4 



.> 



Til ! AGRICULT1 U VL GAZETTE. 



•ale 



m 

 with 



u 



a 1 mat tin i rovers will ti 



and comfort thi buaine* of many million! 

 annual I v. which has Wn conducted hith* o under 

 difficulties as t- paces I access to it, which have 

 imposed upon r London market '.he roughest 

 character f» recklessnest and cruelty. We have 

 given in another column a description of the market 

 as hitherto arranged ; we doubt not next week will 



nmenceriient of a very great improvement 

 TUs \ have l»eeu owing to an expenditure of about 

 30< XX)/. opon the -penhagen Fields, under the 

 superintendence of Mr. Bun.mng, City architect 



We learn thai he works have been contracted for 

 and constructed by Mr. Wilson, of Southvvark, the 

 contractor for the buildings, Messrs, Kennabd, of 

 Thames Street, who prov ie the ironwork, and Mr. 

 Chadwnb. the contractor for the roadways and the 



ct origin. 



>ucli were 





paTing. 



A rumour has prevailed in the City during the 

 week that the ope og of the market was to be 

 delayed ; but on inquiry at the architect's office we 

 find that although the existence of the reDort was 



purchased it ; they declined to receive it, and sued 



Th ustance atf'oHs a new proof - 

 ecessary— that fanners m it often save many pounds, 

 f they would hut spend a tew shillings in anah 9. I 

 hope ;i will excuse this lengthy epistle — the import- 

 ance of the subject must be the apology." 



( Vises of thi nd are now, as we have said, not 

 unfrequent, and we see one has been reported to the 

 Macci field Courier as occurring near Sutton, in 

 Cheshire, where two beasts out of three to which the 

 adulterated cake had been given died in the course of 

 an hour after eating it. It was evident to the owner of 

 the cittle that the cake must have* contained some 

 poisonous or deleterious mixture ; and he forwarded a 

 portion to Mr. F. ('.Calvert, Professor of Chemistry, 

 at Manch' er, to be anal ad ; the result proved 

 that the cake contained ■ large portion of Mustard 

 seed, the action of which, in the stomach of a cow, 

 was reported by Mr. Calvert to be such as to pro- 

 duce death. Upon this report being made known to 

 Mr. Tiioiilev, the respectable seed merchant in Hull 

 from whom it had been obtained, he at once returned 



111! 



On the ox arriving hf*? 

 up to the rail, whe "• 



known there, 'hey knew of no foundation for it. 

 The market commissioners only await Lord Pal 

 mirston h authority ; and their intention is to open 

 the place for business for the first time on the h 

 ef Ja iary. From the statements made in the 

 Common < ncil on Thursday, it would seem as 

 if the comm ee were themselves quite in the dark 



this 



the auth tv of the Home Secretary there will be 

 nothing in the condition of the works to hinder the 

 carrying out of the origin tl intention. The act of 

 Parliament from which they derive their power 

 requires that the market be removed within three 



him in the County Court at Hull for the price, and 

 the trial, which excited great interest amongst the 

 merchants there, took place a few days since, when 

 a verdict was given in favour of Mr. Tiiorley. Mr. 

 Thori.f.y very honourably reimbursed the owner of 

 the cattle for his loss and expenses, and he is now 

 proceeding for damages against the parties who sold 

 the cake to him. If similar cases were only followed 

 up and sifted in this way, such frauds would be less 

 frequent. 



years and six i mths of the date of its enact 

 a period which expires on the 1st of February. 



THE SMITH FIELD MARKET. 



Kftraawctii to Tim Knot 

 l Cattfe murk* l*nffth of lulling, lUttfat. 



3. Court of calve** mark* ? Are*, 1 acre. 



' mark Arm, t *r n . 



y Y ' catUe - Am, 9oc«o0 rood* It pcrthca 



S- » *<" for ieep. Area, »'> ».<rt» rood* 8 perches. 

 J- J *"«; n> partly «rocte-'. 



>0IIA«'« in tended. 



S. fead-iiMiat mark only partly erected. 



Mute and »kin m*rir.# ™s „<>* -- — k ecl~mir the 



- . « . I t "I | | T # W V 1 CT . 



