Twenty Years' Changes in our Foreign Meat Supplies. 485 
where. The spectacle, so striking in the case of sheep, is not 
here seen, of a large reduction in the Old World, to balance 
the added numbers of the New. One European and one 
Australasian country exhibit a decrease — Spain and the colony 
of New South Wales. Still it must be pointed out that as cattle 
are, for obvious reasons, much more legitimately perhaps than 
sheep, measured with population, it is important that the advance 
in the number of cattle should be found to keep pace with the 
growth of meat consumers. Apart from the little questioned 
fact, that more beef is eaten now per head over the whole world, 
whatever may be the case as regards mutton, and that therefore 
a somewhat higher ratio of cattle and persons would seem called 
for to maintfiin the balance, it is important to enquire Avhat the 
density of the available cattle stock is now, and what it was 
twenty years ago. 
Viewed simply in relation to people, it would therefore seem 
that, while we ourselves have maintained the former proportion 
of cattle to persons, few of our European neighbours have greatly 
increased it, and some have notably declined in the scale when 
thus tested. Sweden indeed has added to her stock, even more 
than she has added to her people, and possesses 50 head of 
cattle per 100 persons at the later date, contrasted with 47 at the 
earlier date. Denmark, which I have already noticed as ex- 
tending her exports, has now 72 cattle against 63 per 100 
inhabitants. Switzerland, Italy and Portugal have all more or 
less improved their position, but in the two last instances that 
position is a very poor one. Both Austria and Hungary — 
if I include, as I believe our latest official returns do not, 
the provinces of Croatia and Slavonia — show likewise two 
more cattle for each 100 persons than in 1867. Russia has 
declined by three head of stock per 100 persons. Germany 
apparently, though here perhaps the earlier figures are open 
to some doubt, has slightly retrograded in the interval 
France, in similar circumstances, seems slightly to have im- 
proved ; but Belgium, Norway, and still more clearly Spain 
and Holland, have all dropped behind in this particular form of 
wealth. 
It is, however, a fact not to be overlooked, that the entire 
addition to the live-stock of the Central European countries is 
by no means in proportion to the greater demand which now 
exists everywhere for butcher's meat for food. Among ourselves 
it is assumed that in a score of years we, on the average, 
have increased our domestic consumption per man by some- 
thing approaching 10 per cent., or from 100 lb. to well over 
109 lb. Some thirty years ago or more a figure of no more 
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