964 



The Live and Dead Meat Trade, [march, 



THE LIVE AND DEAD MEAT TRADE IN 

 FEBRUARY. 



A. T. Matthews. 



Fat Cattle. — The trade, taken as a whole, has maintained a very 

 firm tone throughout the month, with only small fluctuations in values. 

 There has been an apparent tendency on the part of farmers to sell 

 as quickly as possible at current rates, and this has frequently 

 augmented supplies of cattle of second quality. When, however, we 

 compare the condition of the stock sent to the Metropolitan market 

 during the last few weeks with that prevailing last autumn, we find 

 a remarkable contrast, and its great superiority is reflected in the 

 prices there realised in comparison with those of the best country 

 markets. The position in this respect has, in fact, been reversed, and 

 instead of being one of the very lowest for Shorthorns, as it was 

 for many weeks during the autumn months, Islington has been quite 

 in the front rank, and on one occasion at least during the past month 

 it stood highest of all the English markets. 



At Islington, on the 1st, although business was not quite so brisk 

 as it had been in the end of January, prices were practically 

 unchanged, Shorthorns of first quality still realising *j\d. per lb. 

 The country markets showed more weakness, and reductions of id. to 

 4d. per 14 lb. stone were recorded at Basingstoke, Hull, Ipswich, 

 Leicester, Newport, Peterborough, and Shrewsbury. Against these only 

 Dorchester, Newcastle, and Wellington showed an advance. The next 

 week was an uneventful one in the cattle trade, and very little change 

 was made in quotations. London was firm, with an occasional advance 

 in exceptional cases, but country markets were scarcely so dear, though 

 quotations were only slightly altered. Leeds advanced 2d. per 14 lb. 

 and Leicester id., but Dorchester declined 2d., Wakefield 2d., Welling- 

 ton 4^. per stone, and Darlington 3d. and Wolverhampton is. per 

 live cwt. At Islington, on the 15th, there was an excellent show of 

 Norfolk-fed Shorthorns, a large proportion of which were de-horned. 

 There were also a few useful Devons and Polled Scots, but no Herefords 

 or Welsh Runts worth mentioning. At this time of year Islington is 

 essentially a Shorthorn market, though a large portion of the supply 

 is of Irish origin. Trade was firm, and a rather strenuous attempt on 

 the part of the buyers for the dead meat market to keep down prices 

 failed, and prices were ultimately quoted %d. per lb. higher, Short- 

 horns touching i\d. per lb. In the country markets generally there 

 were rather larger supplies, and trade in some places was inclined to be 

 slow. There was certainly, however, no general decline during the 

 third week, for although Derby, Hull, Peterborough, and Darlington 

 reported a decline, several markets were, higher, among them being 

 Bristol, Leicester, Wakefield, Wolverhampton, and York. There was, 

 indeed, rather a wide range of values for best Shorthorn cattle, viz., 

 from ys. 6d. per 14 lb. at Hull to Ss. gd. in London. The Scotch 

 markets were, on the average, decidedly stronger, and more or less 

 improvement was manifested at Ayr, Dundee, Elgin, Inverness, and 



