Prices of Live Stock. 



539 



Glasgow, where, according to the returns rendered, the 

 weighbridge would seem to be least in favour, the propor- 

 tion was 1 5 J per cent. Fifteen of the markets showed an 

 increase, though in most instances only slight, in the pro- 

 portion of cattle weighed in 1898, as compared with 1897. 



In the case of sheep and swine the weighbridge continues 

 to be so rarely used that, statistically, the numbers weighed 

 are of small value. It is still somewhat inexplicable that 

 while 22,921 sheep were weighed at Aberdeen and 7,176 in 

 London, in some markets not a single sheep was weighed, 

 and in others the number was insignificant. 



Curious inequalities of practice continue to be displayed 

 at the different markets. While 14,324 out of 78,105 cattle 

 were weighed in London, only 3 1 out of 89,080 were w^eighed 

 at York. It would be of interest to know why more sheep 

 than cattle were weighed at Leeds, while at Carlisle not a 

 single sheep was put on the weighbridge, although it was 

 used for 7,752 cattle. The difference of practice between 

 Scotland and England remains the chief anomaly, the farmers, 

 butchers, and dealers in the auction marts of Scotland 

 being still much more ready to use the weighbridge 

 than the frequenters of English markets. The returns 

 show that the weighbridge has been found service- 

 able by a large number of buyers and sellers under a 

 wide variety of conditions, and the gradual extension 

 of its use indicates that those who have once adopted it do 

 not as a rule relinquish it. 



The most satisfactory feature of the returns for 1898 was 

 the marked increase in the number both of cattle and sheep, 

 for which prices, as well as weights, were given. The 

 primary object of the Weighing of Cattle Act being to obtain 

 records of prices, it is evident that only in so far as statements 

 of the prices realised together with the description of the 

 quality of the animals represented are obtained is the full 

 advantage of the statute secured. From twelve of the 

 scheduled markets sufficient data are now available to permit 

 of the calculation of average prices for the year. The 

 figures in the following table represent the actual prices at 

 which the fat cattle enumerated were sold, calculated at per 



