14 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



Various additions have been made from time to time 

 to the supply of Animal food for Europe, for which there 

 are incessant demands. The preserved mutton and 

 beef which have been largely supplied from Australia, 

 although consumed by the public as makeshifts, have 

 not been generally popular from their insipidity and 

 the difficulty of recooking them, or giving them gist and 

 flavour. The trade has, however, grown, for in 1877 

 200,420 cases of preserved meats were received from 

 Australia. In 1879 the imports had reached 566,758 

 cwt., valued at nearly £1,700,000. In 1883 the quan- 

 tity of preserved meat imported had risen to 609,335 

 cwt., the value of which was £1,751,584, but more than 

 half of this came from the United States, the relative 

 supplies being, from — 



Cwt. 



Australia 226,059 



United States 308,303 



Other countries 74,973 



609,335 

 Let us glance at the statistics of our imports of ani- 

 mals and animal products from the United States, taking 

 first the live stock. In 1880, we imported as many as 

 156,490 head of horned cattle. In 1883, the number 

 had decreased to 154,928. Of sheep we received 118,000 

 in 1879, and only 89,083 in 1883. A few years ago we 

 imported from America 16,000 live pigs, and now we 

 receive none. If we pass next to animal products, we 

 find the import trade is large, although scarcely so large 

 and important as formerly. Some five years ago we 

 received from the States 4,500,000 to 5,000,000 cwt. of 

 bacon and hams, now this quantity has dropped to 

 3,000,000 cwt. In 1882 we received 1,731,000 cwt. of 

 fresh beef, which is about the average received in 

 the three previous years. The imports of salted beef 

 keep pretty steady at about 280,000 cwts. a year. 

 Butter and butterine have dropped from 301,000 cwt. 

 in 1879 to 120,163 cwt. in 1883. The imports of 

 American cheese have also declined from 1,345,744 cwt. 



