FARMERS' REGISTER— OF THE SALE OF NEAT CATTLE. 



461 



of the head, feet, tripe, blooJ, &c. Avhicl\ offals 

 never sell by weight, but as a certain proportion 

 of the weight of the beast. They commonly 

 produce from 15s. to 20s. according to the price 

 of meat, supposing the bullock to weigh about 

 100 stone ol fourteen lbs. live weight. These 

 particulars being adjusted, the next point which 

 the seller is to ascertain is the market-price of 

 butcher's meat, tallow, and hides. Supposing the 

 bullock to be sold is seventy-two stone living 

 weight,* the four quarters make thirty-six stone, 

 which, at 8s. f per stone, amount to £ 14 8s. The 

 hide may be worth 38s.; and the tallow, being 

 83. 4d. the slone of 141bs., is worih £2 10s. ster- 

 ling. The ofl'als, according to the proportion above 

 stated, will give 1.5s.; and, by that computation, 

 the value of the bullock is £ 19 9s.; which answers 

 to nearly 5s. 6d. per stone, live-toeight. And there- 

 fore, if a butcher agree to give that sum per stone, 

 no more is necessary to ascertain the price of the 

 whole carcass than to weigh the beast.J 



With regard to Jat calves, we should observe 

 that, in general by weighing the animal alive at 

 the time of sale, and li'om the gross weight de- 

 ducting eight pounds from every score, to be al- 



lowed to the butcher, the remainder will prove to 

 be the weight of the four quarters. Thus, if a 

 farmer has occasion to ascertain the value of a calf 

 at 8d. per pound: properly securing him so a.s not 

 to hurt the beast, he weighs him with scales or 

 steel-yard, or in a weigliing-machine, and finds 

 the weight to be ten score, or 200 lbs. From this 

 weight let eighty pounds, or eight pounds from 

 each score, be deducted; the remainder will be 

 120 lbs. the weight of the four quarters very near- 

 ly; which at 8d. per pound, will be £4 and so of 

 any other weight or price. As this rule will not, 

 in general, vary more than four ounces, or half a 

 pound in a quarter or side, it will be found to an- 

 swer sufficiently well for the purpose. 



Such are the rules by which the live-weight of 

 cattle is conmionly estimated; but, that they are 

 not ahvays to be relied on, will be sufficiently ex- 

 emplified by the following statement of the live 

 and dead weights, and proportion of offal, of six 

 oxen of difl'erent breeds. They have been select- 

 ed without regard to a. comparison between the 

 breeds; but, being all prime cattle, the account may 

 also afford some data tor a judgement on that sub- 

 ject. 



Live weight 



Head and pluck 

 Blood, entrails, and feet, 



Coarse offal 



Tallow 



Hide 



Weight of carcass 



Live Weight 



Head and pluck 

 Blood, entrails, and feet. 



Coarse offal 



TalloAv 



Hide 



Weight ol carcass 



St. lb. St. lb. 



7 3 9 4 



10 9 



52 



*As the weight of beasts varies accordingly as their 

 bellies are more or less lull, it is necessary to state, 

 that the proportions above stated were made out when 

 the cattle were weighed at eleven o'clock in the fore- 

 noon. 



tWhere prices are mentioned, they are, of course, 

 only nomi.ial. 



JKaimes' Gentleman Farmer, p. 209. For ascer- 

 taining the weight of cattle, we know of few more 

 useful manuals than Renton's "Grazier's Ready Reck- 

 oner,;' a small pampblet consisting of tables calcula- 

 ted to determine, by the admeasurement of a beast's 

 body, the weight of any animal within certain limits, 

 sinking the ollal; and accompanied with rules for tak- 

 ing such measurement. 



IIThis ox obtained a prize from the Durham Agricultural Society, in 1806. 

 Durham, pp. 233 and 245. 



-See Agricultural Survey of 



§This ox obtained the highest prize from the Smithfied Cattle Club, in 1807; but in taking his dead-weight, 

 the contents of his stomach were not deducted. No fair comparison can, therefore, be drawn between him and 



