466 
On Weighing Live-Stoch. 
consideration of the advantage derived from their use in dealing 
with store stock. 
It would appear that quite as good service is rendered by 
them in this business, if not better. There is really less left to 
conjecture in trading store animals than fat ones. The indica- 
tions of age are certain, the condition is obvious, and the health of 
the animal is known from his coat and his general carriage. If 
the former be loose and flexible, and the latter gay and lively ; if 
the eye be clear and full, the muzzle moist, the horn kind, the head 
not sour or snubby, no symptoms of scouring, and none of having 
been " too well done," he wUl pass muster. If the character of 
the breeder's herd is established, the bulls he uses of good repute 
and blood, and the value per stone of similar stores can be quoted, 
a fair bargain can be struck by weight in a few minutes. The 
purchased animals can remain in their winter quarters till the 
grass is up, and then be weighed out and paid for. 
At the same meeting of the Farmers' Club in London to 
which reference has been made, Mr. Fisher, of Dingley, near 
Market Harborough, was present. He has had some experience 
in buying stores by live-weight, and stated that in 1886 he 
purchased 91 stores (61 bullocks and 30 heifers) by live-weight 
in Ireland. He had never seen the animals before the purchase 
in 1886 was completed. The quality and breed of the herd were 
known to him to be very good. The transaction was a satis- 
factory one. In 1887 he purchased 9l bullocks again by live- 
weight, and in 1889, 85 in the same way. The fact that a large 
grazier was able to purchase in three years from the same owner 
that quantity of store-stock by live-weight, proves conclusively 
that the system of buying and selling stores by live-weight is 
mutually beneficial to buyer and seller. These stores were bred 
in Ireland. In 1886 and 1887 Mr. Fisher gave 3s. 8d. per 
live-stone in Ireland, and paid the carriage. In 1889 he had 
to give 4s. It was on April 29 when Mr. Fisher made this 
statement, and the grass in the Midlands was hardly fit. Such 
stores as these were better off the pastures than on them ; so 
though they were bought in the beginning of the month, they 
had not been delivered on the 29th. 
In 1886 he bought the ninety-one store animals in March, 
but did not take them till May 1, when they were weighed in to 
him. He was comfortably situated, inasmuch as during the 
intervening month he had not to go about from market to 
market and from fair to fair, searching for what he wanted. 
In 1887 he purchased from the same owner and the same farm 
as he had done in 1886, so that he knew perfectly well what 
class of animal he was buying. 
