THE simple recital of an ordinary day’s doings of Armour and Company’s
beef department will make plain a number of things that may appear
mysterious to a casual observer. Each day, at the opening of the
market, the manager of the beef department must carefully weigh the
possibilities of his sales and shipments of beef carcasses against the
receipts of cattle of the quality demanded by his trade. And he must
buy accordingly.
The prevailing idea that, because of cold storage facilities at
the packing centers, unlimited numbers of cattle of all grades and
qualities can be absorbed and slaughtered, is wrong. For even though
cold storage capacity were unlimited, beef cannot be held. Each day’s
kill must find room in chill and storage rooms by the shipment of about
an equal number of carcasses _out_ of storage to Armour’s branch houses
located in all parts of the country.
These branch houses must, in turn, dispose of each shipment promptly to
make room for new arrivals. Each branch manager receives a memorandum
of the cost of the beef, and of course is expected to sell it at a
profit. But he _must_ sell it within a very limited time, even if he
cannot show a profit.
Local conditions determine this. He may meet with unforeseen
competition in the kind of meats he has ordered, or the demand for
meats may have fallen off for one or a dozen of reasons, or for no
discoverable reason at all. These known and unknown influences on the
demand govern his market and he has to accept the situation, depending
on evening up the score under more favorable conditions.
Of course a decline or advance at one or a few branch house points,
from merely local causes, does not materially affect the market at the
packing centers, but any widespread fluctuation from general causes is
immediately reflected in cattle prices at all of the great markets.
The best way for a producer to learn what determines the price he gets
for his livestock is to visit the nearest Armour branch house and get
first hand information on the facts that govern meat prices at the
final market.
Any Armour branch manager will welcome visitors and willingly answer
questions. He will explain not only the factors that influence the
general level of prices, but will point out why cuts from certain types
of beef carcasses are in constant demand at the highest prices, while
similar cuts from other carcasses are neglected and sell materially
lower.
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.
One aspect of the big packing business, the importance of which is not
generally appreciated, is refrigeration. It is not too much to say that
without ample means of refrigeration, both in storage and in transit,
no fit and adequate supply of fresh meats and dairy products could be
supplied to the public.
Food refrigeration originated with the meat packing business early in
its history. At first only storage refrigeration was practiced for
the purpose of conserving and equalizing the supply of fresh meats
for local or near-by consumption. Then came the conception of transit
refrigeration, and the refrigerator car was invented, primarily for the
purpose of shipping fresh meats from the producing centers of the West
to the consuming centers of the East.
From the transportation of fresh meats, the extension of the service
to the carrying of fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products was a
natural and easy step, resulting in the development and maintenance of
the great orchard lands and fruit and market garden areas from coast to
coast, and the tremendous expansion of the indispensable industry of
dairy farming all over America.
To the livestock producer refrigeration in storage and in transit means
everything. Without it the great packing interests could not exist and
livestock husbandry would revert to the primitive and unprofitable
conditions prevailing fifty years ago and described in the preceding
chapter.
These facts explain why Armour and Company have persistently
opposed every attempt to deprive them of the exclusive use of their
privately-owned refrigerator cars and turn them over to the railroad
companies for general use. To maintain the necessary constant movement
of meat products Armour must have an adequate supply of these cars
every day in the year. Extended experience has proven that they would
not and could not be supplied by any form of railroad administration,
either governmental or corporate, yet devised.