The  Cost  of  Winter  Grazing  in  East  Norfolk.  95 
stores  for  marsh  grazing — and  Ingham  Fair,  held  on  Trinity 
Monday.  This  market  is  said  to  date  back  to  1360  A.D.,  when 
one,  J.  Rump,  started  a repository  sale  here.  Instead  of 
decreasing  in  popularity  as  most  rural  fairs  have  done  within 
recent  years,  Ingham  seems  to  be  increasing  in  favour  as  a mart 
for  fat  cattle. 
Buyers  attend  from  all  parts  of  the  country — Yorkshire, 
Derby,  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Leicester,  Nottingham,  Bed- 
fordshire, Portsmouth,  Southampton,  and  London  all  being 
represented.  Trade  is  generally  good,  as  beasts  of  the  best 
quality  only  are  usually  on  offer. 
The  East  Norfolk  Stock  Mart  Company,  in  which  several 
graziers  in  the  district  are  interested,  offer  prizes  for  cattle 
submitted  to  them  at  Ingham  Fair. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  History  of  Agricultural 
Prices  in  England,  Professor  Thorold  Rogers  states  that  in 
1249  the  price  of  a horse  at  Ingham  was  5s.  &d.,  that  of  an  ox, 
8s.  In  1270,  8s.  &d.  was  given  for  a bull.  In  1259,  wheat  sold 
at  Ingham  for  5s.  6(7.  a quarter. 
The  Weighbridge. 
The  weighbridge  is  a valuable  help  both  to  buyer  and  seller, 
as  well  as  of  great  assistance  to  the  feeder  in  giving  him  a 
definite  idea  of  the  progress  that  his  beasts  are  making.  It 
cannot,  of  course,  replace  experience  and  good  judgment,  but 
it  is  a very  useful  adjunct  to  them. 
The  present  disregard  of  this  instrument  is  inexplicable, 
but  it  is  partly,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  extent  to  which  dealers 
trust  their  own  powers.  The  block  test  competitions  all  over 
the  country  have  shown  how  near  some  can  estimate.  But 
they  have  also  shown,  on  the  other  hand,  how  many  farmers 
are  quite  unable  to  do  this.  As  showing  the  present  contempt 
for  the  machine’s  assistance,  I may  say  that  quite  recently  at 
Norwich,  I heard  a local  grazier  say,  speaking  of  the  weigh- 
bridge, “Nobody  ever  looks  at  it,”  and  yet  another  farmer 
observed,  “You  are  no  good  on  Norwich  Hill  unless  you  can 
judge  the  weight  of  a bullock  within  a stone.” 
I have  only  come  across  one  instance  in  which  the  weigh- 
bridge has  been  used  locally  in  order  to  ascertain  the  weight 
gained  during  the  earlier  and  later  periods  of  feeding  respec- 
tively. This  instance  confirms  the  scientific  opinion  that  the 
first  few  weeks  of  fattening  are  the  most  economical,  and  is 
opposed  to  the  opinion  of  the  great  majority  of  graziers  who 
look  chiefly  to  the  last,  two  months  for  their  profit. 
The  above-mentioned  experiment  was  a regular  revelation 
to  the  owner  of  the  beasts,  as  previous  to  this  test  he  had  been 
much  disappointed  at  the  apparent  want  of  progress  made  by 
