THE FARMERS' WEIGHBRIDGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3043, 16 January 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE FARMERS' WEIGHBRIDGE.

AT the sp ei,.- , M ~ ..i dr John 1). McJililli'l. a f;lt ■!-.' weighbridge was pi .cud in thex em- yivd of the Highlmd and Ag'ieul'ur I Society at Stirling on the nee sou of the annual show. That; Vlr Mu.litmet |>aa. I>v gi''af, p-rnnn-il eir rt and . Xoeus.-, rendeied in iteri'il s el-ice to J'ainr-is all ov> r X."i!'.;iid there evi I)-; no q its mi. H V-i« pan into snipe a sysiem of reckoning the eilileuf ,-attle reared for the sli.nnM. s, winch p aces any farmer in the ma'ter if bargain matting, on a 1 eel with 111" smartest cattle dealer-' or aue'ioneer^. Mr M.'Jaiiuet lias a wclw iio.il way of loing things On the aai-nl nf his new y purchased cafle the-, w, re branded and numbered with hot n.ii.s on the h.rns, and afterwards wei-jhed on the cart weighbridge. Once numbered, tho a.itmals were easily ncngirs'd, and 'U'liii! the ele. en nwii'lis tli-y were in Mr McJaniict's pons ssiuu, tle-y wi re ••■jubirly weighed, and their pi-ngn >s carefully marked Some did exceedingly <«11, Willie othei:-, turned nut liadly. Tim bad were a!\v ays s-.W while parch :;- mg in the following years, and alter the KXI'EIUENCIi GAINED UV (JAUKIUL WJIIOHINC; aud shedding results. Mr Mc.l mnet was 4-... rahy uui.j to pick out trom a large irnvis a nice lot of goo l feeders. His • access wai p iced in evidence by the i .ct that, aft r keeping luh caitle for t -n scson of eleven mouths they have uways been bought by English' ibalors lor the demesnes of Kne.h;;h iiobleuuu. liar, opp ii tuuiti. ,-i lor applying his B.stum, and testing its value on a morn extensive scale, alter the lapse of Some vcai.s, occurred. [„ |,S,v! Mr McJuiuet took over the larm of Uror-lnziuvar, and the first impl.meiit lr.> cent, through to his farm was A WKlrtir-BBIUDK, mil it i:i cbarict. r =uc of Mr MeJamiet's practical sagacity that every b. ; an-1 every allele brought I i the 'anil I . :

■ ell there, and every ti p ti.i'. has ielt the farm, has bin we glmd aud the weiuhts booked. In Older to get the linn mo good heart and condi'ioii, it -en- necessity to fait- n large numbers of U' Ouk<, sie.it.) t; :.; u-e a nplu mauuru for tho gne n i r<;:.:. When i.ish cattle were bought at tiie October Falkirk trys's they worn weighed on a.-rival, ami regularly thereaf'er every twenty-cght di>s ull sultLiendy fat to sell lor slaughtering. Mr MoJaiinct conducted his linn opeiMtions on business principle ', just as it it had been a c lliery or a mill, nr any other business undertaking. He had the crop of ewry field weigh-d. and Was able to teil at any time what crop and stock he bad on I and. He sent his fat cattle to Messrs John .Swan and Son's Auction Mart, liaymar.iet, Edinburgh, for sale ; and there the cattle were weighed as they encored the ring, and thrni- weight marked on a blackboard for the information of those buyers who cared to look He took a note of

TIIK WKIfiHTH AN'D Tl/E PUICKS' 'obtained, not only of his own cattle, but of cattle be'ongiug to other people, of a similar description to his own. As tho bullock 3 always weighed at home on leaving the previous day for sile, by comparing the two weights Mi' MeJannet was ah'e to asccrtan the loss of weight through fasting and travelling. This * h"? found, amounted to ".fl'is per cwt. With the information tlnis obtained Mr Vic Jan net was enabled to value his cattle at home, and be then br.ld the majority of his beasts to the local butchers. The idei could only have occurred to oue of Mr McJ-uiuctt's quickness of wit and energy To eneouiage the butchers to come to the farm lie invariably only charged them the Kdiuburgh value, aud gave them the auctioneer's fee and railway carriage as lnckspenny—equal to 12s per bead. Nothing was lost in giving away this lucltspenuy ; it plca-;ed. the buyers, and demonstrated the advantage to be derived from the application nf just principles to an ordinary transaction.

