which was now made for guarantees. After thanking them for their attention, the learned professor resumed his seat loudly cheered. in most soils a natural provision against this; there was gene- elucidation of the principles which rendered artificial ma- Mr. W. THURSFIELD said he had found great advantage from top-dressing. The CHAIRMAN said, it was probably from want of accurate observation, but he perceived no practical benefit to the crop on that part of the field which he had top-dressed; it was much greener, but at harvest he saw no difference. It was very true that they could not lay down any general principles; every person ought to be able by observation to know what was best suited for his own land, for there was scarcely a farm of any extent which did not consist of several kinds of land. Hence the importance of knowing sufficient of general principles to be able to apply one's common sense to particular cases. The value of an institution like that at Cirencester, where the students were made acquainted with the practical application of science, was not sufficiently known and could not be over-estimated. It would be an excellent thing if farmers could send their sons there for a short time, and the knowledge that he would acquire would certainly make him a better farmer. What could be more important than for the farmer to know that coprolite in an undissolved state was useless on the land ? It was, however, with some surprise that he heard that one cwt. of guano was equal to a ton of farmyard manure. To put upon land 3 or 4 cwt. of guano was a good dressing-three or four tons of manure would do nothing at all. Mr. W. THURSFIELD asked what kind of bones were best-those which were calcined, or those in which the glue was left. Dr. VOELCKER said, the value of the bones would be reduced just in proportion as the nitrogen was taken out of them; but inasmuch as the phosphate was made more available the deterioration was more than made up. He would therefore rather have boiled bones. Mr. THURSFIELD inquired how it was when he put lime upon a field for barley, after it had been manured by guano and superphosphate for turnips, the crop was not so good in that part of the field as in the portion where he put no lime? Dr. VOELCKER thought the land did not require lime after being well manured with superphosphate. In answer to the Chairman the learned Professor further said, that he did not intend to convey that no ammonia was beneficial to root crops; but generally speaking the plant absorbed enough of atmospheric ammonia, and any large amount applied would do harm. In speaking of coprolites he meant to say that although they were useless to the farmer, they were of the greatest use to the manufacturer. All soils more or less stored up with great care the ammonia-the only exception being loose soils. If, therefore, he had his choice of manures for root crops he should take nothing but phosphates, for in most cases animals were fed on the roots and supplied, with other sources, sufficient ammonia. The CHAIRMAN said, his land would be in a pitiable mess if he were to feed on it, and it would take some time to bring the land into a proper state. Strong land, in his opinion, was the best for turnips-of course he did not mean wet land, because land not drained, with a quantity of sour water upon it, was not conducive to the health of any plant. But those lands which were most favourable for growing swedes and turnips were just those which the farmer could not eat off. He presumed, however, that the Professor meant that if the turnips were taken to the stall, and consumed there, the land ultimately received the manure. Dr. VOELCKER: Certainly; for, to eat off some soil would be to ruin the land. With respect to top-dressing, he had always looked upon this as patch-work, which on a good farm should be dispensed with, although it was very useful now and then. But when the farmer had been prevented prosecuting his regular work, and the land was not in a good state, a topdressing of nitrate of soda and salt-applied in the springwas very beneficial. To manure well in rotation however would enable them to dispense in a great measure with topdressing, although on grass land this was of the utmost utility. Mr. THURSFIELD appealed to one or two gentlemen present to whom he had recommended his plan of top-dressing, and they said it had answered. Rev. H. W. WAYNE mentioned that some soils, upon which very poor crops of grain were given, were extremely deficient in alumina. He wished to know whether alumina could be applied to the the land in a concentrated form, or must it be carted in the shape of clay? Dr. VOELCKER answered in the negative. Rev. H. W. WAYNE said there were some springs in that neighbourhood, which contained in solution a large amount of lime; now he should like to know if it would be worth while to mix salt with this water, where it could easily be conreyed over the land, and thus have a deposit of carbonate of soda. Dr. VOELCKER replied that ordinarily there was in water sufficient lime to answer all practical purposes; and the experiment would not in his opinion produce any marked result. la reply to another question the learned professor said, superphosphate by being diluted was not made more fit to apply to plants but inasmuch as it could by being diluted be so much better distributed over the land, immense benefit resulted from sing the liquid manure-drill. Rer H. W. WAYNE then in very complimentary terms proposed a vote of thanks to the learned lecturer; and after making some remarks upon the utility of these gatherings, referred to the curious fact that, according to an old Roman writer, the ancient Britons were in the habit of using as manure what they took out of the mines, thus showing that from a very early period our ancestors had been accustomed to enrich the surface of the land. Mr. BLAKEWAY seconded the proposition with much pleaare. The meeting ought to be much obliged to the