MUTTON. Next to beef and pork, mutton is the most popular form of meat among carnivorous peoples, but its con sumption is relatively small except in Great Britain. The total number of sheep in the world, according to the statistics pub lished by the International Agricultural Institute, is rather larger than that of cattle (6o1 as compared with 547 millions), but every head of cattle means 12 times as much meat as a sheep.
There was a serious depletion of the world's stock of sheep, as of cattle (see MEAT), during the war, but the loss was replaced.
Of the number credited to Oceania about four-fifths are in Australia and the remainder in New Zealand. In other 'words, the sheep of Australia are about ioo millions and of New Zealand about 25 millions. But New Zealand now (1928) exports over five times as much mutton and lamb as Australia. The chief reason for this is that from the earliest days sheep were bred and kept in Australia for wool production and the carcass was regarded as having practically no commercial value. The Merino breed was kept almost exclusively and as recently as 1891 over 97% of the sheep kept in New South Wales were of that type.
In New Zealand sheep-breeding was in the first instance adopted, as in Australia, for the production of wool.
International Mutton Trade.—Attempts were made, espe cially in Australia, to export some of the surplus mutton by tinning or canning it. The same course was adopted in the case of beef and an overseas trade was established. Australian tinned meat was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. In the course of the next few years it became well-known and widely used. The introduction of refrigeration provided a better means of dealing ,with meat for export, although tinned meat still finds an extensive market for special purposes. The supply is likely to be maintained by meat-exporting countries because canning, or tinning, provides an outlet for the "trimmings" of carcasses.
The total quantity of mutton and lamb shipped from all ex porting countries in 1927 was 300,00o tons. All of this was frozen, i.e., it was subject, before shipment, to a temperature of from Io° to 15° F and kept at, or about, that temperature until it was deposited in cold storage at the port of destination.
The quantity in tons exported from each of the main sources of supply in 1927 was:— The total quantity which reached the United Kingdom in that year was 276,163 tons.
British Consumption.—The improvement of sheep for mut ton began in England in the latter part of the 18th century, and since then mutton and lamb have gradually come to be rec ognised as a regular part of the dietary of English households. It appears, however, from the calculations made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries that there was a substantial reduc tion in the consumption of mutton and lamb during the war and that this has not been since recovered. It is estimated that the average annual pre-war production in England and Wales was 194,000 tons, and that in the quinquennium ending in 1927 it was not more than 130,000 tons although in the latter year it had risen to 156,000 tons. This reduction was attributable to the serious depletion of the flocks of the country at the end of the war. Imports were also greatly reduced under war conditions and in 1918 amounted to no more than 112,000 tons. By 1923 the imports had reached 339,000 tons, which was much in excess of the pre-war quantity, but the total supply was reduced.
United States.—The relative proportion of mutton consump tion in the United States is less than one-fifth that of England, and in comparison with that of beef and pork it is of minor sig nificance. There is no recordable surplus for export and imports are negligible. The production which reached a peak of 389,500 tons in 1912 declined rapidly to 237,500 tons in 1918, but after 1922 a steady gain increased the total for 1927 to 327,00o tons. The curve for consumption followed closely that of production, except that since 1922 it has shown but a slight rise and the gap between the two has widened. Consumption in 1927 was but 270.000 tons. (R. H. R.) Braxy Mutton.—The flesh of sheep that have died of "braxy," a Scotch name including several disorders of sheep, of which the chief are (I) an intestinal disorder accompanied by diarrhoea and (2) a general infection associated with acute gastro-enteritis. Formerly, braxy mutton was eaten to a considerable extent but modern views as to the necessity of complete healthiness in animals used for food have restricted its consumption.