URUGUAY. ' 625 



taken to the opposite side of the galpon, ami there all the meat was cut from the 

 bones and hung up on the rails provided for that purpose, together with that cut off 

 the ribs, &c., still warm and quivering with liie. The skull and horns were taken in 

 a different direction. This operation takes from eight to nine minutes on an average, 

 but on occasions lias been done in live, and the skinner waits his next turn, which 

 comes every fifteen minutes. As the truck is run out, the alternative truck is run into 

 the paddock and the beam shot back for another victim. 



The shed contains about 25 oxen at a time, so that about 100 arc killed, skinned, 

 and cut up in an hour, and in the height of the killing season as many as 1,200 are 

 thus disposed of per diem, or from 100,000 to 150,000 a season. Each skinner gets 6 

 pence per head, but if in skinning ho makes a hole in the skin he loses his payment. 



In the height of the season he disposes of about 33 in a day. 



** * * * 



After 150 were disposed of, in an hour and a half, the remainder were left till after 

 breakfast, and the place was cleaned up in a inarvelously short time, making it diffi- 

 cult to believe that such a scene of blood had been taking place so recently. * * * 

 When it has cooled, the meat is cleared of fat and is stewed in large oblong caldrons, 

 in which the water is kept somewhat below boiling point, as it is a peculiarity of the 

 extract that it contains no matter which ia not soluble in cold as distinguished from 

 boiling water. The thin soap so obtained is then strained off and carefully skimmed, 

 which removes any trace of grease that may have remained in the meat. It is then 

 passed through a series of elaborate evaporators, out of each of which it comes thicker 

 until it reaches a consistency rather more solid than treacle. As much as 90,000 gal- 

 lons of water a day is sometimes thus evaporated. It is now ready for use and is 

 packed in large cube tins holding about 110 pounds of the extract ; each of these tics 

 contains on an average the substance of 15 animals, and is worth about 50. 



Tin shops, carpenter shops, engineers' rooms, &c.,on a complete scale 

 are attached to the factory. Tinere are also churches, schools, and 

 houses for the operatives. 



I will simply add that a higher price is asked here for the extract 

 than in the United States, and that, strange to say, what is termed the 

 " English Extract" is cheaper than either the Uruguayan or American. 

 The solution of this, I am advised, is found in the fact that the Uru- 

 guayan is unadulterated, and the English and American, after being 

 shipped from here, is returned adulterated, or rather weakened, so as 

 to undersell the former. Whether this be so or not I cannot say, but 

 I do know that the English brand is cheaper in this market than the 

 Uruguayan, or, at least, that I paid higher for the latter. 



FEOZEN-MEAT TRADE. 



The principal wealth of the Plate countries consists in herds and 

 flocks, and so rich are they in these that every possible attention and 

 effort have been given to solve the vexed problem, " What shall we do 

 with our surplus beef and mutton ?" 



Experience has taught the farmers that the shipping of live stock 

 will not pay ; the voyage being too long, say from 20 to 30 days by 

 steamer to France, England, Germany, and Italy, and as a consequence 

 the freights, including the feed, are very high. 



For some time jerked beef answered for the purpose, but by degrees 

 the frozen-meat trade has been resorted to and made successful. 



In the Argentine Confederation alone there are said to be now 

 100,000,000 sheep, besides immense herds of cattle, and, as the pastures 

 are apparently inexhaustible, the increase of such immense herds and 

 flocks must be prodigious and beyond all conceivable use for a popula- 

 tion of only 3,000,000. 



In Uruguay, likewise, with a population of about 700,000, there are 

 said to be now (188C) over 8.000,000 cattle and 20,000,000 sheep. 



It will therefore be easily seen that this frozen-meat trade, if ulti- 

 mately successful, will assume gigantic dimensions. The question has 

 H. Ex. 51 10 



