1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
629 
AMERICAN PORK IN BRITISH MARKETS. 
Can Its Sale Be Increased? 
Part I. 
The subject of the sale of American meats abroad 
has attracted much attention of late years, and more 
especially during the administration of the present 
Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, who is an 
earnest advocate of extending our foreign markets. 
The subject of swine products has in particular in¬ 
volved discussion, and much has been said in favor 
of our producing so-called bacon pigs for the Eu¬ 
ropean markets. Coming from one of our great 
swine-producing States, it was but natural that I 
should be interested in a trip abroad, in making in¬ 
quiries as to the foreign demand for pork, and the 
place of Americans in this demand. To begin with, 
Britain is our best buyer of meats, and so my atten¬ 
tion was mainly given to studying the subject in Brit¬ 
ish markets. The use of ham or bacon and eggs as a 
breakfast food in Europe, is so universal as to have 
been to me a considerable surprise. Hotels and board¬ 
ing houses generally offer one of these as staples of 
diet. I would venture a guess that ham or bacon are 
more generally eaten for breakfast in Britain than 
any other meat, though possibly mutton chops may be 
entitled to first place. But I doubt it. 
As one strolls through the towns and cities he sees 
many very attractive meat markets, as I think, far 
more so than in America. Two factors contribute to 
this, great cleanliness and an attractive arrangement 
of products for display. The same may be said of the 
fish markets. Among the numerous meat shops in the 
larger cities, one will find some almost exclusively 
dealing in pork products, while in all of them hams, 
side meats and sausages are prominently displayed. 
This pork impresses an American as different in ap¬ 
pearance from that commonly seen abroad. The hams 
may run small in size, or there may be some on sale 
that would be regarded as tremendously large in the 
States, while the side meat, or bacon, often has a 
yellowish, tanned hue, peculiar to Europe. Further, it 
is usually thin and fairly red meaty. Thick, fat bacon 
is exceptional. 
Smithfield Market at London is, I suppose, the 
greatest thing of its kind in the world. In 1898, over 
405,000 tons of meat were delivered in that market, of 
which 75,890 were American-killed, and 83,831 Aus¬ 
tralian and New Zealand-killed meats. The average 
daily delivery of meat in the market for 1898 was 
1,299 tons, while on December 21, 1896, there was de¬ 
livered 4,159 tons, the greatest daily record. Conse¬ 
quently, the reader can realize something as to the 
importance of Smithfield Market. While in London 
it was my pleasure to visit this market, and learn 
something of the meat sold, and of market demands. 
I interviewed some of the most prominent dealers in 
pork products, and obtained their views upon the de¬ 
mands of the British market, and the grading of meat 
from different sources. I also had extended inter¬ 
views with large wholesalers of pork products in 
Scotland, men who imported from the Continent and 
America. In addition to these I sought interviews 
with small wholesalers and retailers both in England 
and Scotland. The result of these interviews was to 
show a very uniform opinion among dealers upon the 
relative value of meat products. This naturally 
should be expected. 
Britain receives her pork supply from her own im¬ 
mediate districts of England, Scotland and Ireland, 
and more especially the latter, and Denmark, France, 
Holland, Canada and the United States. The British 
people prefer a lean meat, and more especially a lean 
side of bacon. This side should also be deep and 
fairly long, and the fat firm to the touch and not 
very thick. Some of the best sides to which my at¬ 
tention was called hardly averaged an inch thick¬ 
ness of fat on the outside, where fat is usually thick¬ 
est. An examination of the meat in large shops 
showed decided differences in quality, according to 
the source. Most of the fat was quite hard when 
pressed by the fingers, but it was notable that side 
meat shown as from the States had a soft, flabby 
touch on the fatty edge. The region of Wiltshire, 
England, produces the most famous bacon sold in 
the English market, it being rated highest in quality 
and price. But in Smithfield Market I was told that 
the pork from this region that was on sale was al¬ 
most insignificant in amount. Without exception, 
however, all the dealers classed bacon from English- 
fed pigs as superior to all other. Years ago Ireland 
supplied the English market with immense amounts 
of pork. The Danish people, however, found it neces¬ 
sary to change their method of farming from grain 
growing to stock raising and dairying, and so they 
sent representatives to England to study the needs of 
its markets. This resulted in taking up pork produc¬ 
tion for British markets, and men were sent to Ire¬ 
land to learn Irish methods of handling pigs and cur¬ 
ing bacon. So successful were the lessons learned, 
that gradually Denmark developed a market in Brit¬ 
ain for swine products that greatly exceeded anything 
anticipated, far outranking Ireland in the trade, and 
becoming a producer of the best of bacon, and just 
what the English consumer wanted. To-day Danish 
bacon ranks as of top grade. To show the relative 
rank in values, one of the very largest dealers in 
bacon products in Smithfield Market gave me these 
prices for that day on sides, per hundredweight. The 
prices are in shillings, equal to about 25 cents each 
American money: English, 80; Danish, 76-78; Cana¬ 
dian, 66-68 for tops, and 58-62 for lower grades, and 
United States, 50. He laid stress, however, on what 
he believed to be a fact, that not 100 boxes of Ameri¬ 
can sides were used in London per week. 
