196 Animal, and Animal Products Trades 



salesmen by the breeder, grazier or jobber, and were considered as 

 actually delivered to them as soon as they arrived at their "resting 

 places" around the city, after which the salesmen became responsible 

 for any lost. The salesman employed his own drovers to bring them 

 on into the market and had the sole direction as to when they should 

 be brought.^ This expense and trouble was often saved by disposing 

 of the animals at different resting places to the jobbers; the salesmen 

 charged the grazier the same commission whether sold in Smithfield 

 Market or twenty miles away.- 



The salesman studied the market and tried in every way to inform 

 himself of what stock was coming by each road and to estimate the 

 relative supply of the market. Some of the salesmen did not stay 

 continuously at Smithfield but attended, say once a fortnight; in 

 their absence, however, they kept in close communication and had 

 continued intelligence how the market went. -By means of this 

 information they were enabled to steady the supply and prices pre- 

 vailing at Smithfield, to their own and the city's advantage.^ 



The salesmen sold to and for the jobbers. When graziers consigned 

 stock to the salesmen they usually put no price on them, but the 

 jobbers set a minimum on their consignments.^ By letting the sales- 

 man know what the cattle cost them the jobbers threw the respon- 

 sibility on the salesman to hold up the price, whereas with the 

 grazier's cattle the salesman used more his discretion. 



Conflicting motives existed in the salesman's mind with respect to 

 the jobber. The jobber sold and resold on the market and at each 

 sale employed the salesman on commission: this was an incentive 

 toward association. But the jobber disturbed the relations between 

 the salesman and the grazier or farmer. Mention has been made of 

 the tempting prices sometimes made to the grazier or farmer for cattle 

 which the grazier was determined to market without the intervention 

 of the jobber, prices which the salesman could not meet. The 

 grazier then became dissatisfied with the salesman. When the graziers 

 sent their cattle to market after the jobbers had been wath them, it 

 was impossible for the salesman to give satisfaction, because the 

 jobbers had bid more for the cattle than they knew they were 

 worth. ^ Under these opposing motives it is likely the salesman's 



ij. H. C, 51:638. 



2 Ibid., 638. 



»Gent. Mag., 1743:538. 



*J.H. C, 51:638. 



* For this opinion see J. H. C, 51 : 636. 