12. Banking-houses ant! clock tower. 



Smithfield is an irregularljr-shaf 



intersected by numerous streets. When first "appro- 

 riated to market purposes, it was situated outside the 

 walls of the city ; but the population and houses having 

 increased tenfold, it is now nearly equi-distaut from the 

 northern and southern suburbs. One of the great 

 tho nghfares to the Eastern Counties Railway passes 

 through it, dividing it into two departments ; in'the one 

 of which, 1506 open pens are erected for sheep, calves, 

 and piir and in the other, railing to which 2750 beasts 

 t may be tied. The rails are placed sufficiently far apart 



h*M»A *i.« ™* m * * . to admit of 1250 more beasts standing in what ' 



behind the t uy Arms and Queen', technically termed « ring droves' 



cattle goaded into a circle, their heads forming the 

 centre. During the market hours the intersecting 

 streets are closed. & 



Dr. Voelckbr has kindly forwarded to us his 

 report upon a r*s sovb " raps-cake, which proved 

 fatal to some cattle belonging to Mr. Smith, of 

 IJibury, near Cirencester. The adulter*! i of 

 Kape-cake with Must 1 seed is a matter of very 

 se ms consideration to farmers. The use of this 

 article as food is rapidly extending, and its liability 

 to ttos sort of poisonous adulteration is thus more 

 than ever a matter to which attention should be 

 drawn \\ a are, therefore, much obliged to Pro- 

 fewor V oru-kbr for the information he has published 

 In the letter or anally addressed to Edward Hol- 

 land, Esq., of Pumbleton, he says : 



Allow me to direct your attention to a cake, of which 



i melon \%m*U piece. Apparently it is ■ ***. 



•mailing and gwd~looking Rape-cake, from wliich it 

 cannot indeed be easily distinguished on simple inspec- 

 tion. It is, however, a cake which is sure to kill an v 

 animal, if used for feeding purposes, instead of manuring 



land - th ., .1~ on]y use tQ wWcl| the farmer cftn ftppj 6 



This cak- [ have found on examiua- 

 ipin.coiiwca entirely of the expressed gee d* of \h < ' 



My attention was directed to the subject by Mr 



who had two brunt* i-m^ ;« - — 



in 

 rora 10 



to 



is 

 20 



quantities. 



The market belongs to the corporation, and is held by 

 'prescription, charters, and acts of Parliament. The 

 city of London " has been seized in fee of its ancient 

 market, from time whereof the memory of man runneth 

 not to the contrary." There are two weekly market 

 days for live stock— Monday and Friday ; and three for 

 hay and straw, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. 

 Cattle sales commence about day-light in winter, and 

 5 o'clock a.m. iu summer, and are generally over by 

 3 o'clock i\m., when the market closes. On Friday 

 milk cows are sold, after which a horse and donkey fair 

 commences. 



The government of the market is under the corpora- 

 tion, whose officers are a collector or clerk, an inspector 

 and a sergeant and small staff of police. The duty of 

 the clerk is to grant licenses, space in the different 

 departments of the market to salesmen and graziers 

 and to receive and account to the city chamberlain for 

 all monies arising from tolls, dues, licenses, fines, &c. 

 1 he duties of the inspector 

 ness of the stock, and to cai 

 beasts. 



head each requires room for, when ordersToTad 

 are received irom the clerk, 

 market ground, it is dri 



drover in front throws a 1 7 n r ^ „,„ u a runn" 



noose, around its neck, pulling it tight and makincr •' 

 fast. In this manner ox after ox is tied up, so Ion? 

 one can be wedged up between other two ; when this * 

 no longer practicable, the goading into " ring droves" 

 commences. When sold, it is driven to the lair of th 

 butcher — sometimes his own property, sometimes not 

 A large proportion of purchases are handed over ta 

 slaughtermen, who charge from 3s. to 45. per ox fa* 

 slaughtering and delivering the carcass to the butcher 

 In the sheep and pig department, practice is f % 

 kindred character. 



The commerce of Smith field is also inseparable from 

 that of the dead meat markets of Newgate and Leaden 

 hall ; for not less than 1200 beasts are weekly bought in 

 Smiihfield, with an equal proportion of sheep, calves 

 and pigs, to supply the demand of the latter. 



