The  Meat  Industry  in  its  Relation  to  Agriculture.  145 
usually  the  full  value  is  allowed.  Such  an  equitable  arrange- 
ment has  been  carried  out  in  a great  many  different  places 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom,  and  there  is  every  possibility 
that  it  will  become  universal.  It  does  not,  however,  get  rid 
of  the  question  of  tuberculous  meat,  which  is  another  considera- 
tion altogether,  and  which  is  a problem  for  the  Government  to 
deal  with.  It  can  be  seen  that  the  consumer’s  position  is 
undoubtedly  a very  serious  one,  when  the  question  of  diseased 
meat  is  considered.  Meat  purveyors,  as  a class,  have  no  means 
of  acquiring  technical  education  in  connection  with  th-ir  busi- 
ness, and,  as  a consequence,  wholly  unscientific  and  even 
dangerous  conditions  prevail  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of 
the  meat  industry.  Epidemics  of  ptomaine  poisoning  have 
arisen  from  time  to  time,  and  they  have  been  due  to  quite 
preventible  causes,  which,  however,  cannot  be  said  to  be 
appreciated  by  the  average  meat  purveyor.  It  is  time,  there- 
fore, that  instruction  in  connection  with  the  meat  industry 
should  be  placed  upon  the  same  level  as  instruction  in  butter- 
making,  which  can  be  got  at  each  of  the  twenty-two  agricultural 
colleges  which  exist  in  the  United  Kingdom,  but  where  instruc- 
tion in  connection  with  the  much  more  complex  meat  industry 
is  entirely  wanting. 
By-Products. 
That  scientific  education  in  the  meat  industry  of  the 
United  Kingdom  is  necessary  may  be  inferred  if  we  consider 
for  a moment  what  is  happening  in  foreign  countries.  In 
Chicago,  Argentina,  and  Australasia,  packing  houses  exist 
where  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs  are  handled  in  vast  quantities, 
and  where  it  is  possible  to  aggregate  large  quantities  of 
by-products.  These  are  utilised  in  every  possible  way,  so 
as  to  produce  specific  articles  which  are  largely  used  in  the 
arts  and  manufactures.  In  an  ordinary  packing  house  there 
are  about  a hundred  different  products  made  from  a slaughtered 
bullock,  and  thus  the  scientific  method  of  ' handling  the 
animal  results  in  a very  much  increased  gross  value.  In 
the  United  Kingdom  no  such  scientific  practice  exists,  and 
the  by-products  which  are  utilised  here  are  few  in  number. 
They  consist,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  blood,  hide,  hoof,  and 
spur,  the  intestines,  lungs,  heart,  stomach,  and  liver.  No 
attempt  is  made  in  this  country  to  produce  the  finer  products 
such  as  oleo,  glue,  gelatine,  pharmaceutical  preparations,  and 
fertilisers,  which  bulk  so  largely  in  the  properly  designed 
modern  packing  house.  This  points  to  the  fact  that  we  are 
much  handicapped  in  this  country  when  competing  with 
foreign  nations,  and  it  is  therefore  evident  that,  if  the  home 
meat  industry  is  to  be  conducted  at  a profit  in  the  future, 
in  the  face  of  such  enormous  competition  as  has  been 
VOL.  71.  L 