talented fecturer for the important knowledge he had communicated, for there was not a farmer present who would not be able to see that he could buy a manure to answer his purpose better than guano at half the cost. Dr. VOELCKER in acknowledging the compliment said, the difference in price was not the only advantage gained; for in an experiment which he had made upon some poor land, he found that guano produced about six tous per acre, while superphosphate produced double-nearly 12 tons. Mr. FOWLER proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Benson for the able manner in which he had presided over the meeting. Mr. EVAN DAVIES seconded it. It was often the case that farmers prided themselves upon the amount of money they had expended in top-dressing, without, he was afraid, carefully weighing the results. Last year he top-dressed part of a field; and he must confess that, so far as he could observe, there was no difference in the crop between that which was top-dressed and that which was not. The harvest came upon them rather suddenly, and he was not able to weigh carefully the product of each portion as he intended to do, otherwise he should have been better prepared to give the results than he was at present. The remarks of the Professor upon the subject of soluble phosphates should be carefully considered, for it was now clear that they should secure those manures which had not only phosphate in their composition, but having that valuable ingredient in a soluble form. The CHAIRMAN, after thanking them, asked what protection the farmer had that he was supplied with real phosphates? Clearly but one-to make the manure himself, by buying the bones and dissolving them in acid. Dr. VOELCKER thought it was certainly not the best plan for the farmer to make his own superphosphate. Upon their farm, up to within the last three years, they had manufactured their own superphosphate, but they had now discovered that it was much better to buy it ready manufactured, in addition to the inconvenience of doing so. If the buyer obtained a guarantee that the manure contained a certain quantity of soluble phosphate, he wanted nothing more. This constituent was a distinct chemical substance, and how the manufacturer produced it was nothing to the farmer. The manufacturing of artificial manures was now quite an art; and the superior appliances at the disposal of the large manufacturer rendered it easy for him to produce a good manure at a price not far above what the farmer would have to pay for the crude material. Thus many intelligent manufacturers make a better superphospate than can be made from bones and acids alone. After a little further conversation, the meeting broke up. The CHAIRMAN said the subject upon which they were about to hear a very interesting leeture was a very important one to the farmer. Dr. VOELCKER said there had been a good deal of talk about the relative merits of farm-yard manure and artificials. Some would have nothing but the former, while others evidently thought the perfection of good farming was to use an unlimited quantity of artificial manure. Many of the latter gentlemen troubled themselves very little about what they really bought; it sufficed for them to expend a certain amount of money on some description of artificial manure, which might be entirely valueless for their particular purpose. Such, for instance, as the London Economic, the Essence of Guano, and others. Now, farm-yard manure was an excellent thing in its proper place, and so was any other description of manure. Some artificial manures, which were exceedingly valuable, lost their efficacy from being improperly applied, and a great quantity of valuable manure at the present day was wasted on farms for the want of knowledge necessary for its application. Those who had not sufficient intelligence or general knowledge on the subject of plants would be less likely to go wrong if they followed the old-fashioned routine and used farm-yard manure, than by using artificial manure, which at least would be of no use to them. Some knowledge ought to be had of the wants of the different crops that grow in rotation. Those wants could not well be laid before his hearers without a reference to the character or properties of the soil to which they were applied. On the whole, the proper system of manuring required a great deal of rudimentary knowledge, which could not be treated of in a single lecture. He would therefore rather offer a few remarks on the comparative advantages of natural and artificial manure; and each of these possessed peculiarities of their own, which rendered them perfectly well adapted to special purposes. As would be seen on reference to the diagrams, one peculiarity of farmyard manure was its extreme complexity of character. [The diagram referred to contained the analysis of the component parts of fresh and rotten manure.] It contained both organic and inorganic food, and was applicable to a variety of crops, such as corn, root crops, and grass land; and this, no doubt, was the reason why farm-yard manure was entitled to the name of universal manure. It contained everything required by our cultivated crops. But he did not say that it should always be used indiscriminately. Another peculiarity of farm-yard manure was that it exercised beneficial effect on plants, not only supplying direct food to them, but producing a highly beneficial mechanical effect on the soil, especially on stiff clay land. He was a strong advocate for long dung being applied as soon as possible. In the yard manure one great peculiarity was the large amount of water-in fact, this amounted generally to 66 per cent., and in rotten it amounted to three-fourths of the whole bulk; so that for every ton of active manuring matter, the farmer has to cart three tons of useless materials, even supposing that the remaining ton is composed of nothing else but valuable fertilizing constituents. This would explain why it was that artificial