The arguments which would be levelled against the establishment of a central meat-packing plant in this country are many and obvious. In the first place full voice would be given to the apparent futility of sending a live animal from 20 to 600 or 700 miles merely to be killed, and to return the dressed carcase to be sold. Superficially it does appear to be a senseless employment of transport and to incur needless expense. Yet such a practice is followed upon the North American continent. Animals are shipped alive over hundreds of miles to be killed and returned to the point where they were bought, in the form of dressed meat ready for consumption. But the argument is fatuous. Centralized slaughtering facilities secure equitable distribution, as well as prompt movement, since the trade is sufficiently heavy to demand the inauguration of a special handling and transportation system. Then again such a practice allows bulk shipment combined with long haulage, two essential conditions to economic transportation. If the method were practised in these islands, not only would it be possible to take full advantage of the latest manifestations of science in so far as it affected the industry, but it would enable the residues forthcoming in enormous quantities to be treated upon the spot in the reclamation plant forming an integral part of the stockyard equipment. The revenue derived from the disposal of the by-products rendered available in a commercial form would not only more than offset the charges incurred concerning transportation, but would tend towards the primary product--the meat--being sold at a lower figure to the public. Under the present system of local killing much of the offal escapes reclamatory treatment for the simple reason that the quantity forthcoming is so limited as not to be deemed worthy of exploitation, or else is subjected to obsolete or inefficient by-product recovery methods. In many instances it is sold to a contractor who endeavours to conduct bulk treatment upon a reduced scale, paying a relatively low price for the refuse and one quite disproportionate to its true value. In some instances the contractor does not attempt to carry out by-product recovery, but merely acts as a middleman, dispatching the various residues to the quarters where he knows they will be taken in hand to be worked up.