Sept. 1896.] 



PRICES OF LIVE STOCK. 



223 



when the supply of sheep in the markets was larger ; but the 

 increase in the number of cases where prices were reported to the 

 Board this year is satisfactory, being more than double those 

 reported last year. This increase arises, however, mainly in 

 Scotland, and there practically at the marts of Aberdeen and 

 Dundee. 



Separating, as regards cattle, the English from the Scotch 

 returns, the proportion of animals weighed is still largely in 

 favour of Scotland. The English figures are as under : — 



Cattle at Scheduled Prices in England. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1896. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1895. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1894. 



Number entering markets 

 Number weighed - 

 Prices returned with quality distin- 

 guished. 



194,079 

 6,683 

 5,182 



224,010 

 6,176 

 3,741 



228,125 

 6,555 

 4,571 



The English figures thus show less than per cent, of the 

 cattle to have passed over the weighbridge, while the parallel 

 records from the five markets of Scotland indicate an approach 

 to 30 per cent., and a satisfactory advance over the like quarters 

 of the two preceding years. The Scotch returns are as 

 follows : — 



Cattle at Scheduled Places in Scotland. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1896. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1895. 



2nd Quarter, 

 1894. 



Number eutering markets 

 Number weigbed - 

 Prices returned - 

 Prices returned with quality distin- 

 guished. 



74,785 

 22,176 

 22,019 

 14,555 



74,030 

 19,887 

 19,764 

 12,255 



66,696 

 18,769 

 18,761 

 11,238 











Neither Ashford, Birmingham, nor Lincoln report a single use 

 of the weighbridge during the quarter, while the weighing of 

 four animals only out of 1(3,000 at York, and the reporting of a 

 price in respect of only one of these, places this city in the same 

 unsatisfactory category, and indicates the failure of the cattle 

 owners of these districts to appreciate the facilities which the 

 Legislature has provided for the marketing of their stock. These 

 defective returns contrast very strongly with others in the 

 general table supplied on page 226, and particularly with a case 

 like that of Dundee, where, in a relatively small market, out of 

 4,916 cattle exposed for sale during the quarter, the weighing 

 of 3,294, or nearly 67 per cent., is reported, and the prices of all 

 the weighed animals have been duly recorded. 



The reports of prices for ten selected markets where the 

 quotations are sufficiently numerous for the purposes of com- 



