549 



PRICES OF LIVE STOCK RETURNED UNDER 

 THE WEIGHING OF CATTLE ACT. 



The particulars furnished to the Board of Agriculture in 

 the Returns made under the Markets and Fairs (Weighing 

 of Cattle) Act, 1 891, during the last quarter ol 1901, enable 

 the complete figures for that year to be presented in the 

 accompanying tables, and offer an opportunity of comparing 

 with earlier data the statistics of live weight prices now 

 available. The Acts passed in 1887 and 1891, by requiring 

 the provision of facilities for the weighing of live animals, 

 and by enforcing the collection of certain statutory returns 

 from a number of typical places, have made it possible for 

 agriculturists to obtain a closer knowledge than ordinary 

 market reports can supply, respecting- the value of animals 

 to which the test of the weigh-bridge is applied. 



The places originally selected for these returns of price 

 were fourteen in England and five in Scotland. In 1898, the 

 number of returning markets was raised to the total of 

 twenty-one. These places are enumerated in the table on 

 page 556, and the list includes some of the principal live stock 

 markets in the kingdom and also places representing the 

 characteristic trade of smaller markets. Although the public 

 weighing of farm stock in Great Britain has increased much 

 less rapidly than was anticipated, the returns for the past 

 nine years, taken in the aggregate, nevertheless indicate 

 some progress in the application of the weigh-bridge to the 

 sale of cattle, and although this cannot be held to be the case 

 as regards sheep and swine, useful comparisons of the 

 development of the system of ascertaining price by reference 

 to weight can be secured by reviewing the figures annually 

 given for cattle. 



From these data it appears that while the total number of 



