Agricultural  Competition. 
157 
from  a frozen  condition,  was  recently  conveyed  from 
Australia,  proves  a success,  large  increases  from  that  part  of 
the  world,  as  well  as  from  New  Zealand  may  be  expected,  and 
these  are  likely  to  do  more  than  cover  the  decrease  of 
shipments  from  the  United  States.  It  is  a curious  fact  that 
the  use  of  this  process  has  been  prohibited  both  in  Argentina 
and  the  United  States,  on  what  grounds  is  not  clear.  But  if 
the  process  allows  of  meat  ^ being  sent  from  Australia  in  a 
chilled  state,  it  will  probably  be  generally  adopted.  Hitherto 
Canada  has  not  been  a great  exporter  of  dead  meat. 
Imports  of  mutton  and  lamb  have  continued  to  increase. 
New  Zealand  is  the  greatest  contributor,  followed  somewhat 
closely  by  Argentina.  These  two  countries  send  three-fourths 
of  our  supply,  Australia  contributing  most  of  the  rest,  though 
we  get  a considerable  quantity  from  the  Netherlands,  and 
Chile  has  been  making  headway  recently. 
Pigs’  meat  of  various  kinds  comes  most  extensively  from 
the  United  States,  Denmark,  and  Canada,  in  the  order  given. 
These  three  countries  sent  us  7,250,756  cwt.  out  of  a total  of 
7,753,799  cwt.  imported  in  1908.  Russia,  France,  Belgium, 
and  the  United  States  supply  most  of  the  poultry,  and  the 
Netherlands,  Russia,  and  Egypt,  most  of  the  game. 
Eggs. 
Russia  is  a long  way  first  with  eggs,  supplying  us  with 
nearly  twice  as  many  as  any  other  country.  Denmark  stands 
next,  followed  by  Germany,  Belgium,  and  France.  These  five 
countries  malJe  up  between  two-thirds  and  three-fourths  of 
the  immense  total  of  over  eighteen  million  great  hundreds 
(of  120)  that  we  import  in  a year.  The  total  had  long  been 
increasing  almost  every  year  up  to  1904,  since  which  date  there 
has  been  a reduction.  The  prices  paid  for  imported  eggs 
would  not  be  remunerative  to  home  producers,  and  it  seems 
impossible  that  their  production  in  such  countries  as  France 
and  Germany,  where  corn  is  dearer  than  it  is  in  England, 
can  leave  any  profit  upon  their  sale.  The  average  imported 
price  in  1904  was  Is.  for  over  eighteen  eggs,  and  all  the 
expenses  of  collection  and  transport,  as  well  as  the  foreign 
dealer’s  profit,  have  to  be  deducted.  The  price  has  risen  since 
the  year  named,  but  no  higher  than  Is.  for  fifteen  to  sixteen, 
and  probably  less  than  Is.  for  twenty  is  paid  to  the  producers. 
It  may  be  supposed  that  they  feed  their  hens  chiefly  upon 
tail  corn  and  house  scraps,  and  that  they  have  no  idea  of  the 
cost  of  production.  Eggs  are  among  the  few  farm  products 
that  have  risen  rather  than  fallen  in  price  in  this  country  since 
the  time  of  agricultural  prosperity. 
