512 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



proximation to the total value of live stock sold at 

 this market during the past year : 



North. West. Total. 



Cattle $1,861,335 00 $2,218,320 00 $4,079,655 00 



Sheep 673,888 34 95,348 7* 769,237 09 



Sholes and pigs.... 184,320 00 184,320 00 



Fathocs 358,320 00 358,320 00 



Veal calves 36 ,000 00 36 ,000 00 



$2,571,223 34 $2,856,308 75 $5,427,532 09 



An average of $104,289 per week, the year 

 round. 



Prices for beef cattle have been, we think, re- 

 markably uniform during the year past. The 

 range ot our weekly quotations has been from 

 $3,75 a 6,25 to $5,75 a l,2o. And this, it should 

 be stated, represents the variation in quality as 

 well as price. 



During October, November and December, the 

 highest quotation was $6,50 for nine weeks, and 

 $6,25 for four weeks. 



During January, February and March, the high- 

 est quotation was $7 for three weeks, $6,75 for 

 seven, $6,50 for two, and $6,25 for one week. 



During April, May and June, the highest quota- 

 tion was $7,25 for one week, $7 for nine weeks, 

 and $6,75 for thi'ee weeks. 



During July, August and September, the high- 

 est quotation was $7 for one week, $6,75 for sev- 

 en weeks, and $6,50 for five weeks. 



Sheep have sold higher than usual this year. 

 During the first quarter, sheep and lambs were sold 

 in lots or flocks, by the head at from $1,75 to 4,00. 

 During the second quarter, they were sold mostly 

 by the live weight at from 4:^ to 6c per lb. Dur- 

 ing the second and third quarters, at from 3 to 6c 

 per lb., many being cHpped. 



Stock at Market, 

 TEX, TV^^ENTY AND TUIRTY YEARS AGO. 



The following table shows the number of Cat- 

 tle, Sheep and Swine reported at market the first 

 week in October, 1862, 1852, 1842 and 1832. 



Oct. 3, Oct. 7, Oct. 3, Oct. 1, 



1862. 1852. 1842. 1832. 



Cattle 2,809 3,820 1,080 1,905 



Sheep 8,557 12,ri00 450 4,000 



Swine 2,350 3,100 1,550 610 



Prices, 



TEN, TWENTY AND THIRTY YEARS AGO. 



Oct. 3, Oct. 7, Oct. 3, Oct. 1, 



1862. 1852. 1842. 1832. 



Beef, extra $6,50fi6,75 $6,25(g6,50 A few at $5 $5,25S5,.50 



" Istqual.. 6,0056,25 5,50'n6,00 $4,50ff4,75 4.84e5,17 



" 2(1 " .. 5,2535,75 4,7og5,25 3,75m 4,25 4,25r?4.50 



" 3(1 " .. 3.75ff5,00 4,00 3 4,50 3,00a3,50 3,50g4,U0 



Wk. oxen, pr.. $50fil20 $5Ja92 Notquoted. Not quoted. 

 Cows & calves. 20350 20n39 Notquoted. $;15a28 



Shecp&liimbs. 2,50*13,75 1,8833,50 62S2,00 l,33ff3,00 

 Swine, stores.. 3c,<j5>^ 60^6% 2i.ic.a2^ 4cg4>i 



These facts are gleaned from the reports of 

 Brighton market which have been published in the 

 .Daily Advertiser, and its predecessor, the Daily 

 Patriot, for a little over thirty-two years, pre- 

 vious to which it seems that farmers and drovers 

 in the interior depended for their information as 



to the state of the market on mere rumors, private 

 letters, or an occasional notice in the newspapers, 

 like those so often seen in relation to crops in the 

 West or elsewhere, wi'itten sometimes, perhaps, 

 by an interested party. 



Of tliese occasional statements or reports, the 

 following, which we find among the items of news 

 in the old New England Farmer, of February 9, 

 1827, will serve as a specimen : 



"The number of cattle at Brighton on Monday 

 of last week was about 600. Many of them were 

 sold at from $3,50 to $4,00 per hundred, a few 

 went from $4,50 to $5,00, and a very fine pair of 

 OHcn from Hatfield brought $5,25. For several 

 weeks past about twice as many cattle have been 

 driven to Brighton as were required to su])ply the 

 market. Prices will be low as long as this glut 

 continues." 



The old Boston Daily Patriot was the first pa- 

 per to employ a regular reporter of the Brighton 

 Cattle Market. The first of the series of weekly 

 reports which has been continued to the present 

 time, was printed in the commercial column of 

 that journal, Wednesday, June 3, 1829, and is as 

 follows : 



"Brighton Cattle Market, Monday, June 

 1. — The number of beef cattle 120; sold from 

 $5,50 to $6,50 per cwt., all sold by 9 o'clock, 

 A. M. The sales were fifty cents per hundred 

 higher than any preceding week for the year 

 past." 



In a few weeks these reports assumed the form, 

 substantially, in which they are now published, 

 and being evidently the work of an intelligent and 

 impartial person, they were at once, as they ever 

 have been since, copied into the weekly papers in 

 New England, and were much relied on by all 

 parties interested in the market. 



But as agricultural papers became common in 

 New England, ftirmers began to demand a more 

 full report of a branch of trade in which they are 

 most directly interested. To meet this demand 

 we have volunteered to step out of the beaten 

 track, and instead of a stereotyped paragraph, 

 now give a whole column to a detailed report of 

 the great weekly Cattle Fair of New England. 



We apprehend that the amount of business 

 transacted at this market is not fully ap]U'eeiated 

 by the public. Few even of those who are depend- 

 ent on it for the sale of their surplus stock, or for 

 the purchase of their meat, have the means of 

 knowing the amount of business weekly done liere. 

 Nor is it so easy a matter as it might seem to be, 

 to ascertain this fact. In the first place, the mar- 

 kets here were not established, but they grew; 

 and that Avithout being cramped or fettered by 

 the By-laws and llegulations of any Board of 

 Overseers, and subject to no other rules than such 

 as buyers and sellers tacitly adopt. 



Many people, probably, think, of the opening of 



