No. 11. 



Selling Sheep. 



333 



Selling Sheep. 



Wb have very frequently caught a good practical 

 hint, from observing the habits of close calculation, 

 which the English bring into their business operations 

 Everything seems systematized much more there, than 

 with us. With the farmer as well as the manufac- 

 turer, the penny or the shilling profit, is carefully esti- 

 mated, and plans laid accordingly. In this matter, we 

 are well satisfied our farmers are abundantly deficient: 

 and the result is a waste, and a neglect of opportunity 

 that would insure a handsome profit. The following 

 extract from Stephcns^s Book of the Farm, as now in 

 course of publication in the Farmers' Library, will be 

 read in reference to the subject alluded to, with inte- 

 rest.— Ed. 



The many casualties incidental to sheep 

 on travel, more especially in winter, require 

 consideration from the farmer before under- 

 taking to send his stock to a distant market- 

 town, in preference to taking them to a fair, 

 or accepting an offer for them at home. A 

 long journey in winter will cost at least Is. 

 a head, and their jaded appearance may have 

 the effect of lowering their market price 2s. 

 or 3s. a head more. Under any circum- 

 stances, when you have determined on send- 

 ing your sheep to a market-town, it is, I be- 

 lieve, the best plan, after the journey, to 

 entrust them to a salesman, rather than 

 stand at market with them yourself^ as you 

 cannot know tlie character of the buyers so 

 well as he does, nor can you know what 

 class of purchasers your lot may best suit. 

 The convenience attending the employment 

 of a salesman is now generally felt, because 

 it not only saves the personal annoyance of 

 attending a market, but your money is re- 

 mitted to you through a bank in the course 

 of the day. The only precaution requisite 

 in the matter is to become acquainted with 

 a salesman of judgment; for as to honesty, 

 if he have not that, he is of course quite 

 worthless. In attending country fairs, the 

 case is otherwise; there being no salesman, 

 you yourself must stand by your lot. Before 

 attending the fair, you should make up your 

 mind what to ask for your stock, in accord- 

 ance with the current market prices; but, 

 notwithstanding this, you may come away 

 with more or less cash than you anticipated, 

 because the actual state of that market will 

 be regulated by the quality and quantity of 

 the stock brought forward, and by the pau- 

 city or numbers of buyers who may appear. 

 Afler your sheep are fairly placed, you should 

 inquire of friends of the state of prices be- 

 fore you sell, and on doing this you will fre 

 quently find the market in a most perplexing 

 state from various causes. Thus, there may 

 be too many sheep for the buyers, when the 

 market will be dull, and remain so all day. 

 On the other hand, the stock may be scanty 



for the buyers, when a briskness may start 

 in the morning and continue even till the 

 whole stock are sold ofl'. There may be 

 briskness in the morning, the buyers pur- 

 chasing; dullness at mid-day, buyers de- 

 clining; and briskness again in the after- 

 noon, buyers again purchasing. There may 

 be excessive dullness in the morning, occa- 

 sioned by the buyers lying off and beating 

 down prices, and, finding they cannot suc- 

 ceed, buy briskly all the afternoon. There 

 may be dullness in the morning, arising from 

 the dealers finding the condition of the stock 

 below their expectation. The markets are 

 never better for the farmer than when they 

 begin brisk early in tlie morning, and the 

 stock are all sold off early. These are the vi- 

 cissitudes of a market; they are interesting, 

 demand attention, and are worth examina- 

 tion. You will frequently observe a trifling 

 circumstance give a decided tone to a mar- 

 ket. A dealer, for instance, who generally 

 buys largely, and having bought for many 

 years respectably in that particular fair, will 

 mark the prices of the day by his purchases; 

 so that other people, particularly sellers, ob- 

 serving the prices given by him, will sell 

 briskly and with confidence. There is no 

 use, at any time, of asking a much higher 

 price than the intrinsic value of your stock, 

 or than you will willingly take; for, although 

 your stock may be in particularly fine con- 

 dition, and of good quality, and therefore 

 worth more than the average price of the 

 market, still their value must conform to the 

 rate of the market, be it high or low, and it 

 is not in your power to control it; though, 

 if prices dissatisfy you, you have it in your 

 power to take your stock home again. There 

 is a common saying applicable to all public 

 markets, and is now received as a maxim, 

 because indicating the truth, that " the first 

 ofler is the best," that is, the first ofier from 

 a bona Jide buyer; for there are people to 

 be found in all markets who, having no seri- 

 ous intention of buying at market price, 

 make a point of offering considerably below 

 it, with the view of catching a bargain from 

 a greenhorn, or from one tired of standing 

 longer In the fair, and they sometimes suc- 

 ceed in their wishes; but such people are 

 easily discovered, and therefore cannot de- 

 ceive any but inexperienced sellers. 



There arc certain rules which, by tacit 

 consent, govern the principles upon which 

 all public markets of stock are conducted, 

 and they are few and simple. There is a 

 custom payable for all stock presented at 

 fairs, exigible by the lord of the manor, or 

 other recognized authority. After entering 

 the field, your stock can take up any unoc- 

 cupied position you choose, appointed for the 



