March 1897.] 



PRICES OF LIVE STOCK. 



441 



were furnished for 75,000 cattle in the later as compared with 

 57,000 at the earlier date : — 



Animals. 



1896. 



1895, 



1894. 



1893. 



Cattle : 



No. 



No. 



No, 



No. 



Entering markets 



1,100,014 



1,186,149 



1,203,533 



1,219,208 



Weighed - 



109,184 



100,033 



96,344 



92,492 



Prices returned 



99,537 



88,403 



84,593 



84,403 



Prices returned with quality 



75,014 



64,072 



58,559 



57,323 



distinguished. 











Sheep : 











Entering markets 



4,309,943 



4,330,256 



4,649,277 



4,854,732 



Weighed - 



41,685 



34,886 



39,210 



38,177 



Prices returned with quality 



35,048 



23,577 



26,072 



28,180 



distinguished. 











Swine : 











Entering markets r • - 



232,344 



233,189 



139,187 



191,376 



Weighed - 



4,585 



2,803 



2,498 



1,450 



Prices returned 



1,686 



1,226 



523 



401 



Prices returned with quality 



1,686 



17 



56 



6 



distinguished. 











As in all previous notes on these returns, it is, however, im- 

 possible to overlook the fact that the practice of weighing is 

 much more resorted to in Scotland than in England. Comparing 

 the last two years only for each country separately as under 

 the English proportion of weighed animals represents only 3| 

 per cent, of those returned as shown in the markets or marts, 

 while the Scotch proportion exceeds 29 per cent., and the rate 

 of increase between 1896 and 1895 still continues greatest in 

 the north : — 



Cattle at Scheduled Places. 



England. 



Scotland. 



1896. 



1895. 



1896. 



1895. 



Number entering markets 

 Number as weighed 

 Number for which prices and 

 quality were distinguished. 



No. 



827,869 

 29,250 

 20,8S1 



No. 



911,652 

 27,560 

 16,472 



No. 

 272,145 

 79,934 

 54,133 



No. 

 274,497 

 72,473 

 47,600 



An examination of the general table giving each of the 

 scheduled places shows that a local analysis might be carried 

 much further, for, if the practice of weighing is nowhere so pre- 

 valent as in Scotland, it is favoured in very different degrees in 

 different parts of England itself. Thus in the Metropolitan 

 Market of London as many as 166 per cent, of the cattle shown 

 now appear to have been weighed on the Corporation weigh- 

 bridge, about 10 per cent, are weighed at Liverpool and at Shrews- 

 bury, while, on the other hand, at Salford and at Newcastle, the 

 two largest of the scheduled markets so far as cattle were 

 concerned, where some 230,000 head were shown last- year, 