Newgate and Leadenhall markets are held daily under 

 the government of the Corporation ; and the amount of 

 business in both, but especially the former, has greatly 

 overgrown the market buildings. In 1848, the number 

 of salesmen in Newgate was about 200, while forty years 

 previously it was only thirteen. In Leadenhall there 

 are "about twenty meat, and twelve poultry salesmen." 

 Their commission is \d. per stone on beef, and about the 

 same for other descriptions of meat — or from 8c£. to 9d. 

 and upwards, for each sheep or lamb ; calves, 3 s. 63. 

 to 28. The officers of the markets are a collector and 



beadle. 



In neither market can any account be had of the 

 quantity of meat annually sold, none being kept ; but in 

 1848, independently of the above supply of live stock, 

 the different railway companies "pitched into Newgate 

 about 800 tons weekly on an average." The annual 

 value of the total sales in this market, at this period, 

 was estimated at upwards of 3,837,600Z., and fcince then 

 an increase has taken place. 



Mr. Hicks, a carcass salesman, and member of common 

 council, in his evidence before a Committee of the House 

 of Commons, in 1849, gives the following result :— It is 

 obtained from the account of sales of ten salesmen of 

 cattle and sheep, fcr one week in May, August, and 

 December, for three years ; namely, 5579 head of cattle 

 sold at upwards of 2121 each, and 8600 sheep at 42s. 6<L 

 each— and from it he deduces the following as the 

 annual value of stock sold in Smithfield, making as a 

 necessary allowance for inferior quality a reduction of 

 50s. a head on the average value of the cattle, and 4s. 6d, 

 a head on the average value of the sheep : — 



224,000 beasts, at 181. 10s. 

 1,550,000 sheep, at 11. 18*. 

 27,000 calves, at 3J. 155. 

 40,000 pigs, at 11. 10s. 



£3,144,000 



2,945,000 



102,375 



60.000 



£7,251,375 



head 



Annual proceeds of sales 



Mr. Giblett, a butcher, gives, per head — beasts, 

 16/.; sheep, 35s.; calves, 80s.; and pigs, 40s. The 

 clerk of the market— beasts, 111. 5s. ; sheep, 36s. 6d.\ 

 calves, lis. 6d. ; and pigs, 35s. The latter also gives 

 the following sales for 1848 : 



Horses 



Hay 



Straw 



In 1847 there appears to have been 

 7641 milk cows ; and, in 1848, 6630, making an average 

 of about 140 weekly— a return exceeding that of 1851. 



• . « 



» • 



• • • 



• • t 



• tt 



• - • 



• 1 1 



• ■ • 



• • • 



# • • 



• ■ ■ 



- - - 



* » i 



it* 



t f • 



• • • 



* « • 



12,867 head 

 18,537 loads 

 1,751 „ 



in the market 



And the duty of the police is to see the bye- 

 laws of the market duly attended to by all parties The 

 principal parties connected with, and attending the 

 market, are seven banking or money-taking houses 600 



Mid other i; n Am *t — ^i.i__ .._ „ «. ' f"y> copf r. uro\ets. Ihe "money-takers" co-operate with sales- 



. . - — —~ i« consequence 01 tneir 



having eaten a small quantity of the enclosed cake. 



Wlatmn I ,btomel b reality the h !y irritating cha- 



wctenatic |,„ g volatile oil of Mustard. Thus, it 



was pU, n that Mr. '« bewtswere kill I by tfj^j 



mdtr which incautiously had been given to them 

 «wtea.l of Rape or Linaeed-cake. 



m*lZl cm "' as fact that M«»tard seed uholt does 

 not conta.n any w , <»/. This is only developed 



?uh I Ft? Uy ' - the p° wd€red 8eed '* ™™«£d 



^tpSn^ i U ^ trm .; at ' , Boi»mg hot water does 

 ,c«in \, ' hec f uae •* coagulates the albuminous sub- 



enedTtat JSt? "^ **'* 8UbStanCe ( inara ™t- 



csiled by ch ,i 



stance 



to the provinces the proceeds of sales, by paying the 

 tolls and dues on stock to the collector, and so forth, for 

 , which they chargs 6tt for every bullock, id. for every 

 calf sad Is. Ad. for every score of sheep, lrf. for single 

 heads over the score. Drovers are of two orders"— 

 "masters" and "men ;" the former get their instruc- 



10ns from salesmen, an receive at the different railway 

 termini, and of country drovers, cattle-take them to 



airs, and to the market-awl, when sold, deliver them 

 to butchers for which they have 6cZ. per bullock. The 

 tolls and dues of the market come also out of the com! 

 mission of salesmen, whinh » s. kj — u~.i 



Mustard. Th 

 albuminous 

 a ferment. 



