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AGRICULTURE

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cheap and wholesome food well within the reach of the grown mutton is illustrated in the figures published great industrial populations of the United Kingdom. At annually by Messrs W. Weddel & Company the same time it cannot be gainsaid that it has opened those for 1885 and for each year from 1890 to 19UU are the way to fraud, when butchers have palmed off upon Table XVI.—Average Annual Imports of Cattle, Sheep, their customers imported fresh meat as home-grown, and and Pigs, and of Dead Meat, into the United King- secured a dishonest profit by charging for it the prices ol the latter, which are considerably in excess of those of the dom over seven 'o-yearly Periods. imported product. How wide is the margin for obtaining Dead Meat. Pigs. Sheep. Cattle. Period. a fraudulent profit in this way is shown by the prices of Cwt. No. home-grown and imported meat in Table XVIII. taken No. No. 1,155,867 64,827 610,300 194,947 from the Agricultural Returns. 1866-70 3,134,175 74,040 864,516 215,990 1871-75 Many suggestions have been made to render it an 5,841,913 44,613 938,704 272,745 1876-80 6,012,495 offence at law for a seller to offer imported fresh meat as 24,355 974,316 387,282 1881-85 7,681,729 19,437 home-grown, but up to 1901 no legislative effect had been 800,599 438,098 1886-90 10,436,549 967 407,260 448,139 given to these proposals. 1891-95 15,785,354 91 607,086 1896-1900 549,818 Sale of Cattle by Live Weight. given in Table XVII. The home-grown is the estimated In connexion with the internal live stock trade of Great dead weight of sheep and lambs slaughtered, which is Britain attention must be directed to the Markets and taken at 40 per cent, of the total number of sheep and lambs returned each year in the United King om. n l® Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Act, 1891. The object of this imported column is given the weight of fresh (frozen) mutton measure is to replace the old-fashioned system of guessing and lamb imported, plus the estimated dead weight ot tiie at the weight of an animal by the sounder method ot obtaining the exact weight by means of the weighbridge. Table XVII.—Home Product and Imports of Sheep and The grazier buys and sells cattle much less frequently than the butcher buys them, so that the latter is naturally more Mutton into the United Kingdom—Thousands of Ions. skilled in estimating the weight of a beast through the Home- Imported. Home- Imported. Year. grown. use of the eye and the hand. The resort to the weighbridge Year. grown. should put both on an equality, but the method does not 157 319 1895 47 322 1885 seem to have found much favour. Under the Act there 164 329 1896 92 339 1890 175 are 15 scheduled places in England and 6 in Scotland, or 327 1897 92 359 1891 182 333 1898 87 21 altogether (19 previous to 1898), from which returns 360 1892 187 339 1899 100 340 1893 are regularly obtained. The numbers of cattle V^’^ed 179 332 1900 128 322 1894 J at these places in the seven years, 1893 to 1899 were respectively 92,492, 96,344, 100,033, 109,184, 111,767 sheep imported on the hoof for slaughter. The home pro- 138 652, and 139,482, so that there was an increase of duction of mutton would appear to have reached its limit, about 50 per cent, during the period. The numbers for for the quantity entered under this head for 1899 is seen Scotland are greater throughout than those for England. to be no more than that for 1890. On the other hand, the The scheduled places at which weighing appears to be most quantity imported in 1899 is double that in 1890, and quad- resorted to are Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Glasgow m ruple that in 1885. Moreover, in 1885 the imported pro- Scotland, and London, Shrewsbury, Carlisle, and Liverpool duct was only about one-seventh as much as the home-grown, in England. But, as will be apparent from Table XIX., Table XVIII.—Average Prices of Dead Meat per Stone of Table XIX.—AUs. of Cattle Weighed in Great Britain 8 1b at the London Central Market in 1898 and in 1899. under the Markets and Fairs Weighing of Cattle 1899. 1898. Act, 1893-1900. Description. s7~d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Beef. Entering Weighed. 3 11 to 4 3 4 3 to 4 6 Year. Markets. Scotch, short sides. 3 11 „ 4 1 3 8 „ 3 10 ,, long sides. No. 6 ,, 3 8 3 9 ,, 3 11 No. English. . • • 0 ,, 2 10 92,492 1,219,208 0 ,, 2 8 1893 Cows and Bulls 96,344 5 „ 3 8 1 „3 5 1,203,533 1894 American, Birkenhead-killed 100,033 6 ,, 3 9 1,186,149 2 ,, 3 5 1895 ,, Deptford-killed 109,184 0 ,, 3 4 1,000,014 7 „ 2 11 1896 Argentine, Deptford-killed 7 ,, 3 10 111,767 1,115,183 6 ,, 3 9 1897 American, refrigerd., hind-quarters. 138,652 4 ,, 2 6 2 „2 5 1,263,991 1898 ,, fore-quarters. 139,482 1 „2 4 1,236,091 1 11 ,, 2 1 1899 Australian, frozen, hind-quarters 141,611 8 ,, 1 9 1,187,603 1900 1 6 ,, 1 8 ,, fore-quarters 3 „2 6 New5Zealand, ,, hind-quarters. 2 2 ,, 2 4 9 ,, 1 11 the number of cattle weighed bears but an msignifican „ 1 10 fore-quarters proportion to the total which pass through ^the schedue Mutton. 5 „ 4 11 markets. The figures given in Table XX. for the two 4 1 „4 8 Scotch, prime. 2 „ 4 8 3 10 ,, 4 5 English, prime 1 ,, 3 6 years, 1898 and 1899, show how little use is made ot 2 9 ,, 3 3 Ewes 9 ,, 4 2 the weighbridge in the sale of sheep and swine Now 3 7 „ 3 11 Continental. 3 ,, 3 6 that weighbridges are moderate in price and excellent m 3 0 ,, 3 3 River Plate, town-killed 1 9 ,, 2 6 1 11 ,, 2 8 quality they are placed in most markets, so tha New Zealand, frozen ere 1 8 ,, 1 10 1 10 ,, 2 0 Australian ,, is little excuse for retaining the old empirical method ot 1 11 ,, 2 0 1 8 ,, 1 9 River Plate ,, sale. As the primary object of the Act is to obtain Lamb. 4 10 „ 5 9 5 0 ,, 6 2 records of prices, it follows that only in so far as statemen s English. 3 1 „ 3 5 2 11 ,, 3 3 of the prices realized, together with the description ot tne New Zealand, frozen animals involved, are obtained is the full advantage of the whereas in 1890 it was more than one-fourth, and in 1897 statute secured. In 1899 average prices for cattle of first and each year since more than one-half. This large import or prime quality ranged from 32s. 2d. per cwt m -i trade in fresh meat, which sprang up entirely within the last to 38s. per cwt. in London. For second quail y quarter of the 19th century, has placed an abundance of