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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 47
Trade in Tinned Meats
Trade in Tinned Meats.
Looking to the future, the facts stated at page 72 are important in view of one growing trade alone—namely, tinned meats. The following imports of this article into England are from distant Australia, though the consumption has been mainly hitherto among the middle classes:—
| Cwts. | £ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1865 | Nil. | value | Nil. |
| 1866 | 91 | value | 321 |
| 1867 | 6,722 | value | 18,820 |
| 1868 | 16,316 | value | 45,688 |
| 1869 | 32,214 | value | 94,260 |
| 1870 | 80,636 | value | 231,860 |
| 1871 | 260,133 | value | 671,452 |
| 1872 | 352,023 | value | 906,680 |
The effect of this has, of course, been to raise the price of beef and mutton in the colonies very considerably.
The meat companies paid from 10 to 15 per cent, profit in 1871. In addition to the meat, they sell concentrated meat-juice, tallow, marrow, tongue, hide, bones, horns, hoofs, &c.,
There is probably more active speculation in the cattle business of the United States than in any other business, but I will here state last year's prices in two of the greatest markets, namely, Chicago and St. Louis, in order to assist the British Columbian cattle-farmer in estimating his own comparative position. The prices are paper money, not gold:—