146  The  Meat  Industry  in  its  Relation  to  Agriculture. 
indicated,  it  will  be  necessary  to  concentrate  the  handling 
and  slaughtering  of  animals  to  a greater  extent  at  various 
centres,  so  that  the  residual  products  may  be  handled  to 
advantage.  Such  a view  might  commend  itself  to  modern 
farmers  and  also  to  small-holders,  and  might  be  capable  of 
giving  rise  to  some  national  scheme  which  would  permanently 
benefit  agriculture. 
Meats  on  the  Farm. 
There  has  been  some  development  in  the  direction  of 
handling  meats  on  the  farm,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  this 
may  develop  further  in  the  future,  as  there  seems  such  a 
ready  sale  for  all  fresh  meats  when  properly  handled,  even 
in  small  quantities.  There  is  also  the  increased  advantage 
that  cured  meats  can  be  thus  produced  as  a legitimate  develop- 
ment of  this  auxiliary  branch  of  the  farmer’s  business.  Time 
was,  when  the  curing  of  meats  on  the  farm  formed  a staple 
industry  in  some  of  the  counties  in  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland 
and  the  north  of  England,  and  there  are  not  wanting  indica- 
tions that  this  pursuit  is  likely  to  be  revived  in  the  curing 
of  hams  and  bacon,  and,  further,  that  the  farm  will  undertake 
the  handling  of  fresh  meats,  such  as  beef  and  mutton,  and 
the  utilisation  of  the  carcasses  to  their  full  extent,  thus  making 
a good  use  of  the  residual  products,  which,  at  the  present 
moment,  do  not  command  a ready  sale  in  the  open  market. 
Refrigeration. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  all  the  developments  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  over-seas  meat  industry  have  been 
primarily  due  to  the  introduction  of  refrigei’ating  machinery, 
which  has  enabled  cargoes  of  fresh  meat  to  be  brought  from 
distant  countries  in  a perfect,  condition.  Refrigeration  also 
plays  an  important  part  in  all  home  supplies,  and  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  should  the  handling  of  meats  on  the  farm  be 
developed  in  the  future,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  adopt, 
as  a part  of  the  farm  stock-in-trade,  some  kind  of  cooling 
apparatus  which  will  enable  fresh  and  cured  meats  to  be 
handled  in  a hygienic  and  a safe  way,  the  same  apparatus 
being  utilised  for  maintaining  butter  and  poultry  in  a fresh 
condition.  It  is  by  progress  along  some  such  lines  as  these 
that  there  seems  considerable  hope  for  the  future  of  British 
farming,  as  it  is  quite  evident  that  it  will  be  necessary  to 
develop  in  some  direction  in  which  there  is  a likelihood  of 
inci’easing  the  profits. 
General  Outlook. 
As  w'e  have  seen,  the  British  meat  trade  is  entirely  sub- 
servient to  the  meat  trade  created  by  foreign  nations  and  by 
