March 1895.] 



PEICES OF LIVE STOCX. 



351 



per cent, of the number shown as entering the markets, and 

 although prices were given for 84,593 of the cattle weighed in 

 18 94, the price records supplied in respect of 26,000 of this 

 number, sold at two important marts in Scotland, were furnished 

 in too defective a shape to be used for comparative purposes in 

 the following tables. The prices of 58,559 cattle were, however, 

 rendered in the prescribed form and have been employed as the 

 basis of the following calculations as to the current prices of 

 cattle in Great Britain. 



The practice of weighing sheep increases more slowly than 

 that of cattle, and although the number of swine returned as 

 weighed has increased from 1,450 to 2,498, the cases in which 

 prices are given is still very small, and the details are here also 

 very defective. 



Cattle weighing is far more largely practised in Scotland than 

 in other parts of Great Britain. For England, as a whole, the 

 number weighed was 28,351 out of 954,315 entering the markets, 

 w^hile in Scotland, out of not much over a fourth of that total, 

 or 249,218 head, the number weighed was 67,993. These figures 

 give a good idea of the relative extent to which resort is made 

 to the weighbridge, but it should be added that more than half 

 of the cases where cattle are weighed in England are reported 

 from the Metropolitan Cattle Market in London, and more 

 than half of those in Scotland are reported from Edinburgh 

 and Aberdeen. Two-thirds of the numbers weighed in the 

 19 scheduled places in 1894 were from the three last-named 

 centres. As between the several quarters of the year the 

 weighings reported vary considerably. The last quarter of the 

 year shows the largest total. A notable increase is reported as 

 occurring in London in the three months ending 31st December 

 1894. 



The weighings of sheep are like those of cattle, greater on the 

 whole in Scotland than in England, two markets — Aberdeen and 

 Perth — being the chief centres whence returns of sheep weights 

 are supplied. 



In the following table the total figures sent up from each of 

 the scheduled places are exhibited in detail. From this it will 

 be seen that, so far as cattle are concerned, Bristol has reported 

 none weighed in the year 1894, Lincoln only 2, York 13, and 

 Birmingham 17. At Leeds and Wakefield, where over 1,000 in 

 the one case and over 400 in the other were weighed during the 

 year, the market authorities represent themselves as unable to 

 ascertain any quotations of prices. 