'nnsap< 

 k mvro 



, :fJ i hl h acts ?Pon myronic acid as The lair*™ nf *h» £L^ lz-^- .. 



as 



For this reason, 



Mustard mixed only . ?Z ^ T' 



hardly a pungent Site and ?T? ^^ l** "" I,M 



does no, ^i a„7&o"v * ' ard TOto P la9m at «»« 



blisters. 



In eitlier case, oil of Mustard 

 myroein and mjrronic acid. 



till nod does not taste pn „g e nt at first 

 'oareely powder it. anrl m.L ;. • ™ 



ii B ""'v *o«nea irom 

 Hence the nclosed cake 



I The lairage of the market, principally the property of 

 salesmen, and situated in the suburbs, forms SK'the 

 same commercial fabric-for here cattle are fed, exa! 

 nuned and sorted for Smithfield : on the ox arriving 

 these lairs it receives abundance of water ind u\ a 

 of hay for the night, the common alb vance "* 



tnnw 



being 



little water, yo u Wlll hi";'" ^ \ n co a P^.^th a 



y /vu wui nave no difficulty in recognising its 



Salesmen fi,r the sake rf^V^SETS 

 aame standings ,n the market: and, on the^day^evious 



same stanaings in the market: and, on the dav n«." ■ 8ale ot moat > dead an<1 alive > fl 



The cow and horse markets, however, afford no index 

 to the general supply and demand of the metropolis, for 

 the principal dairymen get their cows direct from the 

 country, and horses come from the same quarter, vi& 

 Tattersall's, &c. The show in Smithfield of this stock is 

 little more than the offscourings of the London dairiei 

 and livery stables, &c. 



No toll or charge is made on donkeys, and hence no 

 account of numbers is kept ; the traffic, however, is by 

 no means unworthy of notice. With the assistance of 

 one of the market police, we numbered one day, within 

 the avenues allotted for them, 120 within the area of the 

 market. By this time several juvenile buyers had left 

 the market, proud of their purchases, while as many 

 more were hurrying to it to get rid of bad bargains-80 

 that from this and other sources, we arrive at the con- 

 clusion that cows and donkeys stand upon a footing of 

 equality as to numbers— there being a weekly supply of 

 about 140, and an annual of from 6000 to 7000 each. 



The present tolls and dues in Smithfield are as follows: 



Tolls- Sheep— For every score of sheep sold, 2d. per score. 



Beast*— Far every score of beasts sold, 2 Od. per score. 

 JIorses-For every entry of sale, 4d. each, 

 rigs— For every score, 4<2. 



Pens for sheep, calv< or pigs— Permanent pens, Is. eacb 

 l les for beasts or calves, Id. each— for horses, 2d. each. 

 Jiay duty. 6d. per load— and for each entry of sale, 1& 

 rw W dutJ > ld ' P er load— and for each entry of sale, Id. 



urovers pay 55. for a license, and Is. annually for renewal. 



J n ^wgate market the Corporation is entitled to *» 

 toll of Id. for every hamper— 2d for every bundle— an« 

 6 »- «>r every pack of meat brought into the market— 

 and id. for every coop of poultry— and the same for 

 every lot of butter and eggs ; but these tolls have been 

 commuted for a fixed weekly payment, which is received 

 of those who are tenants in the original market" J» 

 Leadenhall the same has taken place ; in both, a weekly 

 rent is charged for every stx\M.— Agricultural Cyclop***' 

 Article Markets. 



[In 1853 there were sold in Smithfield 294,571 oxen, 

 l,o 18,040 sheep, 36,791 calves, and 29,593 pigs. 



Ihe total sale of meat, dead and alive, for London 





Dues 



2,141,393 



