for Consumption in ike Metropolis^. 201 



enable the railway companies' waggons to reach Newgate and 

 Leadcnhall. The scene of confusion, however, baffles description. 

 Thousands of tons of meat remain for many hours in the waggons, 

 as the meat salesmen have not sufficient room in their shops for 

 the arrivals, and the process of unloading can only take place 

 after the shops have been partly cleared by the purchasers, many 

 of whom come from very distant parts of the country. There 

 can be no help for this state of things until after the new dead 

 meat markets are formed ; so that those who succeed in getting 

 their meat into the market in the early part of the morning will 

 secure the most remunerative prices. 



The Scotch and foreign graziers will, if I mistake not, be 

 greatly benefited by the working of the new Act, because the 

 first-class butchers will more readily purchase live animals than 

 dead meat. There is one feature in the trade which remains to 

 be noticed. Not a iew of the large butchers in the metropolis 

 have agents in various parts of the country for the purchase of 

 meat, which is conveyed by the railway companies direct to the 

 shops. Some delay has frequently occurred in the delivery, 

 owing to the enormous traffic going on ; but my impression is 

 that the new system will be found to work advantageously. 



Yours very truly, 



Egbert HEEr.EKT. 



4, Argyle Square, Kimjs Cross, London. 



XVllI. — On the Composition of Orawje Glohe Mavrjolds, Bulbs 

 and Tops. By Augustus Voelcker. 



In 1862 I tried some experiments with salt on mangolds, and 

 published the results in Vol. XXV., Part 1, of this Journal. 



The soil of the experimental field, a stiffish calcareous clay, con- 

 taining no sand, though well worked and properly manured, was 

 too heavy and retentive to suit mangolds well ; the season also was 

 unfavourable to that crop. Under these adverse circumstances 

 salt produced no decidedly beneficial effect. Subsequently, how- 

 ever, I have shown that by the use of salt a considerable increase 

 was obtained on a light sandy soil. 



As we do not possess many complete analyses of mangolds 

 grown in England, I took advantage of the opportunity for 

 ascertaining the composition of roots and tops taken from each 

 of the nine experimental plots. One plot (No. 5) received no 

 salt, the eight others were dressed at the rate of 1 to 8 cwts. of 

 common salt per acre. The produce on an average did not 

 exceed 15 tons of clean roots. 



