SELLING STOCK BY LIVE WEIGHT. 153 



But apart from individual interests, it cannot be denied 

 that the introduction of a sounder principle is desirable. 

 It must inevitably be to the public advantage that the 

 operations of the cattle markets should be conducted on 

 strict commercial principles. The producer and con- 

 sumer would be brought closer together, and the wide 

 margin of profit which intervenes between them, and out 

 of which so many middlemen now make their living, 

 would be materially curtailed. 



It must not be thought that the adoption of the system 

 of selling by live weight would obviate the need for sound 

 judgment on the part of both vendor and purchaser. 

 " An eye for a beast " would still be as necessary as ever. 

 The breed and quality, the ripeness and condition, would, 

 as before, be matters for judgment. Upon these points 

 would depend, first of all, the relative proportions of 

 carcass and offal, and secondly, the price per Ib. or stone. 

 Sale by auction would by no means be abolished, as some 

 persons have hastily assumed. It might possibly be 

 restricted, but it is a matter for argument whether that 

 would be in itself an evil to the farmer, or to the com- 

 munity at large. But stock would, no doubt, continue 

 very largely to come under the hammer, the only change 

 being that the bids would be made on the price per Ib. or 

 per stone, instead of on the whole animal. 



No doubt the gravest objection, and that which would 

 at first militate most seriously against the proposed 

 system, is that a certain amount of calculation is required. 

 The old-fashioned farmer, who goes into the market, and 

 says, for instance, " I want 20 for that beast/' will not 

 so readily adopt a practice which entails a calculation of 

 the price per stone. This difficulty, however, is more 

 apparent than real, and certainly is not weighty enough 

 to stop the way of a reform which might otherwise be 

 considered desirable. Rough-and-ready methods would 

 very soon come into use. The butcher at the present 

 time makes a calculation of the weight and price per 