manures were especially adapted for hilly districts and for fields removed a considerable distance from the farm-yard. He did not think that farmers always took a sufficient account of the wear and tear of horses and men in the transit and application of that manure. If the subject were carefully considered, the farmer would think twice before he carted a heavy load of farmyard manure some eight or nine miles from a town, and afterwards applied it to a remote field on the farm; and he would also hesitate before producing farm-yard manure at any expense. Under some circumstances, which every farmer ought to know best for himself, feeding cattle did not pay at all; farmers sometimes made up their minds to feed at a loss, calculating on something for the manure. But it was a very delicate question whether this was the best way of producing manure, or whether it was not better to use the ordinarily-made manure, and apply it in connection with artificial or special manure, the latter term showing that it was adapted for special purposes. If a farm was not in good order, it ought to be brought round by general manure, such as farm-yard manure; but when it was in better condition, to make it go as far as possible, special manure must be resorted to. A peculiarity in artificial manures was that they supplied special fertilizing ingredients to the exclusion of some others which were abundant in farm-yard manure. For instance: In the best Peruvian guano there was a high per-centage of ammonia, with about 20 or 25 per cent. of phosphate of lime; and that guano was applied for getting an additional crop of corn. Some other artificial manures-bone-dust, for instance-were valuable on account of their containing phosphate of lime, which was favourable to the production of roots, nothing tending to the rapid development of bulb so much as that. He did not mean that phosphates were of no use to corn crops In some soils they produced a marked effect, and he had that morning recommended a gentleman to use superphosphate by way of a trial, to keep up his wheat. There had been a good deal of talk about a deficiency of silica in soils, which prevented corn from standing up. It was remarkable that soils peculiarly liable to corn lying down generally contained a high per-centage of silica. From observations that had been made on the subject, he was inclined to think that what had been said about silica must be regarded more as a theory rather than a resting on well-ascertained facts. It had not yet been ascertained how it was that some crops were stronger than others; and until that was found out, it was of no use reasoning upon the matter. Corn become laid down from a variety of reasons. If the land contained a supply of all the elements necessary for the growth of the plant, a dressing of guano produced a coarse wheat, which often became laid down. When wheat became laid down it arose from something | in the soil being in too large proportion. Some people had a curious way of estimating the skill of the farmer by the amount of the manure which he put on his land. Some men were content with eight tons of farm-yard manure, while others used as much as twenty tons to the acre. The farmer, however, who tried the larger dose did not often repeat the experiment, for he became convinced that, in farming, what was good in one instance was not good in another. The great advantage of artificial manures was that they contained special fertilizing ingredients to the exclusion of other substances, and hence its adaptation to special circumstances. How were these special circumstances to be ascertained? He had no doubt in his own mind that bone dust or superphosphate mixed with farm-yard manure would be of great advantage, as it would supply the element which was very much deficient infarm-yard manure, especially where the manure was produced by young and lean stock, which absorbed all the phosphate of the food; in the manure from fattening animals there was a large proportion of this substance, and hence its great value. Phosphates generally speaking were more suitable for root crops, but it was impossible to lay down general rules; the farmer himself ought to be the best judge, whether in order to obtain a good crop anything else was required. Turnips did not live alone upon phosphate; they required a variety of other substanceslime, soda, potash, and other fertilizing matters. It depended upon the farmer to find this out, and no one else. There was a good deal of land in this part of the country which required nothing more, in order to obtain good root crops, than bone in an efficient state of preparation. The learned professor then went on to observe upon the constituent parts of guano and superphosphate, and their application to particular soils and for particular crops. [The substance of this part of his lecture will be found in our report of the Wenlock Farmers' Club]. He illustrated the immense importance of examining the manure we buy, by referring to the following table, which proved that some superphosphate contained four times as much valuable fertilizing matters as others : Alkaline salts Burnt gypsum. lime.... Hydrated sulphate of lime (gypsum).... Lusoluble bone phos. phate .......... Equal to bone earth.. Water... Organic matter Soluble phosphate of (9.94) (16.09) (5.61) (13.33) (7.37) (40.11) (31.63)|23.06 6.83 25.10 28.39 44.20 24.42 40.16 43.05 46.63 1.56 6.68 6.38 10.31 3.60 8.55 5.02 25.70 20.28 14.78 4.11 40.43 12.38 5 82 5.16 1.56 6.73 19.50 2.52 2.41 2 93 2.16 4.23 2.32 96 10.78 1.18 43.60 5.58 3.19 5.26 'I II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Mr. GEORGE DAVIES, as a farmer, was much COMPOSITION OF SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. obliged for the able and practical lecture which they had just heard. He wished to know if the learned professor could tell him how red clover could be retained on light soils from February until June. He had some years ago conversed with