Meat industry

“ I have seen cattle come into Armour's stock-yard so weak and exhausted that they expired in the corrals, where they lay for an hour or two, dead, until they were afterward hauled in, skinned, and put on the market for beef or into the canning department for cans. ”

“ Of course, the butcher takes care to regulate his prices so as to secure a remunerative profit on his outlay. Prime parts of beef are sirloins, ribs and rounds; of mutton, legs and loins. Middling pieces of beef are top ribs, back ribs, and silverside; of mutton, shoulders. Inferior pieces of beef are shins, brisket and flank, clod, or shoulder, sticking piece, or neck; of mutton, necks and breasts. The prices given in the table are such as would be paid for meat of the best quality. ”

“ Their food also consisteth principally in beef, and such meat as the butcher selleth—that is to say, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, etc., whereof he findeth great store in the markets adjoining, beside sows, brawn, bacon, fruit, pies of fruit, fowls of sundry sorts, cheese, butter, eggs, etc., as the other wanteth it not at home, by his own provision which is at the best hand, and commonly least charge. ”

“ Good beef is largely obtained from the cattle ranges of the West, but there is no reason why cattle should not be raised to greater extent in the East. Sheep for mutton are best raised where the climate is not too severe. Methods of slaughter, transportation, and preservation210 all affect the quality of beef. The pure food laws and Federal meat inspection law are valuable to the consumer in their control of the quality of the meat, that it shall be free from disease and from adulterations. See Chapter XVII for the discussion of preservatives and pure food laws.
Fig. 58.—Cuts of Beef. ”

“ Buttocks of beef, fillets of veal, and legs of mutton and lamb, as they have most solid meat and least bone, in proportion, are best for large families.
The most economical way for marketing, is to buy what roasting and boiling pieces you want in one lot. Butchers will sell quantities, thus assorted, much cheaper than they will sell single joints; and prime roasting joints, when bought alone, are always charged extravagantly. ”

“ In plump young lamb and pork all cuts are tender. With veal, rib and loin are generally more tender than the rest of the carcass. The cheaper cuts of lamb, pork, and veal—that is, shoulder, breast, and shank meat—make good chops, roasts, pot roasts, and stews.
Learn the cuts of meat so you can name them when you see them. The best teacher is the reliable meat dealer. Arrange to do your marketing at the time of day when he can help you. ”

“ When there is a surplus of beef offered for sale or in case of war, where the army contracts for large quantities of canned meat, the opposite conditions probably prevail, and the best meats are used for canning purposes and those of a less desirable quality offered for sale in the fresh state. ”

“ For this reason cured meats, such as beef and pork, are often preferred for making potted and deviled meats because of the agreeable flavor and aroma which they impart thereto. These meats are therefore used in potting, although they cost more than corresponding quantities of fresh meat. In a character of goods so variegated as these it is impossible to lay down any rule which may guide the consumer in his choice. The widest latitude is left to the manufacturer, and the only real protection is in a strict inspection of the factory or factories where such goods are made. ”

“ For a time the United States furnished the largest part of the fresh meat consumed in England. It is true that for many years we have supplied foreign markets with cured and canned meats, but the fresh meat trade in England is a business developed within a comparatively few years and it grew to magnitude. However, owing to our growth, increasing home [8] demands, and the changed economic conditions, this business dwindled in the last decade so that on beef it was practically gone, except that during the European war owing to prevailing conditions, it was revived for a time at least. ”

“ In providing for a large number of persons, where quantity and cheapness are of more importance than first-rate quality, joints of large, full-flavoured beef and mutton are by far the most advantageous to buy, and for strong soup, stews with vegetables, and such dishes, there is no reason for choosing the most delicate meat. ”

“ Foreign Beef is now imported in large quantities, and although it is not, generally speaking, considered so good in flavour or quality as English meat, is nevertheless excellent, and can be usually obtained at a lower price. The best parts only used to be sent to this country, but owing to the great improvement in the means of transport and methods for preserving the meat, carcasses frozen, chilled or refrigerated arrive in excellent condition, and are cut up and sold in the same manner as English beef, and usually at a lower rate, thus placing good meat within the reach of all classes. ”

“ All the principal kinds of live stock—horses and mules, in spite of the big exportation to Europe for army needs; milk cows, other cattle, hogs, and even sheep for the first time in many years—were increased in number by from one to twelve millions. Meat, milk and wool production showed signal increase, that of beef of a million pounds and of pork twice that amount. ”

“ The export of fresh meat, which began about 1875, increased constantly in the last quarter of the century, and formed a considerable item. Of even greater value was the export of bacon and hams, while lard, tallow, pickled and canned meats contributed in varying proportions to the total of animal products exported. ”

“ Should, however, any cheap mode of conveying live stock, or even their flesh, from those and similarly circumstanced countries be devised, it might render the production of meat in Britain a far less profitable occupation than it is now. ”

“ The importance of this enterprise, in its relation to the meat supply of the world, can hardly be over-stated, and its direct results to the producers of the meat producing breeds of stock as well as to the consumers, are too apparent to require discussion. ”

“ Pork—fresh and salted, bacon and ham—is the natural and invariable food of the settler. Beef and mutton are too valuable as marketable steers, dairy cattle, and wool-growers, and are not so conveniently prepared into keeping forms; hence the pigs he breeds on his clearings are looked upon by the bush-farmer as the regular source whence to draw his household provision in the meat way. ”

“ The result of this process is, that size and weight are attained by a deposit of fat, rather than by the construction of muscular fiber, which alone is true meat; while, as a necessary consequence, the characteristic flavor and other qualities of fully developed beef and mutton are greatly wanting in modern meat.
Much more unsatisfactory is the supply of vegetable and dairy produce to our great city, particularly of the former. ”

