportion of the Irish trade is in animals in store 

 condition, that are bought by British farmers to be 

 finished, and so become reckoned twice over in the 

 British as well as in the Irish production. It has been 

 estimated that a deduction of about £7 millions ought 