Dr. Pepper on this subject, and was now in communication with Mr. Nesbit, but the latter gentleman had not answered the question he now put. Dr. VOELCKER said, this question was a most important one, which it would be most desirable to solve. About four years ago, he paid some attention to what was called "clover-sickness ;" and, like most beginners, in two months he fancied he knew something about the matter, and threw out some suggestions, with a view to remedy the evil. Having, however, followed up the question in various operations, and in the laboratory, and after some long correspondence, he had come to the conclusion that, upon the subject of clover-sickness, he knew as much or as little as the man in the moon. Mr. DAVIES asked if the fermentation of ordinary manure would render chipped bones sufficiently soluble to be of use to the crop? Dr. VOELCKER thought it would be quite sufficient; and, after one turning, the bone-dust would disappear. It would, in his opinion, be a very great advantage to use bone-dust in that way. Mr. PAYNE inquired if the Professor recommended long manure to be ploughed in, or used as a top-dressing? Dr. VOELCKER said in very stiff land it would be better to plough it in, as in that way they obtained the full advantage of the manure. Mr. GEORGE DAVIES then moved, and Mr. GEORGE WATTON Seconded, a vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was cordially carried and acknowledged. A similar compliment was, on the motion of Mr. NEVETT (Yoreton) accorded to the Chairman, in acknowledging which, Mr. MEIRE expressed his regret that there was not in the county town a club where farmers could meet and discuss subjects connected with the improvement of the land, and other subjects of the greatest importance to the farmer. The information they had received that day was proof of how much could be gained in this way. The meeting then separated. REPORT ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE, STEPPE MURRAIN, OR RINDERPEST. BY JAMES BEART SIMONDS, PROFESSOR OF CATTLE PATHOLOGY IN THE ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE, LONDON. Epizootic diseases, and particularly those that have prevailed among cattle and sheep, have in all ages excited much attention, and taxed the pen of the faithful historian, as well as the cultivator of the science of medicine, to record their successive outbreaks and devastating effects. It is not, however, our intention in this report to follow in a succinct manner the account which has been given of these diseases, extending, as it does, from the period of the infliction of "a grievous murrian" of "boils and blains" on the cattle of Egypt, as a Divine punishment to the obdurate Pharaoh for resisting the command to let the Children of Israel go, down to our own times; but to record the result of our investigations into the nature and consequences of the disease which recently seemed to threaten to invade our shores. Whether "the murrain" that fell upon the cattle of the Egyptians has been permitted in an altered or mitigated form to remain as a scourge to succeeding nations is a problem which cannot, we opine, be satisfactorily solved by any supposed resemblance which our present cattle plagues may bear to the one described by the sacred historian. This fearful and miraculous visitation must be regarded as the chief of these scourges, however destructive they may since have been. In the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans the outbreaks of these diseases were not unfrequent, and numerous records of them are left by Homer, Plutarch, Virgil, and others. Columella, at about the commencement of the Christian era, speaks of them as contagious maladies; and Vegetius, in the fourth century, treats largely of their contagious properties, and recommends that the diseased animals should," with all diligence and care, be separated from the herd, and put apart by themselves." Fracastorius and Weierus also describe the sad effects of one of these visitations in 810, when it is said that the greater part of the cattle perished throughout the Emperor Charlemagne's dominions. The first recorded instance, however, which we find of the cattle in England being affected by one of this class of maladies is in 1713-14, at which period an epizootic, that for a few years previously had prevailed in several continental states, suddenly broke out here, and swept off many of our cattle. No account sufficiently explicit upon the nature and progress of the disease has been handed down to us, so that it is difficult to speak with certainty of its true characters, and much more either of its duration or the amount of loss which the country sustained. It appears, however, that the malady possessed many of the features of Eczema epizootica, now common among us, and it may possibly have been identical with this disease. The infection seems to have been communicated by the saliva, as it is said that "when this is dropped on the grass, and sound animals are immediately placed on the same pasture, they contract the disorder; and in some bullocks the tongue was inflamed and covered with many red blisters." This malady was succeeded in 1744 by one of far greater importance, because attended with a far greater fatality. The disease in question early attracted the attention of the Government, who promptly adopted vigorous means of arresting its progress. It is asserted that the malady first appeared in the neighbourhood of London, whence it extended over the length and breadth of the land, destroying hundreds of thousands of cattle, and continuing its devastating effects with almost unmitigated severity down to 1754-5. Its introduction here has been differently accounted for; but it is pretty generally attributed to the importation of two calves from Holland by a farmer residing at Poplar, with a view of improving his breed, and in whose systems the disease was incubated. Dr. Layard, in his Essay on the disease, says, however, that