SUPPLEMENT. 697 



chiefly for the Jewish population, who buy. the forequarters, whilst the hindquarters 

 are sold in the meat markets. 



Another class of customers are the country butchers from Kent. These buy the large 

 animals of best quality, especially young and fat heifers. Individually they do not buy 

 in large quantities, but still the number sold to them on the whole is far from inconsid- 

 erable. The third class of London customers are the large meat contractors for the army 

 and navy services, the hospitals, &o. These are, however, a class of buyers of very un- 

 certain nature, inasmuch as they can often remain away for a lengthened period of time ; 

 but then when they do make their appearance they can purchase on a very extensive 

 scale; frequently a couple of thousand head, one individual contractor having been 

 known to purchase twenty-two hundred beasts in the course of two days. They are, in 

 consequence, held in dread by the other classes of customers, whilst they are, on the 

 other hand, most heartily welcomed by the commission agents. This class of custom- 

 ers as a rule confine their purchases to beasts of somewhat inferior description. Finally 

 a fourth class is to be found in the retail butchers, of which there are a large number; 

 but these, unfortunately, it would seem, are, with great difBculty, reached by the im- 

 porters of Danish cattle. They dwell chiefly in the eastern quarters of the town, and 

 only buy animals of best quality, but, as before said, they are very difficult to approach, 

 and when they do come to pur agents they only buy of the very best, and, on the 

 whole, do not seem to favor our cattle, bat preier keeping themselves to their home 

 breeds. 



To the market of Edinburgh, or, one should rather say, Leith, which is the port of 

 entry, and suburbs of that city, comparatively few, and all lean, cattle are sent from 

 this country, and it may be said that this market has never met with much success. 

 The trade is here, for the greater part, carried on at public auction, held in a large build- 

 ing belonging to the commission agents, who are mostly moneyed men and few in num' 

 ber, and the market would almost appear to be greatly ruled by some of the leading 

 men. ' 



The system of auction may undoubtedly be equally as advantageous as that of selling 

 by lots, nevertlieless it is the general opinion that the prices in the Edinburgh market 

 were more fluctuating than in the others. Both in the Newcastle and London markets 

 the supplies have increased enormously in the last ten or eleven years. In the«year 1872 

 there were imported into Newcastle from foreign lands 96 head of cattle; in 1878, 28,990 

 head; in 1880, 55,800 head, and in 1883, 104,300 head. It cannot therefore be a matter 

 of surprise that under so rapid development a system of conducting the trade should 

 have arisen which shfluld not be allowed to exist. 



Several bad customs have crept in which are now difficult to combat, but which may 

 ultimately prove of serious detriment to the trade unless a firm stand is taken in time 

 against them. For example, it is now of very common occurrence that the commission 

 agent, so as not to cause dissatisfaction to his constituents when he has made sales at 

 low prices, is in the habit of adding to the price at his own cost, whilst on the other 

 hand he makes a deduction from the prices obtained when he has succeeded in effecting 

 sales at unusually lavorable rates. Again, these agents frequently have their subagents 

 in the kingdom, to whom they make a pecuniary return for each animal which is for- 

 warded to them through their influence, and which must in the long run come out of 

 the pockets of the farmers. Another objectionable practice is that of long credits too 

 often given by the commission agents in order to secure customers, but which can at 

 times be the means of entailing loss to the farming classes at home; and again, the large 

 advances which are also frequently made by these agents to cattle dealers in the king- 

 dom (the middle men) are likewise the means of creating an amount of uncertainty in 

 the trade. These large advances too often lead to extensive speculations being carried 

 on, which in a great measure place the farming classes at the mercy of these traders. 

 These middle men again are also too often in intimate connection with the forwarding 

 steam company's agent. 



All these excrescenoies only tend to injure the vitality of the trade, and in all prob- 

 ability the only correction against such abuses will be found in " combinations " by the 

 furming population to protect their interests, as also by transacting their business with 

 agents of their own choice. 



Another great factor in regulating the state of the English markets is to be found in 

 the different relations with our competitors in the trade. The nature of this competition 

 is to be seen from the imports from the different countries. Thus theimports from Den- 

 mark which in 1874,;were 26,800 head of cattle, in 1883 had reached up to 11 9, 300 head, 

 while the exports from France are very inconsiderable, amounting yearly only to about 

 3,000 to 4,000 head. But owing to the outbreak of the cattle plague the imports from 

 this quarter have been completely stopped. From Schleswig-Holsteinthe exports were 

 gradually on the increase until 1876, when they had obtained the number of 51,000 

 head, but now that cattle from these places are required to be slaughtered at Deptford, 

 the exports have continued to decline so that in 1883 these exports amounted to only 



