2 
crade, though risky enough, is not so uncertain as the chilled 
oeef trade, as the article is less perishable. If a jobber over- 
estimates his requirements, particularly of chilled beef, in the 
early morning, he may find it necessary to reduce his prices in 
order to clear. He always aims at having no unsold meat on 
his stall when the market closes at 1 o’clock, as meat left hanging 
has to compete on the following day with supplies brought fresh 
trom the ship or cold store and, unless a shortage develops and 
vrices stiffen, he may not be able to obtain a bid for his day-old 
eat. It is this element of perishableness, coupled with the 
regularity of arrivals, which makes the business of selling chilled 
beef so dangerous. Moreover, demand is anything but a stable 
factor and its changes can rarely be foreseen. Cheap mutton, 
a plentiful supply of cheap pork, a sudden change in the weather— 
any of these may lessen the demand for beef and cause its value 
to drop pence per lb. in the course of a single market. As soon 
2s demand weakens, there is eager selling to avoid ¢ carry-over.” 
\[ost salesmen also know to their cost that it is bad selling policy 
to have a carry-over even in frozen mutton and lamb. The 
fundamental difference between the chilled and frozen trade is, 
however, that chilled beef must be disposed of on the day of 
¢ pitching,” whereas frozen goods can be held in cold stores in 
and around the market, so that if a jobber under-estimates his 
requirements he can draw a further supply from a neighbouring 
store without delay. If necessary, also, he can re-deposit 
ansaleable frozen goods in store, though this reacts unfavourably 
on the appearance and, therefore, on the price of the meat 
roncerned. 
So far, only the stall-holding activities of the market have 
seen described, i.e., sales by stall-holders to the retailers and 
others who buy meat for immediate consumption. Viewed from 
this standpoint, Smithfield is merely a wholesale meat market 
resembling the wholesale meat markets in other parts of the 
sountry, and differing from them only as regards its size and 
in the higher proportion of imported to home supplies sold. 
Imithfield is, however, much more than a wholesale market; 
it also functions as an exchange where the merchandise sold is 
mainly titular, 7.e., drafts on goods lying in cold store, on ships 
in the docks or at sea, the transactions being limited to ex-store, 
ex-ship and c.if. dealings in frozen supplies. 
Engaged in this extra-market trade are specialist merchants, 
and it is not difficult to see how they have evolved and why 
they have made their home in and around the market area. 
When imported meats first appeared on the market, they were 
consigned to selected stall-holders for sale. Later, as the 
quantities coming forward increased beyond the power of any 
one stall to sell, it became necessary to spread supplies over as 
many stall-holders as possible. This was done, in some cases, 
by integration; on the one hand, a number of companies owning 
freezing works. including most of the American companies,