DEFICIENT INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES & REGIONS 131 



sumption of Germany increased by about 13 Ibs. in the period 1902- 

 1913. No doubt part of this difference can be accounted for by 

 the increased productivity of animals, but the greater part was 

 made up by increased imports of meat and of meat-producing live 

 animals. 



A further examination of the table above shows that there was 

 a marked decline in the ratio of sheep and a marked rise in that of 

 pigs. In the business of meat-production Germany has advanced 

 further than most countries in substituting the more economical 

 pig for the less economical sheep. A number of causes have con- 

 tributed to this rapid change : forest plantations occupy to a great 

 extent what might otherwise be sheep walks ; wool could be im- 

 ported from the Southern Hemisphere ; the enormous production 

 of potatoes in excess of human food requirements, the great number 

 of small holdings, and the ease with which feedstuffs could be 

 imported by sea and from Russia and South Eastern Europe, 

 favoured pig-rearing ; and finally, the taste for fats and fat 

 meat characteristic of the German people made pork more popular 

 than mutton, which, moreover, is less suitable for preservation in 

 the form of sausages. In the matter of dairy produce, also, 

 Germany showed in the years prior to 1914 a considerable deficiency. 

 In the total imports of these articles Germany was second only to 

 the United Kingdom. In addition to net imports of butter, cheese, 

 and even of cream and milk valued together at about 8J million, 

 on an average of the years 1911-12, large quantities of raw 

 materials for margarine in manufacture entered the country. 1 

 Germany, as a whole, has never excelled as a dairying country. 

 Except in the north-west, the conditions of soil and climate are 

 more favourable to other forms of agricultuie. Specialised dairy 

 breeds of cattle are rare, and the average milk production per cow 

 somewhat low. 2 



The German consumption of poultry and eggs likewise exceeded 

 the home production by large quantities. Poultry meat has been 

 popular in Germany owing to its comparative cheapness and to 

 habits derived from previous times when the majority of the 

 population lived either in, or within easy reach of, the agricultural 

 districts where poultry have always been numerous in connection 

 with grain-growing. Proximity to Russia has caused imported 

 poultry and eggs to reach Germany easily and cheaply. The total 



1 The total value of the net imports into Germany of oil-seeds and nuts 

 averaged over 13 million in the years 1911-12, and that of the oleo-margarine, 

 premier jus and tallow nearly 3 million. Perhaps about 8 million would 

 represent the total value of the materials used for the manufacture of mar- 

 garine. On the other hand, the net exports of margarine averaged 1J 

 million in value. These and other figures of German import and export 

 trade given in this section have been taken from the Statistishes Jahrbuch, 

 1913. 



2 The average milk production per cow in Germany some years ago was 

 estimated at 360 gallons compared with 420 gallons at the same time in the 

 United Kingdom. See Rew, Statistical Journal, 19C4' pp. 417 and 423. 



