he object aimed at by the defunct
Administrative Reform Association should be achieved, and that the right
one should be in the right place. Of a night the scene is something
extraordinary. The lowing of oxen, the tremulous cries of the sheep, the
barking of dogs, the rattling of sticks on the bodies and heads of the
animals, the rough and ragged appearance of the men, the shouts of the
drovers, and the flashing about of torches, present altogether a wild and
terrific combination. But all this is over by daylight, when the buyers
come upon the scene, and there is an appearance of order and cleanliness,
a strong contrast to Smithfield, as your eye glances from one row to
another of heads gathered from Northamptonshire, from Leicestershire,
from Scotland, from Ireland, from the fertile plains of far-away
Holstein, or the pastures of Spain, still more remote. The latter
animals it seems almost a pity to slaughter; they have something of the
appearance of the buffalo, minus his shaggy head of horrid hair; they are
cream-coloured, and with their long horns must be a very pretty ornament
for a gentleman's park. Our foreign trade in cattle is growing very
large. In the year 1857 there were imported into the United Kingdom,
oxen and bulls, 53,277; cows, 12,371; calves, 27,315; sheep, 162,324;
lambs, 14,883; swine, 10,678. The greater proportion come from Holland
and Denmark, and are put upon the rail and at once sent off to London.
There was a time when we were told this would be the ruin of the farmer;
yet, according to the speech of Mr. Grey, a north country agriculturist,
the other day, it appears that growing flesh is the most remunerative
employment for the farmer at the present time; and in spite of all this
foreign importation, we may observe that meat is high, and that
Paterfamilias, blessed, as he is sure to be, with a small income and a
large family, finds it difficult to make both ends meet. The returns of
the cattle-markets tell us that the population of London consume annually
277,000 bullocks, 30,000 calves, 1,480,000 sheep, and 34,000 pigs. Mr.
Hicks estimates the value of these at between seven and eight millions
sterling. The buyers here are the larger class of dealers; the smaller
ones go to the dead-meat market in Newgate-street, which is blocked up by
them from four in the morning till breakfast-time. If we come here on a
Friday, between ten and four, we shall find a market for the sale of
horses an