1909.] 



Salford Cattle Market. 



;8 9 



There are a few well-finished Herefords generally on sale, and these 

 command the highest price for the suburbs of Manchester. The Welsh 

 cattle shown are generally short of finish, but, being lean in cutting 

 with a good weight of hide, find a fair demand for the Lancashire 

 districts. There are very few Scotch cattle offered at this market now; 

 as a rule they command better prices in their own country. 



The fat cows and bulls are chiefly supplied from the dairy herds of 

 Cheshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, a few of the best bulls finding 

 customers among the Jews, whilst the rougher sorts are transferred to 

 the Lancashire towns. 



The supplies of calves are principally from Cheshire and Lancashire, 

 but owing to the scarcity of milk they are not of the very best quality. 



Ireland takes the lead in the supply of sheep, about two-thirds coming 

 from this source. There are few of the old Irish breed of sheep on offer, 

 the majority being crossed to meet the growing demand for lighter 

 weights. A useful cross is that of the Roscommon ewe and the Oxford 

 Down ram, which produces good lean-cutting sheep, which, however, 

 are too heavy for this market, good wethers weighing 100 to no lb. 

 dead weight only making yd. to y\d. per lb., whilst lighter crosses, 

 such as Downs and Blackfaced or Scotch, weighing 55 to 65 lb., make 

 up to &%d. per lb. The lambs of the same cross also meet a good 

 demand. 



There are a good number of clipped sheep shown from Lincolnshire 

 and Yorkshire during the months of April and May. These are of good 

 quality and generally average from 70 to 80 lb. per sheep, making from 

 y\d. to %\d. per lb. 



The Scotch supplies include all the light breeds of sheep. The 

 Cheviot, on account of small joints and compactness and plumpness of 

 carcase, makes the most per lb. of any sheep for Manchester trade, 

 small shearlings last spring making from lod. to nd. per lb., weights 

 45 to 56 lb. 



The following crosses also produce useful sheep for sale at this 

 market : — (1) Cheviot ewe with Leicester ram, producing a good sheep 

 with more size and weight, 54 to 64 lb., and prices gld. to lo^d. per lb. 

 (2) Border Leicester ewes crossed with Oxford Down rams are good for 

 early maturity of fat lambs, and command a ready sale. Weight, 

 shearlings 60 to 70 lb. ; prices gd. to g%d. per lb. (3) Greyfaced or 

 Blackfaced ewe and Wensleydale ram produce a sound-fleshed sheep, 

 containing a large percentage of lean meat of excellent quality, preferred 

 by many butchers to that of any other breed. Weight 56 to 70 lb. ; 

 price gd. to g\d. per lb. The prices refer to last spring. 



The numbers of Welsh sheep offered are small, chiefly ewes and 

 four-year-old wethers, but the lamb supply has very much increased of 

 late years. In the early season, following closely the South Country 

 lambs, the small Welsh and Welsh crossed Shropshire Downs find a 

 very ready sale, the high prices at that time of the year being very 

 much in favour of the small carcase. 



Up to the present time the weighbridge has not found much favour 

 as an intermediary between buyer and seller on the live weight system, 

 both buyers and sellers being much more in favour of trusting to their 

 judgment to buy and sell by hand, their calculations being based on the 

 weight of so many pounds per quarter. 



