288 



year, had dwindled to practically nothing by the later one. 

 Recently, however, there has been a considerable increase in the 

 production of condensed and dried milk in Australia * and New- 

 Zealand, and these countries may have a considerable surplus for 

 export in the near future. It is possible, also, that the output 

 of the United Kingdom in this direction may increase materially 

 in the future. On the whole, however, the Empire's production 

 of milk appears to be limited, and if large quantities are diverted 

 to milk-condensing and drying factories, the production of butter 

 and cheese may suffer unduly. The Empire's shortage of milk 

 in 1913, as represented by the imports of dairy produce from foreign 

 sources into the United Kingdom cannot have been much less than 

 100 million cwt., 2 or about 1,067 million gallons. Butter production 

 accounts for much the largest share of the Empire's output of 

 milk ; and unless the latter is unexpectedly increased to a con- 

 siderable extent, the only way in which the Empire's consumption 

 of cheese, condensed milk, and margarine, can be met from its pro- 

 duction of those articles, will be by a marked reduction in its con- 

 sumption of butter. 



The question of the 'Empire's supplies of meat^calls for some 

 additional remarks. The table on p. 284, above, shows that the 

 imports of live animals, which were considerable in 1900, had 

 practically disappeared by 1913. In the earlier year these animals 

 came mainly from North America, and the Canadian exports re- 

 presented practically the whole of that from Imperial sources. In 

 this connection, it should be noted that a considerable trade in 

 live animals still remained in 1913 between Canada and the United 

 States. On an average of the two years ending March 31st, 1914, 

 the net exports of cattle from the former country to the latter 

 amounted to about 110,000 head, while the corresponding net 

 imports of sheep amounted to over 204,000 head. These two 

 items, when converted into terms of dressed meat, would make a 

 balance of net exports from Canada. No other part of the Empire 

 either imports or exports live food-producing animals to any 

 appreciable extent. Until quite recently, South Africa was a con- 

 siderable net importer of meat, but since 1914 South Africa has 

 commenced an export trade in beef which has possibilities of further 

 expansion, while the imports of meat have declined notably. The 

 Empire's deficiency in meat was somewhat less than that shown 

 in the table above, owing to the fact that in addition to the net 

 exports of live animals from Canada to the United States, Australia 

 exported appreciable quantities of refrigerated and preserved meat 

 to the Phillipines and other parts of the Pacific outside the Empire. 3 



1 The expansion of this industry in Australia is shown by the fact that 

 whereas in 1908 there were net imports of prepared milk amounting to 8-8 

 million Ibs., by 1912 there were net exports of -6 million Ibs. 



2 This total has been obtained by reckoning 28 Ibs. of milk to 1 Ib. of buttei, 

 \ Ib. of milk to 1 Ib. of margarine, 10 Ibs. of milk to 1 Ib. of cheese and 2 Ibs. 

 of milk to 1 Ib. of condensed milk. 



3 It would appear that the Empire's dependence upon foreign countries for 



