Report on the American and Canadian Meat Trade. 303 
chincry, and, as the ground is smooth, we somehow have a wholesale way of 
running up stacks with horses, and haul them in winter to the cattle. Calves 
at six months old are bought for 24s. ; one year old, 40s. ; two years old, 72s. 
to 80s. ; and three years old Gl. to 11.. Our principal food fcr fattening in 
winter, in fact our only food, is corn (maize). The word ' corn ' indicates 
nothing but maize. The milk of the cows, which the calves are not allowed 
to suck, is fed to hogs ; and as the milk is very rich, owing to the cows re- 
ceiving a large quantity of corn, the hogs thrive rapidly en it — faster than they 
would with corn alone. Pork at 2d. to 3d. per lb., gross weight, and fed in 
this manner, takes off a large share of the expense attached to the cows."* 
From the foregoing it would appear that cattle are not con- 
sidered sufficiently matured for slaughter until they are four or 
five years old. This coincides with a statement made to me by 
Mr. J. Augustus Lippincott, of Liverpool, who is the unloading 
superintendent on this side for J. C. Eastman and Co., of New 
York, who are, at present, the largest as they were for some time 
the only exporters of dead meat to this country. Mr. Lippincott 
informed me that the exporters were careful not to purchase for 
the English market any but well-fed and fully developed animals, 
four or five years old. Mere " beeflings," two to three years old, 
were avoided. Before the trade to England had provided a new 
outlet, the demand for these Western cattle had been only to 
supply the Eastern States and cities, and the supply far exceeded 
the demand. 
The fee- simple of land in these Western States can be bought 
at prices varying from 4s. per acre upwards, the difference being 
governed more by the situation than by the quality of the land, 
nearness to a railroad being the chief consideration ; this, of 
course, means land which requires fencing in, and on which 
there are no buildings or roads — land in its natural state, in fact. 
Land in such profuse abundance, cheap and good, provides the 
first requisite for the production of beef and mutton, and it is 
more than probable that the new and profitable outlet, which 
the exportation of meat to this country has provided them 
with, will give a powerful stimulus to the enterprise of the 
farmers of America. They possess natural advantages which 
will enable them to become, on advantageous and superior terms, 
competitors with the farmers of the British Isles in the produc- 
tion of beef and mutton. That they possess the necessary enter- 
prise is abundantly proved in many ways already, notably 
in this last achievement of sending dead meat in a perfectly 
fresh condition, 3000 miles over the sea. The disadvantages 
under which they labour will be examined under the head of 
" Transit." 
* The prices given in English money have been calculated from those origi- 
nally given, at the rate of 4s. to the dollar and id. to the cent. 