When asked why American bacon did not rate 
higher in market value, the reply was invariably 
given that it was too fat and oily, too soft and lack¬ 
ing in lean meat. One extensive dealer laid stress on 
the fact that when American bacon was fried that 
an undesirable corn flavor issued in the fat. This 
same firm, which is located in Scotland, handles 
largely of American pork, and especially hams and 
shoulders, and stated that they were continually writ¬ 
ing to the States for leaner meat. The dealers gen¬ 
erally attributed the undesirable quality of American 
bacon to the kind of food fed, rather than to the 
breed. The use of peas, beans, shorts, oatmeal and 
nitrogenous foods was advocated. One dealer said: 
“If you had more pigs after the Middle White (York¬ 
shire breed) style, and fed more peameal, etc., you 
would be O. K.” To-day Canadian pigs are distinctly 
in demand in Britain, while those from the States are 
not at all holding their own with Canada. Hams from 
the United States, however, stand in quite different 
favor from the bacon or side meat, being regarded as 
very good. This seemed the opinion of the most ex- 
UNCLE SAM’S NEW COAT.—N. Y. IIbkald. 
tensive dealers. They are not too fat, and when 
boiled the corn flavor boils out and disappears from 
the meat. While the sale of American hams is con¬ 
stantly growing, that of bacon is reduced to a com¬ 
paratively small amount. The dressed pigs seen in 
the markets are small. Holland sends over many that 
weigh less than 100 pounds, head and all. American 
packers also send over small rather than medium¬ 
sized ones, and I have seen export dressed pigs on the 
steamer in New York, sent there by Chicago packers, 
that weighed under 75 pounds. I put the question to 
a prominent wholesaler in Smithfield Market, “What 
size of pig do you most prefer for general trade?” 
His reply was, “I like a pig to weigh 56 pounds to the 
side after killing, with the ham, but less the head 
and feet.” This perhaps would fairly represent the 
size of pig most in demand by meat dealers. 
c. s. PLUMB. 
In speaking of the decrease in the acreage yield of 
raisins and other crops in sections of California, the Fresno 
Republican says that to exhaust the virtue of the richest 
soil in the world in 10 or 20 years is not farming, but 
mining, and extravagant mining at that, and that those 
who are so improvident and thoughtless of the future 
show themselves to be less civilized agriculturally than 
the Chinese, who learned long ages ago to regard those 
who leave the soil worse than they find it not only as 
bad farmers, but robbers of posterity. 
No Dwarfs For Me.—I do not know of a dwarf pear 
orchard in this section; still there may be some. I would 
like to see one myself 10 years old that has been a profit¬ 
able investment for its owner. I have reference to this 
section of the State. We went through the dwarf-pear 
craze when I was a boy. My father had at one time 
nearly or quite 2,000 of them. I removed the last of them 
about six years ago, with the exception of about a dozen 
trees, which I left to experiment with, and which I re¬ 
moved four years later. Some of these trees were 25 or 
30 years old, and were of the Duchess and Louise Bonne 
varieties. No dwarf pears for me, please. 
J. R. CORNELL. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Two masked men entered the Great 
Northern express office at Larimore, S. D., August 29, 
and at the point of a gun compelled the agent to open 
the safe. They shot at him before leaving, but only got 
$95.Geo. H. Ling, who saved the lives of scores 
of people at the time of the Johnstown flood, fell from 
a train at South Chicago, Ill., August 28, and was killed. 
. ... A tornado destroyed the greater part of the 
town of Whitewood, North West Territory, August 28. 
The storm also caused damage in Manitoba, the loss 
amounting to about $100,000.The recent storms 
at Cape Nome, Alaska, have caused great loss of life. 
Many persons were drowned, 35 bodies being washed 
up on the shore at Nome, and as many more in other 
places.Negroes injured in the recent race riots 
in New York City have filed damage claims aggregating 
$260,000. This rioting was renewed in the same district 
September 2.August 30, four masked men held 
up and robbed the Union Pacific westbound fast mail 
near Table Rock, Wyo., escaping with much treasure. 
