Report on the American and Canadian Meat Trade. 305 
on a load of corn ; but the value of the load of cattle is far 
higher than the load of corn ; hence it follows that the freight 
percentage, to the value of the load despatched, is correspond- 
ingly diminished. 
The great belt of country situated between the parallel lines 
of latitude, 30° and 40°, and stretching across the great con- 
tinent, provides for future use vast pasturages of fine land, much 
of which possesses the all-important advantage of a much finer 
and more genial winter climate than we are accustomed to in 
England. Mr. Henry Stewart of New York quotes from the 
' Chicago Tribune,' as follows : — " The plains westward of 
Omaha (on the Missouri river) were in February clear of snow, 
and the grazing all along the Union Pacific Railway was 
splendid, with plenty of water." And he goes on, himself, to 
say, — " Let it be remembered that the whole country from the 
Rio Grande, the southern boundary of Texas, to the British 
boundary on the north, 1500 miles in extent ; and westward 
from the Missouri for from 500 to 1000 miles, is either one 
grassy plain or luxuriant grass-covered valleys. Colorado is 
about the centre of this district. By and by all this vast pasture 
will be occupied by graziers with their herds of grade short- 
horns. This is the competition that English graziers and 
farmers must inevitably meet." 
Some Americans who write on this subject betray, unwit- 
tingly perhaps, a not unnatural undertone of exultation over the 
unexpected prospect which has recently opened out for the 
development of the resources of their great country. It must, 
however, be remembered that the summer-climate of America is 
not comparable to that of England for the grazing of cattle and 
sheep. It is far too hot and arid in many parts of the country. 
Many of the so-called " grazing-sections " become most years 
parched deserts, on which scarcely a green blade of grass is seen 
lor months. We in England had a touch of this sort of thing 
in the summer of 1868. In the autumn of 1871, in the months 
of August and September, I travelled through New York, Ohio, 
and several other States, and I found our summer of 1868 there. 
Everything was dry, brown, and parched, except in some of the 
low-lying valleys, whose alluvial soils were well supplied with 
moisture from the rivers which ran through them. On inquiry, 
I learnt from the farmers that this was their usual fare. Never- 
theless the cattle did not look amiss, they were acclimatised ; 
but in the dry months the farmers largely resort to " soiling " 
their cattle with " green corn," and so manage to counteract the 
burning influence of the sun. It follows, then, that the Americans 
as a rule cannot compete with us in fattening cattle on grass, so 
far as climate is concerned ; but the cheapness of both land and 
cattle with them more than counterbalances our climatic advan- 
