90 AN AGRICULTURAL FAGGOT. 



Utopian altogether, but it certainly possesses fascination. 

 One would say that combinations, of producers on the 

 one hand and of consumers on the other, contracting 

 on either side for the sale and purchase of produce, 

 formed an almost ideal method of dealing with the 

 " middleman " question. Whether such an ideal is 

 realisable is another matter. 



That the present methods of distributing English farm 

 produce are to a large extent careless, clumsy, and costly 

 is self-evident. The case of the meat trade in London 

 may be cited in proof. The 4,000,000 inhabitants of 

 the metropolis are supplied with meat through three 

 main channels — viz. : the Islington Cattle Market, the 

 Deptford foreign animals wharf, and the Central Meat 

 Market. The supply in 1891 was as follows : — 



6,156,700 



We may put aside the Deptford supply, as this would 

 lead to considerations outside the scope of this article. 



1 This includes meat, poultry, and provisions. 



2 The weight of American cattle slaughtered at Deptford is 

 included in town-killed, and the weight of those slaughtered at 

 Liverpool in country-killed. 



