262 CONSUMPTION 



there has been a great increase in the proportion of pigs to other 

 animals, notably in North America and Central Europe, This 

 change is still in progress, as the pig is found to be the most efficient 

 of meat producers under modern conditions, and fits in admirably 

 with dairy farming, which, as has been observed, is increasing with 

 the progress of more intensive methods. The tendency at present 

 is rather towards the production of pig-meat and veal together with 

 dairy products, than of beef and mutton. It is obvious that this 

 tendency is directly opposed to the maximum production of wool 

 and leather ; the calf furnishes little, and the pig practically 

 nothing except hair of small value, in the direction of subsidiary 

 products, in the case of the latter owing to the custom of consuming 

 pig-meat with the skin attached. The similar tendency above 

 noted to substitute lamb for mutton in consumption has the effect 

 of reducing the wool production in proportion to the flocks raised. 

 The ousting of the sheep as a farm animal mainly as we have seen, 

 by the pig, is a striking feature in the developments in animal 

 industries during the last thirty years. 1 



It appears, therefore, that the progress of animal breeding and 

 rearing has resulted in a series of victories for meat production (and 

 still more milk production) at the expense of other possible objects. 

 It is true that an important fraction of the world's supplies of hides 

 are derived from India and some other countries where cattle are 

 still used largely for draught purposes, but these sources of leather- 

 making material may diminish in importance with the increased 

 use of modern agricultural machinery and with the progress of 

 veterinary science, checking live-stock diseases and lengthening 

 the working life of each animal. It is possible that the world may 

 have to face in the near future a considerable, if not an acute 

 shortage of wool, skins, and leather, especially since the displace- 

 ment of horses will reduce appreciably one source of supply of hides, 

 and since the Indian, Chinese and Japanese markets tend to absorb 

 more wool and leather with the progress of westernisation. If 

 substitutes are not easily found in sufficient quantities, the choice 

 will then lie between breeding animals more for these products 

 and less for meat (which would in some ways be a backward step 

 in the intensification of farming), and increasing the flocks and 

 herds of the existing breeds, thus aiming at meat production no 

 less than at present. The latter is the more probable, since, as has 



1 The total number of sheep in the meat trade of the world at different 

 dates have been estimated by Hooker as follows (in millions) : 



ABOUT 1880. ABOUT 1890. ABOUT 1900. ABOUT 1908. 



452-1 480-9 461-9 451-2 



It will be seen that there has been a steady decline since about 1890, and that 

 the total in 1908 was no greater than in 1880. The world's total of pigs, on 

 the other hand, increased according to the estimates from 141 million in 1901 

 to 161 million in 1911, that is, by over 14% in ten years. 



