12 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



"Will South Aiiieriea, with its extensive areas suitable for 

 cattle raising, and its growing meat-packing plants, help relieve 

 the situation? The outlook in that direction is, indeed, favour- 

 able. Already Argentina and I'l'uguay, and in a lesser degree 

 Brazil, Colombia, and some of the other countries, are figuring 

 as meat-producing possibilities. In the development of this 

 industry, the general installation of refrigeration by steamship 

 lines has been of great service. " ' 



In South America stock breeding is a resultant industry of 

 meat freezing. Before the introduction of refrigeration, salted 

 and dried meat, tough and unpalatable, was in general use 

 locally and exported in limited (piantities to Europe. This meat 

 is known variously as jerked beef, in Argentina as tassajo, as 

 xarque in Brazil, in Peru as charque, and as ])iltong in Africa. 

 It is still used in some parts of South America and in the Trop- 

 ics, where it is almost impossible to keej) fresh meat, but it has 

 never been popular in Europe. As the saladeros (meat-drying 

 establishments) could make use of almost any animal, and since 

 the demand was quite limited, there was really no incentive to 

 breed fine stock. 



Stimulated by the increasing demand from Europe for im- 

 ported fresh meat, attempts were made to export cattle on the 

 hoof. These, however, proved unsuccessful, o\\ang to the out- 

 break of foot and mouth disease and the extra expense entailed. 

 Then the meat-packing and, indirectly, the stock-raising in- 

 dustries, were revolutionized by the introduction of refrigeration. 

 This made possible the shipping of frozen and chilled meat. 

 Chilled meat has a much more delicate flavour than the solidly 

 frozen meat, and normally brings 1^ to 2^ cents a pound more on 

 the English market, but it must be used immediately after remov- 

 ing from cold storage. 



Argentina is to-day the most important beef-producing country 

 of the world. Brazil is beginning to appreciate its own poten- 

 tialities as a meat producer, and is likely to become a powerful 

 rival in the near future. Uruguay has maintained its important 

 position, while Paraguay, Colombia and Venezuela are among 

 the countries that are receiving careful consideration, from far- 

 sighted American and English packers. According to latest 

 reports, there are at present more than sufficient refrigerating 

 facilities to take care of the limited cargo space allotted, but it 

 is the after-the-war situation that is being studied. 