“ In the United States the raising of cattle for meat is a great business. For years past this country has fed its own people and helped to feed those of Europe. The meat of cattle killed in Chicago and other cities is sold in the markets of London and other parts of England and the people of that country have long been growing fat on American beef. ”

“ Beef makes the best brown stock, but it lacks gelatinous substance; therefore stock for good consommé, or clear soup, should be made of beef and veal, and a fowl, or part of a fowl added to give it an additional flavour.
2. White stock is usually made from veal, bones and remains of poultry and calves' feet. The liquor in which calves' head or fowls has been boiled makes excellent white stock.
3. Stock meat should be as lean and as fresh as possible. Never wash meat unless obliged, as it deprives its surface of all the juices. ”

“ Here, within the walls of the same abattoir, in other roomy and commodious buildings, are a place for converting the fat into tallow and packing it for market—a place for cleansing and scalding calves’ heads and sheep’s feet—a place for preparing tripe—stables and coach-houses for the butchers—innumerable conveniences, aiding in the diminution of offensiveness to its lowest possible point, and the raising of cleanliness and supervision to their highest. Hence, all the meat that goes out of the gate is sent away in clean covered carts. ”

“ A pig is like unto any other machine, it will produce the manufactured article most cheaply when it is fully supplied with the most suitable raw material. There is not the slightest doubt that the least costly pork is that which is produced by the pig which spends its whole time in the object of its existence, the manufacture of pork.
There is a further point of great importance. Wellnigh all those materials which are used in the feeding of pigs contain the constituents necessary for the building up of the frame and for the accumulation of fat or, as it is commonly termed, the making of meat. ”

“ Many cultivators of sheep, too, are so situated as to prefer fine wool, which is incompatible with the largest quantity and best quality of meat. Others differently situated in regard to a meat market would do well to follow the English practice and aim at the most profitable production of mutton. A great many farmers, not only of those in the vicinity of large towns, but of those at some distance, might, beyond doubt, cultivate dairy qualities in cows, to great advantage, and this too, even, if necessary, at the sacrifice, to considerable extent, of beef making qualities. ”

“ There is a type of beef carcass that is best and commands the best price, and it costs no more to produce than an inferior type. The same is true of mutton and pork. Any Armour branch manager will show you what these types are and the Armour Farm Bureau will furnish, without charge, information on improved methods of producing the sort of animals that are most in demand for meat purposes. ”

“ As stated before, stock is not as good when made entirely from cooked meats, but in a family where it requires a large joint roasted every day, the bones, and bits and underdone pieces of beef, or the bony structure of turkey or chicken that has been left from carving, bones of roasted poultry, these all assist in imparting a rich dark color to soup, and would be sufficient, if stewed as above, to furnish a family, without buying fresh meat for the purpose ”

“ In the sketch on Army Rations I named fresh beef as one of the articles furnished, but I gave no particulars as to just how the army was supplied with it. This I will now endeavor to do.
When there came an active demand for fresh and salt meat to feed the soldiers and sailors, at once the price advanced, and Northern farmers turned their attention more extensively to grazing. Of course, the great mass of the cattle were raised in the West, but yet even rugged New England contributed no inconsiderable quantity to swell the total. ”

“ The enormous increase in trade and the consequent large addition to the salaries of the employees of all classes led to a desire for more expensive kinds of meat, small joints of finer quality beef, mutton and pork in lieu of the very general salt pork which used to do duty in the homes of a large portion of clerks, artisans and mechanics. ”

“ The importation of fresh meat from abroad is a branch of trade that is rapidly increasing. The importation of the tinned preserved meats is falling off, but the importation of fresh beef, mutton, pork and other meats, exclusive of bacon and ham, increased from 1,184,289 cwts. ”

“ FRESH BEEF
Much of the frontier, upon which vast numbers of cattle were formerly raised, is now cut up into small farms and town lots. Hereafter, we must raise the greater portion of our meat animals upon expensive land and feed. The cost of production has increased many fold and consequently meat is higher in price. Packers, through utilizing by-products, keep the cost of wholesome meat within the reach of the consumer. ”

“ As is generally known, BEEF is the flesh of a slaughtered steer, cow, or other adult bovine animal. These animals may be sold to be slaughtered as young as 1-1/2 to 2 years old, but beef of the best quality is obtained from them when they are from 3 to 4 years of age. Ranging from the highest quality down to the lowest, beef is designated by the butcher as prime, extra fancy, fancy, extra choice, choice, good, and poor. In a market where trade is large and varied, it is possible to make such use of meat as to get a higher price for the better qualities than can be obtained in other markets. ”

“ This improvement is especially valuable to the lower classes, who find pork the most economical meat food, since it can be cooked in so many appetising ways, and every portion of the pig can be utilized for the food of man. It can also be produced at less cost than other meat, and consequently can be sold more cheaply. ”

“ We breed and fatten a large number of pigs on the clearings round the shanty. These we butcher in batches of six or eight, as required, and turn into salt pork, bacon, and ham. We have occasionally sent a cask or two of pork, some flitches or hams, to market; but as a rule we consume our pigs on the farm. Pig-meat is most reliable as a staple. One does not tire of it so utterly as one does of either mutton or beef, if one of these be the invariable daily food.
Beef we rarely see in our shanty. The steers we breed are too valuable to be used by ourselves; they have to go to market. ”

“ If the aristocracy and gentry would take the hint to try the American beef and pork, it would be a great benefit to their neighbours. Every joint of English meat which they dispense with will be left for others who may want it more; while the superior cookery of their kitchens would prove whether this food might not be made as agreeable as it is certainly nourishing. We ought to prepare immediately for the greatest possible economy of home-grown meat, and a large consumption of all good foreign meat, for many months to come. ”