4io Potato Weighing at Railway Stations, [oct., 



In East Lothian potatoes are weighed on the land and 

 placed in 8-stone bags for conveyance to the station, where they 

 are emptied into trucks and consigned in bulk. The railway 

 company usually accept the consignor's declaration as to weight, 

 but occasionally submit it to a rough test. 



In Ayrshire, where early varieties are largely grown, potatoes 

 are usually consigned in barrels estimated to hold ij cwf.; and 

 to this weight the railway company add i cwt. for barrel and 

 cover. There is no weighing either on the land or at the station. 

 Sometimes, however, potatoes are consigned in bulk, when they 

 arc either emptied from the barrels into trucks or carted in bulk. 

 Potatoes carted in bulk are passed over the weighbridge at the 

 station. 



In Lincolnshire it is the custom to weigh the potatoes on the 

 land and place them in 8-stone bags, in which they are cither 

 consigned or taken to the station and emptied into trucks and 

 consigned in bulk. There is no strict adherence to any rule 

 as to weighing at the stations. At some the officials weigh all 

 consignments, at others either the declared weight of the con- 

 signor is accepted or the weight of the consignment is computed 

 from the weight of one bag, while at certain stations all three 

 practices obtain. 



At certain stations in Perthshire and Forfarshire potatoes 

 delivered in bulk are weighed by the officials and an allowance 

 made for the quantity of adhering soil, the amount of the allow- 

 ance depending upon the discretion of the official. Carriage is 

 charged upon the reduced weight, which is entered upon a slip 

 accompanying the consignment, together with a notice to the 

 effect that the weight is not guaranteed. An objection alleged 

 against this system is that the buyers insist upon accepting the 

 reduced weight as the actual \\ eight of the consignment, although 

 the reduced weight is frequently less than the actual weight ; 

 and, as in many instances the consignor has no knowledge 

 either of the gross weight or of the allowance made, the con- 

 cession made by the railway company to the farmer may in 

 some cases have operated to his disadvantage. 



It has been suggested that if the company concerned would 

 slightly alter the form of the slip so that it. should show the 

 gross weight of the consignment and the exact amount of the 



