80 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
March, 
rarely occurs where the bargain is repudiated. The 
sales are commonly effected by salesmen, who are men 
of responsibility, and at all times familiar with the state 
of the market. Many advantages, it appears to me, 
result from their method of doing business. The prices 
are uniform; the farmer obtains the market price; and 
is not subject to the wiles of the sharper or forestalled 
The certainty, too, that he is sure of finding a sale for 
his stock or grain on market day, and that for cash, is 
an object of no small account. Whether this system, or 
something analogous to it, might not be introduced to 
advantage in America, is certainly worthy of conside¬ 
ration. 
Smithfield Market. —The Smithfield Cattle Mar¬ 
ket, in London, held every Monday and Friday, is the 
largest, and doubtless the most splendid exhibition of 
cattle and sheep in the world. I visited this market on 
market days for several weeks in succession, and the 
beauty, extraordinary fatness, and perfection of the ani¬ 
mals exhibited there, was certainly far superior to what 
I had anticipated. 
Monday is the principal market day, Friday being for 
the cattle and sheep unsold on Monday, and such as ar¬ 
rive after the Monday market. The number of fat cat¬ 
tle weekly brought up, ranges from 2,500 to 5,000; 
and sheep, 20 to 45,000; calves, 200 to 300; swine, 
from 200 to 500. This market is in the very heart of 
London, and as there exists a prescriptive right to it, it 
cannot be removed. It is becoming too strait for the 
increasing wants of this vast metropolis, which has a 
population nearly equal to that of the state of New- 
York, and preparations were making when I was there, 
to enlarge its dimensions, by removing a large number 
of buildings. The animals are usually all in their pla¬ 
ces by sunrise, and are required to be removed by three 
o’clock in the afternoon, when the whole ground is care¬ 
fully cleaned, leaving very little traces of its use. The 
cattle brought up here are from two to three and four 
years old, acquiring maturity much earlier than is com¬ 
mon with us. Since the completion of railways, the cat¬ 
tle come up in much better condition than formerly. 
Some complaint, however, now exists, as the cattle are 
frequently injured in the cars by being bruised. The 
advocates of the broad guage railways, say that this 
difficulty only exists upon the narrow guage roads, with 
how much truth I am not prepared to say. 
Mr. Colman, in one of his numbers, having given a 
description of Smithfield by night, I took an early oppor¬ 
tunity to witness it myself, and I can with truth say, 
tl the half was not told me.” I take the liberty of giv¬ 
ing his description, which presents as vivid an impres¬ 
sion of the scenes which transpire, as anything upon 
paper can give:— 
11 Smithfield by Night. —About midnight, the dif¬ 
ferent detachments, almost treading on the heels of each 
other, begin to make their way to the place of rendez¬ 
vous, through the winding streets of this wilderness of 
houses, and enter the great market place by different and 
opposite avenues, and like hostile parties, often meet each 
other in the very centre. Then comes the conflict; the dri¬ 
ving of so many thousands of sheep into the several pens; 
the assorting and tieing up or arranging so many thou¬ 
sand cattle, driven into a state of terror and phrenzy by 
the men and dogs; the struggles of the different owners 
or drovers to keep their own and prevent their inter¬ 
mingling with others; the occasional leaping the bar¬ 
riers, and the escape of some straggler who is to be 
brought back by violence; the sounds of the heavy 
blows over the head and horns, and sides of the poor 
crazed animals; the shrieks of the men; the yelling and 
barking of hundreds of dogs, who look after the sheep 
and cattle with a ferocity perfectly terrific, and a sa¬ 
gacity almost human; the bellowing of the cattle and 
the bleating of the calves; forming, if the expression 
is allowable, a concert of discordant sounds utterly 
indescribable and hideous, and in the midst of all 
this confusion, the darting about of hundreds of torch- 
torches, carried in the hands by men looking for their 
cattle and sheep, and seeking to identify their marks— 
all together present an exhibition for which it certainly 
seems difficult to find a parallel, and sufficiently grati¬ 
fying to the lovers of the picturesque in human affairs.” 
The cattle most valued in the Smithfield market, are 
the Scots, as they are called, consisting of Polled Gal¬ 
loway, West Highland cattle, &c., from Scotland. 
These are mostly black, of medium size, extremely fat, 
their meat richly mottled or variegated, and are sure 
to command the top of the market. These cattle are 
often fattened by the farmers in England, and the ease 
and facility with which they take on flesh when placed 
in their rich pastures, render them a very profitable 
breed for the market. It struck me, that these are the 
very animals we need in America, in some sections, 
at least, and from what I learned of their hardiness, 
aptitude to fatten at an early age, and the superiority 
of their meat, I have no doubt they would be one of the 
most profitable breeds of cattle that could be introduced. 
A breed similar to the West Highland, I saw in Angle- 
sea, in Wales, and they succeed well there, and are 
more numerous than any other breed. 
The Herefords, Short-Horns, and Devons, are next to 
the Scots. I esteem the Herefords as very choice ani¬ 
mals for beef. Some of as fine animals as I saw in the 
markets were of this breed. The Short-Horns are much 
more numerous than any other breed. I should judge 
that they were nearly equal in numbers to all the other 
classes. They are the leading stock in England, and 
their popularity seems to be as high as ever. Several 
sales from choice herds took place while I was in Eng¬ 
land, at which the prices ranged very high. At one of 
them, Earl Spencer’s, I think, some of the bulls brought 
$1,500, and cows sold from $300 to $600. 
In passing through the country, cattle in preparation 
for the market are to be seen on almost every farm. 
They are fattened on turneps, carrots, oil-cake, &c., 
and no pains or expense is spared to render them of the 
finest quality. The great perfection to which animals 
bred for beef attain is remarkable. Their aptness to 
fatten, and the laying on of the flesh on the most valua¬ 
ble parts has been secured, so as to leave little more to 
be done to make a perfect animal for that purpose. 
The manner of conducting business market days is 
different from anything we have in America. Salesmen 
have the charge of all the cattle and sheep brought to 
market. They are licensed, and are allowed a certain 
price on sale—which is about one dollar a head for cat¬ 
tle, and sixteen cents for sheep. The cattle are sold, 
estimating their weight by the eye, which is done with 
remarkable accuracy, and the salesman settles with-the 
owner, taking all risks as to pay from the purchaser, on 
himself. The cattle sell, generally, at from $75 to 
$100—their weight averages from 600 to 800 lbs., the 
four quarters dressed. 
I observed the purchasers of fat cattle, as soon as a 
bargain was closed, take their shears and clip off the 
brush of the tail, and place the same in their pockets. 
The cattle are then marked, and when slaughtered 
every part of the animal, horns, hoofs, tail, &c., is pre¬ 
served with as much care as the brush of the tail. Ox¬ 
tail soup is made from the tail. ’Tis said the French 
introduced this dish, and if all their preparations are 
equal to this, there is little danger of an Englishman’s 
suffering, even if he should be obliged for a time to live 
on French cookery. 
Milch cows are brought up to the Smithfield market, 
and are to be seen there every week, though not in 
large numbers—as the principal market for cows is 
at Islington, near the great milk establishments of 
