THE POSITION IN DEVONSHIRE 201 



they still left the middleman to get a profit as well, the 

 final arrangement was one that suited them better than 

 if they had sought to carry on the trade themselves 

 in the different towns where the eventual consumers 

 dwelt. 



Let us compare this story of progress in Holland 

 with the conditions that exist in Devonshire to-day. 

 A ' moor ' farmer from the Exmoor district will drive 

 ten or twelve miles to a market town, such as Exeter, 

 Honiton, Okehampton, or Newton Abbot, taking with 

 him, say, four or five fowls, two dozen rabbits,* three 

 dozen eggs, six or eight pounds of butter, and so on, to 

 dispose of to some local dealer who is either a shop- 

 keeper or will be found in the market. The local 

 dealer makes a mental calculation of what is the least 

 amount the farmer will be likely to let the things go for, 

 and he puts down the money, which the farmer pockets 

 perhaps, if the dealer is a shopkeeper, spending a 

 certain proportion of it with him in buying supplies. 

 The dealer sells the produce again to his own local 

 customers, if he can, otherwise sending it off in bulk 

 to the London or other markets. 



So profitable, apparently, is this particular kind of 

 business for the middleman that an active competition 

 for the moor farmers' supplies has sprung up between 

 the Devonshire and the London dealers. The latter 

 find it worth their while to make special journeys to 

 Devonshire on market-days in order to effect their 

 purchases, and, to this end, they will even go a short 



* Rabbits constitute a noteworthy item in the produce from 

 Devonshire. During the season commencing September, 1904, 

 and ending April, 1905, no fewer than 1,724 tons of rabbits were 

 consigned by the Great Western Railway from the Plymouth and 

 Exeter districts. On the other hand, the imports of dead rabbits 

 into the United Kingdom during 1904 represented a total weight 

 of 26,684 tons, and a value of over .780,000. 