an opinion prevailed that it was brought over by an English tanner, who had purchased "a parcel of distempered hides in Zealand very cheap, because they were forbidden to be sold there, and should have been buried." It seems, therefore, to have been confidently believed at the time that the disease was an imported one-a circumstance of much practical value, now that we are receiving several hundreds of cattle week by week from the Continent; although, as this Report will hereafter show, our own investigations have proved that no fear need be entertained at present of "the great cattle murrain" visiting our shores. Notwithstanding the deep and painful interest which this disease excited, and the efforts made by the Government of the day to stay its ravages, no correct estimate can be formed of the numbers of cattle which were lost to the country from its duration and extension; but it was ascertained by one of the Commissioners appointed by the Government that in Nottinghamshire alone 40,000 head of cattle perished in six months, and in Cheshire upwards of 30,000 in the same space of time. By a special Act of Parliament, the King in Council was empowered to issue such orders as were deemed the most effective to arrest the progress of the pest. Instructions were thereupon given, 1st. For the killing of all the infected animals, and burying them entire with the skins on, "slashed from head to tail," that they might not be used for the purpose of the manufacturer. very few; but others, who would kill none until their own folly had made them wiser, did not save more than one out of ten." Many difficulties were thrown in the way of carrying out the instructions, and not a few impositions were practised by some designing persons claiming the award for old and worn-out animals, as well as for those which were suffering from totally different diseases. In this day, now that veterinary surgeons are practising in every part of the country, such frauds would scarcely be attempted; and we believe, in the event of occasion requiring it, that a system of inspection, comparatively inexpensive, might be devised which would effectually prevent any instances of the kind. It is further recorded that in one year, the third of the existence of the disease, £135,000 was paid out of the Treasury as a recompense for the cattle killed according to the prescribed orders, and that during the same year 80,000 head of cattle were killed, and nearly double that number died from the disease. To meet this alarming state of things, and the difficulties which sprung out of the adoption of the measures of the Government, various other Orders of Council were promulgated, and in the third order we find that no cattle, fat or lean, would be suffered to pass the Humber and the Trent northward from its date, namely, January 19th, 1747, to the 27th of the following March; the object evidently being to protect the cattle in the northern counties by cutting off all direct communication between them and the infected districts for two months. 6 Newby, in an appendix to his work on mangel-wurzel, states that the cattle fair at Barnet had its origin in the existence of this disease. "The fair," he says, formerly kept at Islington, till the distemper, which 2nd. For the burning of all the hay and straw used raged violently among the cows at that place in 1746, about the animals. 3rd. For the cleaning and fumigating the sheds, &c., and for no sound cattle to be put in them for two months after the removal of the diseased. 4th. For no recovered animal to be allowed to go near others for a month after its convalescence. 5th. For no diseased cattle to be driven to fairs or markets, nor for the flesh to be used as food for dogs, &c. 6th. For no healthy cattle to be removed from a farm where the disease had prevailed in less than a month after its disappearance. And, lastly, orders were issued for the notice of an outbreak to be immediately sent by the farmers to either the constables, churchwardens, overseers, or the special inspectors appointed by the magistrates acting for the parish or district. The Government also undertook to pay forty shillings for every ox, bull, or cow which was killed, and ten shillings for every calf, with a corresponding price for their skins. Mr. Youatt, in his account of the disease, as published in the work entitled "Cattle," says, "Of the propriety of this bonus for the destruction of infected cattle, there cannot be a doubt, for there were numerous instances in which those who began to kill the sick as soon as the distemper appeared among their cattle, lost obliged the Welshmen to remove to Barnet, where it has been continued ever since.” Great as were the losses, no reasonable doubt can be entertained that they would have been much augmented had not the Government taken the course it did; and we also fear that the continuance of the disease would have been extended over a far greater number of years than it was. The attempts at cure were not satisfactory, and very little was known of the true nature of the malady even by those members of the medical profession who gave attention to it, for at that time there were no scientifically educated veterinary practitioners. After a careful perusal and analysation of the writings of the different physicians who have treated of the subject, we believe that we are justified in saying that the malady was identical with that which has recently excited so much fear and alarm in the public mind, as being likely to be introduced from the continent. From the period of a subsidence both in the amount and virulence of this cattle pest in 1754-5 until its final departure a few years afterwards, England appears to have been singularly exempt from epizootic diseases, and to have remained so down to August, 1839, when great anxiety was created by the sudden and almost simultaneous appearance of a new affection" (although probably of the same nature as that of 1713-14) among the 66 |