538 



Prices of Live Stock. 



There are no doubt various circumstances affecting the 

 number of stock marketed in a particular year, such, for 

 instance, as effects of season, abundance or scarcity of keep, 

 prices current, etc., while local conditions may reduce or 

 augment the supply at one or more of the scheduled markets. 

 An exact correspondence, therefore, between the number of 

 stock offered at the twenty-one selected markets and the 

 number returned on June 4 cannot always be expected, but 

 it will be seen that a general relation may be established 

 from the figures as given above. 



The use of the weighbridge is shown to have increased, but 

 the progress is slow over the country generally. The pro- 

 portion of cattle weighed last year at all the scheduled 

 places was within a fraction of 1 1 per cent, as compared 

 with 10 per cent, in 1897, number for which prices 



were given was 8 per cent, of the cattle shown against 7 per 

 cent, in the previous year. This increase, so far as it goes, 

 is satisfactory, and even more so is the fact that complete 

 price returns are now^ available for 102,299 individual trans- 

 actions in cattle, or nearly twice as many as in 1893. 



It still remains true that the weighbridge is far more popu- 

 lar in Scotland than in England. North of the Border the 

 proportion of cattle weighed v/as 31*41 per cent., while at the 

 English markets it was only 4-67 per cent., and the propor- 

 tion of cattle for which prices were given was 23*67 per 

 cent, and 3*29 per cent, respectively. It may be noted, how- 

 ever, that the relative increase in both cases in comparison 

 with 1897 was slightly more in England than in Scotland. In 

 England the largest number, both absolutely and relatively, 

 of cattle weighed was at the Metropolitan Cattle Market, 

 where the proportion of those exposed for sale which passed 

 over the weighbridge was 18-34 P^r cent. At Shrewsbury 

 14 per cent., and at Liverpool and Carlisle a little over 12 

 per cent, of the numbers returned were weighed, but in the 

 remaining English markets the proportion was very small ; 

 and at all but Leeds and Newcastle comparatively insignifi- 

 cant. At the six Scottish markets the proportions were 

 very different. At Dundee no less than 76 per cent, of the 

 total cattle entering the market were weighed, and at 