For several years Mr McJannct never thought about other, fanners. lie did not come much in contact with them, and thought they had some way or oilier of their own of ascertaining the value of their cattle. A number of years ago, however, he had three extensive fanr.crs and feeders on a visit to Ovcr-Inzievar, and, on showing them his feeding cattle, it occurred to him quiteaceideiit.iliy that he should show them his wcigh-bridge, and how he valued his cattle. Jt'so happened that he had just sold a lota few days previously in Edinburgh, and 1 ad obtained H.Ss per cwt. for them. Rut MR ir.r.lNXK'l' IS FO.VI) (If KXI'KKIUKXT.-t, and before turning out a hca ,t and placing him on the weigh-bridge, he thought he should ask his friends to'value the beast, and accordingly be gave ta-di a slip of paper and sent them in. one .it a time, to handle the beast and mark down his value on the );np:r. Having received the three slips as they were filled up, Mr MeJannet was surprised to find that there was a dilFei-enco of dL':; between the highest and lowest estimates, and, on weighing the bullocks, he considered the highest estimate was still £1 10s below the true value. Naturally lie was astonished at this result. His visitors were good men, they were well known as shrewd farmers, and yet. here, they were manifestly at fault. They had shown to a demonstration hou-they could be outwitted and, as if; may alnio t be put, defrauded of part of their ;.ulistance. The test betrayed tho weal: link in the chain, and Mr McJannct resolved to hammer out and supply a new one that would defy any strain that might be applied to it. There re mains no doubt fiat he has snee i-ded. The Highland aud Agricultural Society have given prominence to hi,-, t.vperiincnts and deductions in this year's volume of their transactions, and the Irish Land Coin missioners have ordered to be print- d for free distribution several thousand copies of McJannet's pap r on " The advantag s of the weigh luidee to farmers."

In the end of ISSf) be persuaded Mr Thomas Corson, auctioneer in Oban and Stirling, to erect a weigh-bridge within bis auction mart at Stirling, atid to give, in bis N'EW.SPAPEH REI'OKT.S, the prices obtained per live cwt. In order further to help to spread the information, Mr MeJannet employed a competent reporter to attend the sales and prepare for Scotch newspapers a special report, giving the live weight of, say, a dozen of cattle, with the prices obtained for them ; also the calculated price per cwt, and an estimate of their quality. These reports found ready access into the columns of many of the Scotch newspapers, and, as auctioneer after auctioneer followed. Mr Corson's example, Mr MeJannet sent his reporter to the various marts and took quotations. Now, a column of quotations taken by his men appears in the Scotch agricultural papers weekly, and so farmers have now a very fair idea of the actual price of cattle sold in Scotland during the week.

_ It is a saying that has stood the test of time, that " Nothing succeeds like success." Few cat.le arc now sold without the assistance of the weigh-bridge. All auctioneers of any standing have erected weigh-bridges within their auction unrts, and those who have not got them have ordered weigh-bridge makers to erect them.

THE DEMAND has been so great that makers are far behind with their deliveries. Fortunately other makers are becoming alive to the importance of this brauoh of their "**"

ttado, aurl arc imw doing their host tc C'i'!']i"tO B':C.T-f"'-fnl!y with lllO'-C Il'ftkir: who lm<i it. nil tlioir' own way till now, Mr MrJannnt is totally unconnected ivitl any firm of weijjh-bridtjo makers, but hi li.i'; snpp'! '1 many makers with inl'r ima tion as to tho rotjniieinetits of auctioi marts (specimen catm), and is still opi'i to furnish any makor of wcigh-brider with information which his tliornutjl knowledge gained from actual observ.i tion and practical experience has taugli him.