i^ARMERS' REGISTER— RAIL ROAD TRANSPORTATION. 



565 



It is not merely the fatigue of travelling which 

 injures the animal, but also the absence from its 

 accustomed pasture. Mr. Sharp stated that the 

 injury li'om this cause was more or less under dif- 

 ferent circumstances, but always considerable. In 

 order to obviate this, a considerable portion of the 

 meat supi)lied to the London market is slaughter- 

 ed in the country, and it comes in this state, in 

 winter, from distances round London to the extent 

 of one hundred miles. In warm weather a large 

 quantity of it is spoiled, and a still greater quantity 

 is deteriorated by this mode of conveyance. The 

 trans[)ort of calves and lambs from a distance 

 greater than thirty miles, is altogether impractica- 

 ble; and even from that distance is attended with 

 difficulty and injury. To convey these and other 

 live cattle from a great distance, not only s))eed, 

 but evenness of motion, is indispensable. Now 

 these two requisites cannot be combined by any 

 other means than tlie application of steam-engines 

 upon a rail road. 



From the whole of the evidence, the fact ap- 

 pears to be indisputably established, that the sup- 

 ply of animal food to the metropolis is not only de- 

 fective in quantity, but that it is of unwholesome 

 quality — comparatively, at least, with what it 

 might be, if the tract from which it could be sup- 

 plied were rendered more extensive. But forcibly 

 as the evidence bears on this species of agricultu- 

 ral produce, it is still stronger respecting the pro- 

 duce of the dairy and the garden. Milk, cream, 

 and fresh butter, vegetables of every denomina- 

 tion, and certain descriptions of fruit, are supplied 

 exclusively from a narrow annulus of soil, which 

 circumscribes the skirts of the metropolis. Every 

 artificial expedient is resorted to, in order to extort 

 from this linfited portion of land the necessary 

 su[)plies for a million and a half of people. The 

 milk is of a quality so artifiMal, that we know not 

 whether, in strict propriety of language, the name 

 milk can be at all applied to it: the animals that 

 yield it are fed not upon wholesome and natural 

 pasturage, but in a great degree on grain and 

 other articles. It will not be supposed that the 

 milk which they yield is identical in wholesome 

 and nutritious qualities Avith the article which 

 would be supplied, if a tract of land of sufficient 

 extent for the pasturage of cattle was made sub- 

 servient to the wants of the metropolis. Add to 

 this, that infi3rior as must be, under such circum- 

 stances, the quality of the milk, there exists the 

 strongest temptations to the seller v/ho retails it, 

 to adulterate it still further, before it finds its Vv'ay 

 to the table of the consumer. 



Mr. Warner, already mentioned, stated that, 

 great as the advantage of a rail road would be to 

 graziers who sup|)lied the London butchers, it 

 would be of still greater advantage to dairy far- 

 mers, 



'Have you ever had ofFers made to you to suppl}' 

 any part of London with milk? — I have; but have ne- 

 ver been able to comply with them on account of the 

 want of a conveyance. 



'It there was a rail road, by which you could trans- 

 mit milk, and thus avail yourself of such an offer, 

 would it add materially to the profits of your farm? — 

 There is no question that it would increase the profit 

 at least 400 or 500 per cent. / huve no doubt of it, oil 

 milk and butter.'* 



* This enormous estimate of the advantage la no 

 Vol. II.— 42 



In the produce of the dairy and the garden, it 

 is not merely by smoothness and ease of transport 

 that a rail road would offer fiicilities. Articles of 

 a perishable nature must be supplied to the con- 

 sumer within a short period after they are taken 

 li'om the soil. The speed of rail road conveyance 

 being six or seven times that by cart or wagon, 

 the consequence would be, that such articles 

 would be supplied to the metropolis from a circuit 

 with a radius six or seven times the length of that 

 which now supplies them; and consequently the 

 land which would become available for the metro- 

 politan markets, would be from thirty-six to forty- 

 nine times the present extent; supposing rail roads 

 to div^erge in all directions from the metropolis, 

 and to be furnished with their usual ramifica- 

 tions. 



In our former article on this subject, we attempt- 

 ed to show, by general reasoning, the immense 

 benefits which would accrue, both to farmers and 

 landlords, as well as to the inhabitants of towns, 

 by carrying extensive lines of rail road through 

 populous districts, connecting them with those 

 places fi'om which supplies of food and other ne- 

 cessaries might be obtained. We showed that 

 the factitious value which tracts of land imme- 

 diatel}' surrounding the metropolis and large towns 

 acquire from the proximity of the markets, would 

 be moderated, and a portion of their ad'-antages 

 transferred to the more remote districts; thus 

 equalizing the value of agricultural property, and 

 rendering it in a great measure independent of 

 local circumsl;ances. We showed, further, that 

 the profit of the farmer, and the rent of the land- 

 lord, would be benefited by the reduced cost of 

 transport, and that such benefit would be likewise 

 shared by the consumer; in fact, that the advan- 

 tages of centralization would be realized without 

 incurring the inconvenience of crowding together 

 masses of people within small spaces; and that the 

 whole face of the country would be brought to the 

 condition, and made to share the opportunities of 

 improvement which are afforded by a metropolis, 

 and by towns of the larger class. At that time, 

 however, we had no specific evidence to adduce 

 in support of our reasonings, so as to reach those 

 minds which can onlj^ be influenced by a direct ap- 

 peal to facts. The subsequent extension of rail- 

 ways has brought to light a body of evidence, so 

 extensive, that our only difficulty lies in the selec- 

 tion of such parts of it as may not exceed our ne- 

 cessar_y limits. 



The beneficial effects of the Liverpool and Man- 

 chester railway on the value of land in the district, 

 through which it passes, have forced conviction 

 upon the minds of those Avho were the most con- 

 spicuous opponents to that project. 



Mr. J. Moss, a director of the Manchester rail- 

 way, gave the following testimony: — 



'Is it contemplated to have a rail road between Bir- 

 minsjham and Livei-pool? — It is quitc^ arranged. 



'Have you made application to the owners of land 

 for their consent? — As far as our half goes. 



'Have 5'on found owners, on the line between Liv- 

 erpool and Birmingham, to consent to the rail road 

 there, who, nevertheless, opposed the Liverpool and 



doubt founded on the suppos'tion that dairy produce 

 would maintain its present price: — an obvious error, 

 but still the advantage would be very considerable. 



