1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
195 
not to allow other parties to set up a market. Even in those days the 
market price of food was regulated by the authorities. In 1533 it was 
enacted that butchers should sell their beef at not above -|d. per pound, 
and mutton fd. Before that time pieces of beef weighing 3 lb. and over 
could be bought for Id. per piece. Compare these prices with those paid 
at the present day! One of the features of St. Bartholomew’s Fair was the 
enormous sale of roast pork. Beef sausages came into use in 1750, and 
have been more or less fashionable ever since. 
It is interesting to learn that in 1750 the average weight of oxen was 
370 lb., and of sheep 28 lb., or only about half the average weight at the 
present day. 
In 1853 the live-stock market at Sinitlifield was stopped. Before then 
it must have been an extraordinary sight to witness the whole of the 
6 acres and approaching streets (even blocking up the passages as far as 
St. Sepulchre’s Church) crammed on the last market-day before Christmas 
with over 4,000.oxen and 30,000 sheep ; and yet Smithfield is only a few 
minutes’ walk from St. Paul's and the heart of London. There was tre¬ 
mendous congestion, and the surroundings were filthy and criminal beyond 
description. 
How little those knights in armour who charged across Smithfield in 
the tournaments, or the martyrs waiting to be burnt at the stake, or the 
highwaymen led up for public execution, thought that one day hundreds 
of thousands of carcases of sheep and lambs and quarters of beef from over 
twelve thousand miles away at the other side of the world (not even then 
heard of) would occupy the place they lived and fought and died in. The 
Smithfield of old was the popular and fashionable place of resort for jousts, 
tournaments, executions, and burnings : now it is synonymous with the 
material industrial progress, trade, and expansion of the British Empire. 
“Verily, this is a strange world, my masters.’’ And who can say that the 
next two or three hundred years will not bring about even more extra¬ 
ordinary changes ? 
Interesting pages could be written about the distribution of meat in the 
provinces, and at the large ports such as Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull, &c. ; 
also regarding the attempts to introduce frozen meat into France, Germany, 
Belgium, Italy, and other Continental countries; but space will not permit. 
There is no doubt, however, that as a result of the present war the flocks 
and herds of Europe will be greatly reduced, and when trade settles down 
again fresh outlets for unlimited quantities of our frozen meat will be opened 
up in almost virgin soil—not only in Europe, but in China, Japan, and India. 
The position regarding the shortage of meat in the European countries was 
acute before the war began, and communities rebelled against the enormously 
high prices of butchers’ meat. Serious disturbances took place in Austria, 
France, and other countries ; the mob in Vienna shouted “ Give us frozen 
meat.” It is interesting to note that in the United Kingdom the number 
of sheep has actually increased since the war began. In England and 
Wales alone there was an increase of nearly half a million. 
1915. 1916. Increase. 
Breeding-ewes .. 6,871,740 7,047,110 175,370 
Other sheep .. 10,650,840 10,904,010 253,170 
17,522,580 17,951,120 428,540 
Another fact not generally known is that there are more sheep in the 
United Kingdom than there are in New Zealand. 
The enormous gain to the Argentine and Australasia when the new 
custom from the above countries is won, and the magnitude of the need 
