346 DO THE RAILWAYS HELP THE FARMERS? 



containing, say, a mixed consignment of poultry, 

 eggs, meat, fruit, vegetables, cream, etc., will be 

 carried a distance of 100 miles, and delivered 

 free, for ninepence, representing a little over one 

 farthing per pound. A parcel weighing 1 cwt. 

 would be carried the same distance for 2s. 2d., or 

 less than a farthing per pound, and larger con- 

 signments would be proportionately cheaper. 



All this seems reasonable enough, and it hardly 

 encourages the idea that any distress from which 

 British agriculture may be suffering is due to 

 excessive railway charges ; but still greater bene- 

 fits are open to the farmers who will aggregate 

 their consignments, and take advantage of the one, 

 two, or three-ton rates for transit by goods train. 

 To show how this might operate, I will assume 

 that at Petersfield, Hampshire, which is fifty-five 

 miles from Waterloo, there are farmers who 

 have arranged with customers in London to 

 supply them with, altogether, 112 weekly ham- 

 pers of produce, each representing a weight of 

 20 lbs. The railway charge per hamper for car- 

 riage from Petersfield and delivery would be 8^/. 

 But if the farmers in question grouped their 112 

 hampers into one consignment for delivery, in the 

 first instance, to a joint representative in London, 

 they would be able to send it at the 1-ton rate, 

 which would represent a charge of 156'. I0d., 



