62 
The Middleman in Agricidture. 
Still, the auction system is unquestionably a convenient means of 
arriving at the result of the higgling of the market ; and, at any 
rate, though one might be inclined on some grounds to regret 
the supremacy which it has attained, it would not be fair to 
hint that farmers suffer any special detriment or pay any ex- 
travagant amount for the advantages which they obtain from its 
adoption. 
One word may be ventured, in passing, on this subject, 
and that is that farmers have an undoubted right to resent 
any attempt such as is alleged to have been made in some locali- 
ties by the auctioneers to dictate to them the way in which they 
shall sell their stock. It has been said that considerable oppo- 
sition has been more or less overtly displayed against the intro- 
duction of the system of selling stock by live weight. This 
practice, of course, is one which may be fairly argued upon its 
merits ; but, whatever view may be taken of the desirability of its 
general adoption, no one will deny that every owner of stock 
ought to have the power, if he so desires, of selling his animals in 
such a way as he deems best. If, therefore, any class of middle- 
men attempt to dictate to him for purposes of their own the 
method which he must adopt in the disposal of the produce of 
his skill and enterprise, such action can only be stigmatised as 
intolerable and impertinent. 
Just as wheat is the typical farm crop of the kingdom, so 
bread is the typical food of the people. It is, perhaps, for this 
reason, that although nowadays the item of bread is by no means 
the most important in the cost of living of the average inhabi- 
tant, 1 * * * * 6 yet the market price of that commodity excites a degree of 
interest which is far greater than any which is displayed with re- 
gard to other articles of food. 
The millers and bakers are perhaps to some extent to be com- 
miserated in their occupancy of so prominent a position. It 
seems sometimes as if the butcher might charge 50 and the 
greengrocer 100 per cent, profit without exciting any particular 
amount of public indignation, while the baker brings down upon 
his devoted head a torrent of indignation if he gets as much as 
a “ modest ” 25 or 30 per cent. 
1 The following extract from a letter recently received from a working 
man is worth quoting : — “ When I went to school in 1842 we had a 4 lb. loaf 
for 6 d., and at the present time I am paying 5 d. We use eight loaves, which is 
3s. 4 d., but we got good beef at id. Now I have to give 8 d., which would be — 
d. t . <1. 
In 1842, 8 loaves at 6 d. . 4 0 In 1892, 8 loaves at 5 d. . 3 4 
,, beef 6 lb. at id. . 2 0 „ beef 6 lb. at 8«f. 4 0 
6 0 7 4 
So I am 1 5. id. out.” — The comparative price of beef is curious, — R. H. 11. 
