04  The  Cost  of  Winter  Grazing  in  East  Norfolk. 
has  placed  inspectors  on  the  Hill ; but  still,  in  spite  of  all 
precautions,  drovers  and  loafers  are  constantly  to  be  seen 
prodding  and  whacking  any  inferior  animal  that  ventures  to 
show  itself  conspicuously  under  their,  often  self-constituted, 
charge.  Many  pounds  are  lost  annually  to  graziers  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ill-treatment  of  stores  at  market,  from  which 
sore  noses  and  eyes  and  bruised  bodies  result. 
The  largest  dealer  in  store  cattle  on  Norwich  Hill  has  been 
known  to  dispose  of  no  less  than  4,500  beasts  in  a month,  and 
once,  I believe,  he  sold  1,400  on  one  Saturday. 
The  earliest  buyers  in  the  day  are  generally  the  most 
successful.  In  the  first  place  they  get  the  pick  of  the  market, 
and,  secondly,  the  cattle  then  bought  do  not  have  to  stand  the 
racket  of  a whole  day  on  the  Hill,  from  which  some  beasts  do 
not  entirely  recover  for  at  least  a month. 
The  bulk  of  the  stores  offered  at  Norwich  comes  from 
Ireland,  the  Midlands,  and  the  North  of  England.  Home 
breds  — Shorthorns  and  Lincolns — find  most  favour  with 
graziers,  and  Herefords  are  perhaps  least  in  demand.  Aberdeen 
Angus  are  seldom  plentiful.  Some  of  our  graziers  go  to 
Leicester  for  stores,  and  a few  to  Shrewsbury,  but  fewer  in 
each  case  than  was  the  custom  a few  years  ago.  Most  even 
now  prefer  Norwich. 
Some  stores  have,  now  and  then,  been  sold  there  by  weight. 
One  of  my  correspondents  tells  me  of  a lot  thus  bought  there 
at  a less  price  than  had  previously  been  bid  for  them  as  they 
stood.  Other  graziers,  on  the  other  hand,  have  had  to  pay 
more  dearly  than  they  anticipated  when  making  their  bargain, 
in  consequence  of  leaving  the  machine  to  decide  the  price 
they  were  to  pay  per  beast. 
Disposal  op  Fat  Beasts. 
The  tendency  to  sell  at  home  seems  to  be  on  the  increase. 
Probably  about  one-third  of  all  the  bullocks  fatted  in  the 
district  are  disposed  of  in  this  manner,  while  the  rest  are  sent 
to  the  local  markets,  Norwich  chiefly,  nearly  every  other 
locality  in  England  being  represented  here  by  dealers  who 
buy  to  send  to  their  own  markets.  Other  bullocks  are  sent 
to  London  and  Leicester,  the  latter  bearing  a good  reputation 
locally  for  prices. 
The  old-fashioned  plan  of  sending  fat  cattle  to  London  in 
charge  of  a local  salesman  seems  to  be  rapidly  dying  out,  and 
I am  only  aware  of  one  man  now  being  thus  employed. 
There  is  a weekly  market  during  the  season  at  Yarmouth 
and  North  Walsham.  The  only  remaining  fairs  of  any  account 
in  the  district  are  “Tombland”  Fair  at  Norwich,  held  on  the 
Thursday  before  Good  Friday — this  is  chiefly  a market  for 
