290 



LIVE STOCK TRADE OF QUEENSLAND. [Dec. 1895. 



which have then to be sold at a much lower price. From such 

 causes, this source of output, limited in any case, is still farther 

 restricted. The English market is now being tried to a small 

 extent, but whether colonial-bred horses will turn out a success 

 there, seems at present problematical. 



With respect to the trade in cattle and sheep, it is reported to 

 have been satisfactorily demonstrated that shipping cattle and 

 sheep alive to Europe is perfectly practicable, and at some 

 periods of the year remunerative. The proportions the move- 

 ment has already assumed are held to afford hope of a speedy 

 solution of all the difficulties attendant on the foundation of a 

 new industry, and to bid fair to lay the basis for a regular 

 supply of live cattle and sheep for the markets of the northern 

 hemisphere. This being once established, the difficulty of dis- 

 posing of - the surplus stock of the colony will to a great extent 

 disappear. 



Great progress appears to have been made in the preservation 

 of meat, both by freezing, canning, and other methods. Nearly 

 60,000,000 lbs. weight of beef and mutton were so treated in 

 1894, chiefly for export, although the actual amount exported, 

 namely, about 53,000,000 lbs., would point to a considerable local 

 consumption. Great improvements are being made from time to 

 time both in the machinery and in the system adopted for meat 

 preserving. 



In 1894, there were 31 establishments engaged in the 

 slaughter of live stock for preservation for food, or for boiling 

 down for tallow or lard. At these establishments, 869,520 sheep 

 and 194,085 cattle were killed during the year. Sheep to the 

 number of 452,192, and cattle to the number of 126,474 were 

 slaughtered for preserving and freezing, producing 8,611,415 lbs. 

 of mutton and 50,945,480 lbs. of beef. Of this, 5,862,373 lbs. 

 of mutton and 33,305,023 lbs. of beef were frozen. The remain- 

 ing 417,328 sheep and 67,611 cattle were boiled down, and 

 yielded 15,683 tons of tallow. There was also produced 123,401 

 lbs. of extract of meat, and 45,404 lbs. of essence of meat. 



A great change is stated to have taken place in the value of 

 one of the most important by-products connected with cattle, 

 namely, hides, which are stated to have risen in value fully 

 100 per cent, during 1894. This must of necessity result in a 

 considerably improved price being obtained for the live animal, 

 as at the low price hitherto ruling for beasts, the hide has borne 

 a large relative value to the whole animal. This sudden increase 

 in the price of hides is alleged to have resulted from a combi- 

 nation of circumstances, of which the most important were the 

 breaking up of a " Tanners' Trust " in the United States, formed 

 to restrict the output of leather, and the additional demand for 

 boot leather arising from the war between China and Japan. 

 The severe loss of cattle in America from drought and blizzard 

 is also said to have caused a diminution in the supply of hides, 

 and thus to have helped to bring about the rise in price. 