. . . . The mud volcanoes of Mendocino County, Cal., 
are again active, spouting great quantities of liquefied 
earthy matter.At Hatfield, Pa., September 2, 13 
persons were killed and 42 injured by a rear-end collision 
on the Reading railway, an excursion train plunging 
into a milk train standing at the station.The 
entire business portion of Potosi, Wis., was wiped out 
by fire September 3; loss $25,000.The town of 
Atlin, N. W. T., has been practically destroyed by fire, 
the loss being $40,000, with little or no insurance. 
The Vermont election for Governor, September 4, gave 
the Republicans 30,000 plurality, an increase of 7,000 over 
the plurality of 1898. The Legislature will, however, 
show large Democratic gains. Local issues were para¬ 
mount, Prohibition being a strong factor in the election. 
. . . . Arthur Sewall, Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President in 1896, died of apoplexy at Small Point, Me., 
September 6.The Wells Fargo Express Com¬ 
pany was robbed of $40,000 at Trevino, Mexico, September 
4; $20,000 was afterwards recovered.Caleb 
Powers, convicted as accessory before the fact to the 
murder of Governor Goebel, of Kentucky, has been sen¬ 
tenced to imprisonment for life. 
PHILIPPINES.—Civil government was established in 
the Islands September 1, by the Philippine Commission. 
The army will be used against natives who continue in 
insurrection.A Filipino outbreak has occurred 
in the Island of Bohol, 365 miles from Manila. The rebels 
attacked the Americans, but were repulsed, losing 120; 
American loss, one killed and 60 wounded. 
CUBA.—September 3, the severest storm since 1877 was 
experienced at Santiago. The lower part of the city was 
five feet under water.Yellow fever is again re¬ 
ported at several Cuban points. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—The United States 
formally appealed to the other powers to establish peace 
in China, August 30. Russia has announced that the re¬ 
lief of Peking finishes the task of the Allies in China. 
Up to September 6, no further authentic news had been 
given out concerning the American troops at Peking, or 
the movements of the Allies. The missionaries protest 
against the evacuation of Peking by the Allies. 
The anarchist Bresci, who killed the King of Italy, has 
been sentenced to solitary confinement for life. 
Another death, supposed to be due to bubonic plague, 
has occurred at Glasgow, Scotland, and 93 cases suspect¬ 
ed of the disease are under observation. . . . Septem¬ 
ber 3, Lord Roberts announced the annexation of the 
South African Republic, to be known in future as the 
Transvaal. The Boers captured a train in the vicinity 
of Kroonstadt September 5, securing 44 carloads of sup¬ 
plies. They also made an attack on Bloemfontein water¬ 
works, but were repulsed. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Sir John Bennet Lawes, the 
eminent English authority on agriculture, died August 
31. He was born at Rothamsted, St. Albans, in 1814, and 
lived there until his death. He was educated at Eton 
and Oxford, and began his agricultural studies in 1834. 
He was a correspondent of the late Mr. E. S. Carman, 
and The R. N.-Y. was the first American paper which 
printed contributions from him. His portrait was pub¬ 
lished in The R. N.-Y. in December, 1878. The last com¬ 
munication The R. N.-Y. received from him was printed 
in the issue of August 27, 1898; although then past 84, he 
had begun experiments in sugar beets. He conducted 
exhaustive experiments with wheat fertilizers on the 
same ground for a period extending over 50 years. 
Armour & Co., of Chicago, have received an order for 
6,000,000 pounds of beef on the hoof, to feed the Russian 
troops in China. This is the largest order of the kind in 
the history of the Chicago meat trade. 
The Northern Wisconsin Live Stock Company was in¬ 
corporated recently at Stanley, Wis. Prof. W. L. Carlyle, 
of the State University Experiment Station, is president; 
J. E. Storey, of Waukesha, secretary, and L. G. Moon, 
proprietor of the Crescent Guernsey herd, is the pro¬ 
moter, organizer and vice-president of the new concern. 
The company will do dairying, breeding and feeding, and 
will control a section and a half of some of the finest 
land in the State. 
September 2, there were said to be 20 miles of wheat 
cars in the Santa Fe yards at Kansas City, Mo., which 
it was impossible to move. All the Kansas railroads were 
unable to handle the grain offered, the difficulty being 
due to lack of motive power, rather than to a car 
famine. 
Six hundred thousand cases of eggs were placed in cold 
storage at the Chicago stockyards recently. Swift and 
Armour have been buying through the West, and their 
stock is now said to amount to 216,000,000 eggs. Prices 
paid have ranged from 7(4 to nine cents a dozen, some 
going as high as 11 cents. 
The American Veterinary Medical Association, in ses¬ 
sion at Detroit, Mich., elected the following officers: 
President, Dr. Tait Butler, Indianapolis; secretary, Dr. 
S. Stewart, Kansas City; treasurer, Dr. W. H. Lowe, 
Paterson, N. J. 
