RETAIL MARKETING OF MEATS 5 
cattle shipped or driven on the hoof from trans- Allegheny territory 
were slaughtered. During recent decades the growth of a large 
population remote from livestock-producing regions, the centraliza- 
tion of the meat-packing industry, and the development of the whole- 
sale trade generally have resulted in displacing the old-fashioned 
butcher by the retail market, which depends upon wholesale channels 
for its supply. 
Even in many rural sections slaughtering has been practically 
abandoned, either because a regular supply is not obtainable through- 
out the 3 T ear or because the meat can be procured more economically 
or more conveniently from centralized establishments. Changes in 
methods of distribution have been marked, and the percentage of 
meat passing through commercial channels has greatly increased. 
Meat-packing plants were early established in the West, and by 
1820 Cincinnati surpassed Boston as a market for cattle and hogs. 
Extensive slaughtering was begun in Chicago as early as 1832, and 
by 1842 that city was prominent as a meat-packing and distributing 
center. The invention of the refrigerator car in 1868 revolutionized 
the industry. The business of shipping fresh meats under refrigera- 
tion encountered great difficulties; but the trade increased rapidly, 
and by 1SS5 it was apparent that this method of slaughtering cattle 
in the section of meat production, and shipping the fresh meat to 
centers of consumption, was destined largely to supersede the method 
of shipping on the hoof and slaughtering near the place of con- 
sumption. Shipments of live cattle from the West to eastern con- 
suming centers to-day are almost entirely for the " kosher " trade. 
The principal factors contributing to the phenomenal growth of 
the meat-packing industry are: (1) The settlement and development 
of western territory devoted to stock raising; (2) a network of rail- 
roads affording rapid and easy transportation between the various 
sections; (3) improvements in the methods of preserving and curing 
meats; (1) introduction and improvement of mechanical processes 
of refrigeration, particularly the refrigerator car; (5) utilization of 
practically the entire animal, through development of the by-product 
industries; (6) adoption of efficient labor-saving machinery; and 
(7) rigid sanitary practices for safeguarding the health of the con- 
sumer. 
CHANNELS FOR DISTRIBUTING MEAT TO RETAILERS 
There are two greatly differing systems through which dressed 
meat passes from producer to retailer for sale to consumer. The 
system of greatest economic importance is the centralized packing 
plant with its subordinate agencies. Of secondary importance is 
the system of local slaughter of livestock. 
CENTRALIZED PACKING PLANTS 
In connection with centralized packing plants there is necessarily 
a complicated system of distribution, but the subordinate instru- 
mentalities usually function merely as channels of distribution and 
not as middlemen, since there is usually no change of ownership 
until the final transfer to the retailer. Thus, there are fewer actual 
