140  The  Meat  Industry  in  its  Relation  to  Agriculture. 
and  consisting  to  a large  extent  of  stores,  were  837,426  in  1909, 
while  the  general  average  for  the  three  years  1907-8-9  was  over 
800,000.  Such  a large  supply  has  setup  conditions  which  have 
been,  so  far,  very  favourable  to  the  British  agriculturist.  It  is 
obvious,  however,  that  if  the  new  developments  in  Ireland 
succeed  this  supply  will  dwindle  in  proportion  and  the  British 
feeder  will  then  have  to  fall  back  on  his  own  resoxirces  in  con- 
nection with  this  branch  of  agriculture. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  huge  imports  of  foreign  meats, 
there  has  been  an  increased  demand  throughout  the  United 
Kingdom  for  prime  quality  of  fresh  meat,  and,  as  will  be  seen 
by  a casual  study  of  the  market  reports,  the  home-grown 
article  of  this  class  has  reached  the  highest  price  on  record. 
The  carcass  price  for  beef  at  one  time  of  the  year  1910  was 
about  8 d.  per  lb.,  as  compared  with  a general  average  of 
about  6(7.,  but  the  supplies  were  not  available,  nor  is  there  any 
indication  that  an  increased  number  of  fat  cattle  will  be 
forthcoming  in  the  future.  The  latest  returns,  indeed,  show 
that  there  is  a considerable  shortage.  The  supply  of  first-class 
mutton  also  has  been  far  short  of  the  general  demand,  and, 
as  a consequence,  store  sheep  at  the  end  of  1910  were  very 
dear  and  in  great  demand,  owing  to  the  open  winter  and  the 
plentiful  crop  of  turnips. 
The  Feeding  of  Store  Cattle. 
Store  cattle  are  now  largely  bought  by  weight,  more 
especially  in  the  North  of  England  and  Scotland,  and,  owing 
to  the  provision  of  live  stock  weighing  scales  at  the  various 
markets,  the  risk  of  loss  through  bad  judgment  is  very  con- 
siderably diminished.  It  is  to  the  farmer’s  interest  to  always 
take  advantage  of  the  accurate  system  of  selling  provided  by 
the  live-weight  scales,  and  his  true  policy  is  to  discourage 
altogether  the  selling  of  live  stock  by  hand.  The  prices  are  at 
present  fixed  by  the  hundredweight,  live  weight,  and  so  it  is 
possible  to  institute  a comparison  between  the  present  and 
former  years.  Thus,  in  1909,  prime  bullocks  which  were  six 
quarters  old  averaged  from  30s.  to  35s.  per  cwt.,  whereas  during 
1910  the  same  quality  fetched  about  38s.  per  cwt.  ; the  second 
class  of  bullock  fetching  from  30s.  to  35s.  Well-bred  animals 
in  good  condition  always  fetch  the  top  price,  and  young  ones 
especially,  which  are  in  such  condition,  are  much  in  demand, 
it  being  quite  obvious  that  the  good-conditioned  animal  will 
take  on  feed  better  and  thus  be  in  a position  to  return  its  cost  to 
the  feeder  much  sooner  than  one  which  is  not  in  good  condition. 
Animals  that  are  capable  of  being  matured  early  are  what  the 
stock  feeder  really  wants.  It  is  the  custom,  therefore,  for  farmers 
who  buy  store  cattle  to  purchase  in  September  and  October, 
