Prices of Live Stock. 



539 



The practice of weighing cattle alive during, before, or after 

 sale has been from the first much more resorted to in Scot- 

 land than in England. Comparing the position of matters 

 in these two countries in the last two years, the English 

 proportion of weighed cattle represents not much over 3! per 

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

 while the Scotch proportion exceeds 30 per cent. For the 

 two last years the distinction stands thus : — 



Cattle at Scheduled Places. 



England. 



Scotland. 



1897. 



1896. 



1897. 



1896. 



Number entering markets 

 Number returned as weighed- 

 Number for which prices and 

 quality were distinguished. 



No. 

 849,199 



21,285 



No. 

 827,869 1 

 29,250 

 20,881 



No. 

 265,984 

 80,575 

 57,044 



No. 

 272,145 

 79,934 

 54,133 



A reference to the general table given on page 545, showing 

 the number of animals weighed in the past year in each ot 

 the scheduled places, indicates that weighing is being 

 adopted in very different degrees in different parts ot 

 England itself. Thus in the Metropolitan Market of London 

 over 1 7 per cent, of the cattle shown are returned as weighed 

 on the Corporation weighbridge, and nearly 14 per cent, are 

 weighed at Shrewsbury, while, on the other hand, at the five 

 largest scheduled markets, viz., Salford, Norwich, Newcastle, 

 Wakefield, and York, where some 479,000 head of cattle were 

 shown last year, the number weighed in the twelve months 

 hardly exceeded 4,000 head. 



Even in Scotland the extent to which weighing is resorted 

 to differs considerably so far as the reports received from the 

 several markets or auction marts go. Dundee appears the 

 centre where the practice is most in favour, nearly 74 per 

 cent, of the cattle shown being recorded as weighed. Aber- 

 deen and Edinburgh, with 41 and 38 per cent, weighed, are 

 considerably below this ratio. The weighing records of 

 Perth with 19 per cent, and Glasgow with only 11 per cent, 

 accounted for as weighed are the least complete of the 

 Scottish statistics. 



