POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION 37 



According to the estimate above quoted each " cattle unit " in 

 the United Kingdom yields 1*171 cwt. of meat per annum, but the 

 average for the world's meat producing animals is certainly lower 

 than this. The world over, the meat production per " cattle 

 unit " per annum is probably less than 100 Ibs. This figure would 

 mean that the meat consumption of the world's white population 

 amounts to about 110 Ibs. per capita per annum, but that is more 

 than the estimate based upon the total meat production. 1 



It thus appears that there has been a decline in the ratio of food- 

 producing animals to consuming population since 1901. Evidence 

 from various sources goes to show that the maximum relative 

 supplies were available in the period 1890-1900 in modern times. 

 From 1880 to 1890 meat-producing animals in the world increased 

 faster than the (consuming) population 2 ; since 1900 they have 

 increased at a much slower rate than that population. 3 Prior to 

 1881 (which marks the introduction of refrigeration), Europe, 

 which contained the chief meat-consuming population was largely 

 limited to its own resources as we have seen above. In all the 

 history of Europe except perhaps for isolated districts during 

 short intervals of time in the Middle Ages, there never was a period 

 of such abundance of animal foodstuffs throughout Western Europe 

 as during the years 1890-1900. That decade was a time of cheap 

 surplus meat and dairy produce and of cheap surplus animal feed- 

 stuffs. North America was developed but not filled. Since 1900, 

 and more especially since 1906, the Southern Hemisphere has to 

 some extent stepped in to fill the gap caused by the rapidly declining 

 surplus from North America ; but its meat-producing capacities 

 are slower of expansion, so that the time of abundance is gone for 

 the present. 



That there has been a decline in food-producing animals and in 

 the output of animal foodstuffs, relative to population, since 1900 

 is borne out by an abundance of local evidence. The British 

 imports of meat declined 1J Ibs. per head of the population in the 

 period 1901-191 1. 4 The per capita consumption of meat in both the 

 United Kingdom and Germany shows a decline in the period 

 1906-1913. In the 10 years 1900-1911 in a large part of Europe 

 cattle declined per 100 of the population from 34 to 33, sheep 

 from 49 to 42, pigs from 13 to 12 4 ; that is, food animals declined 

 from 58-6 " cattle units " per 100 of the population in 1901 to 



1 See below, Part II., Chap, ii., p. 205. This may be explained by the fact 

 that a number of the animals in Asia, Africa and tropical South America are 

 not available for the meat supplies of the white population (see below, 

 p. 41, Note 2). When these animals are excluded the decline in the cattle 

 units per head of the white population between 1901 and 1911 becomes 

 more marked. 



2 H. R. Hooker, "Meat Supply of the Ur.ited Kingdom/' Statistical Journal, 

 1909, p. 316. 



8 R. H. Hooker, " Meat Supply of the United Kingdom," Statistical Journal, 

 1909, p. 316. 



* (Cd. 7013), Report on Foreign and Colonial Agricultural Statistics for 1912, 

 Part IV., p. 279. 



