SLAT'GIITERING AND MEAT-PACKING. In 1850 slaughtering and meat-packing Was of little im portance as a specialized industry, the value of the product for that year being only $11,981,042. Before 1890, however. the industry had become the most important of the industries manufactur ing food products, and in 1900 was far in the lead. with a total value of products estimated at $785.562,423. There was a proportional in crease in the capital invested, which amounted in 1900 to $189.198,264, this being less than the total capital invested in flour and grist milling. In the same year there were 68,534 persons em ployed. A number of factors have conspired to bring about this most remarkable expansion of the industry. The growth in stock-raising and the increase of the population are, of course, im portant considerations, but the development of the industry has been out of all proportion to either of these. Formerly much of the slaughter ing was done by the stock-raiser himself, and the local supply sufficed in most communities. But as large centres of population, developed at a distance from the greater stock-raising re gions, created a need for the packing and preserv ing of meats, a greater specialization of the in dustry, better facilities of communication, and the devising of processes of preservation and es pecially of refrigeration made this possible. The refrigerator car, first used in 1869, marked an epoch in the industry, since it made possible the shipment of fresh beef. Refrigeration made pos sible the continuation of the industry throughout the year, and shipments to foreign countries. (For meat exports, see section Commerce.) The exportation of fresh beef began in 1876. About the same time labor-saving devices were adopted and every part of the animal began to be utilized.
The decade 1870-S0 witnessed the first rapid spe cialization and centralization of the industry. During that period the value of products in creased 300.3 per cent., while the number of es tablishments increased only 13.5 per cent. In the decade 1890-1900. the value of prod ucts increased 39.9 per cent., the number of es tablishments decreased from 1118 to 921. The industry has tended to localize near the produc ing regions at points which have the greatest advantages of transportation. About 1850 the Ohio Valley was the great producing region, and the river towns, with Cincinnati and Louisville in the lead, were the centres of slaughtering and meat-packing. With the subsequent development of stock-raising in Illinois, Iowa, and other Up per Mississippi Valley States, together with the unequaled transportation advantages of Chicago, that city has attained an importance in slaugh tering and meat-packing that is unapproached by any other city in the world. The value of products of 1890 was 36.3 per cent., and in 1900 32.7 per cent. of the total for the United States. The relative decrease is the result of the de velopment of the industry in other centres, near er to the producing region. especially Kansas City, South Omaha, Saint Joseph, Saint Louis, and elsewhere in the Southwest and Northwest. The packing of meats is almost wholly carried on west of the Ahleghanies, but New York and other Atlantic Coast centres slaughter extensive ly for the local market. The value of the hogs slaughtered is considerably in excess of the value of beeves slaughtered. About five-sixths of the beef is sold fresh, while only about two-sevenths of the pork is sold in this form.