268 CONSUMPTION 



These changes are in keeping with, and are probably in no small 

 measure a consequence of, the conditions of economy in production. 1 

 The pig is the most economical converter among meat- producing 

 animals, and is adapted to the more intensive form of farming since 

 it requires mainly concentrated feedstuff s. A certain amount of 

 friction is to be observed in the substitution of pig-meat for beef and 

 mutton in consumption, owing to the traditional place of import- 

 ance occupied by the two latter in the dietary of certain European 

 populations. This, however, would tend to disappear under the 

 pressure of a meat shortage, more especially so, if, as may be anti- 

 cipated, prime steer beef is available in smaller quantities in the 

 future. Some friction appears also in this matter, owing to the 

 prejudice among certain people against the consumption of pig- 

 meat, in some cases in any form, and in others, except in the form 

 of bacon and ham ; but the pressure of a meat shortage would 

 tend to overcome this likewise, and the steady improvements in 

 the methods of rearing pigs and the more general enforcement of 

 sanitary inspection, work in the same direction. With regard to 

 veal there exists no popular prejudice against its consumption ; 

 on the contrary, it is regarded somewhat in the nature of a delicacy. 

 We have seen already that in the absence of extensive pasture lands, 

 veal is a natural by-product of the dairy industry, being more 

 economically produced than prime beef. 2 With the probable ex- 

 tension of that industry in the future the quantities of veal avail- 

 able for consumption would be increased. If, moreover, cheese 

 and whole milk are more widely consumed in the future as the most 

 economical means of converting into human food the grass fodders 

 and feedstuffs suitable for cattle and sheep, not only would the 

 resources in these materials available for the rearing of calves to 

 the beef-producing age be reduced, but the need for the present 

 proportion of beef and mutton in the dietary would no longer be felt 

 so keenly. As some set-off, however, the quantities of veal avail- 

 able for consumption would be considerably increased. It is to 



1 The table showing the efncienc)? of different animals as converters of feed- 

 stuffs into foodstuffs is worth quoting in this connection (Cd. 8421, p. 27). 

 The figures represent the number of Ibs. of starch equivalent in feedstuffs 

 required to produce 1,000 calories in the form of the named animal foodstuffs. 

 Milk from a good cow, 2-9 ; pig-meat, 3-0 ; veal, 4-7 ; milk from a bad 

 cow, 4-7 ; mutton, 5-3 ; eggs, 7-0 ; baby beef, 7-0 ; steer beef, 9-0. 



a A so-called Law of Diminishing Returns has been formulated with refer- 

 ence to the productive capacity of cattle according to age; the following table 

 shows the number of Ibs. of dry matter in the form of feedstuffs required 

 for 1 Ib. gain in live weight : 



Calves, 3 weeks old 1 to 1 Ibs. 



7-97 days old 1-97 Ibs. 



,, during first 8 months 4-6 Ibs. 



during first 17 months 5-97 Ibs. 



Cattle, 2 years old 7' 19 Ibs. 



32 months old 10-4 Ibs. 



U.S. Dept. Agric., Farmers' Bulletin, No. 71. 

 See also Wood, National Food Supply, pp. 36-7. 



