MARKETING TABLE POULTliY. 137 



poulti'\-, some system has been adopted by which they 

 are forwarded regularly and speedily to the point of 

 distribution. Before the railway opened out the 

 Heathfield district of Sussex carriers were employed, 

 who landed the birds in London early on the morn- 

 ing after dispatch, and the quantity carried by them 

 was enormous. Since the railway was available the 

 work has been undertaken by it, and so great is the 

 traffic that, as we have shown, the London, Brighton 

 and South Coast Railway Company conveyed about 

 1,350 tons of dead fowls from the Heathfield station 

 alone in twelve months. Without such arrange- 

 ments it would have been impossible for the fatten- 

 ing industry to have increased as it has done, and 

 the opportunity thus afforded has had a great influence 

 in its development. 



Of course the ideal would be in all industries that 

 producers and consumers should come into direct and 

 immediate contact, and in former days this was largely 

 the case. But with the growth of great centres of 

 population, and intercommunication between all parts 

 of the country, this could only continue to a limited 

 extent. Wherever possible, and this might be so to 

 a greater extent than is generally supposed, direct 

 sales should be made, to which end markets should 

 be encom-aged. But liowever much we may de- 

 claim against the middleman, he is a necessary 

 factor, and so long as kept in his right position, 

 that is, an intermediary between one class and 

 another, and not a dominator, he serves a most 

 useful purpose, earning well the commission allowed 

 him and saving more than his cost. But if the result 



