TttE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



173 



knd of the utility of calling veterinary surgeons to attend the 

 suffering animals, or of following out the iudicatious met with 

 in the popular treatises on veterinary medicine in the EngUsh 

 language. He believed animals died quicker when subjected 

 to treatment ; but he wished a prize to be offered for an essay 

 on the disease. Before, and since then, I have heard many 

 farmers express the same opinion ; but it is likewise an un- 

 doubted fact that, under proper management, instead of about 

 40 percent, of the animals that die of disease dying of colic, 

 there should be a per-centage of one or two." 



Wo confess we shall be rather curious to see what 

 the members of Mr. Gamgee's own profession say to 

 all this. Undoubtedly he puts their present rank and 



claims at a very low standard. It may yet remain to 

 be proved how far he is warranted in this, or of what 

 improvement the art is really susceptible. Had he 

 stood quite alone here, we might have hesitated as to 

 giving his opinions any further publicity. But many 

 think with him; and one of the most celebrated of 

 living veterinarians of the English school, Mr. James 

 Turner, has said : — " Of late the veterinary profession 

 has been seized with apathy ; no weighty facts, to last 

 out all time, have been chronicled. The remedy and 

 grand requirement of the present crisis is fresh infusion 

 of energetic spirit for research." 



THE WOOL TRADE OF THE PAST YEAR. 



The publication of the annual wool circulars neces- 

 sarily directs attention to the course of trade in that 

 raw material during the past year, and the future 

 prospects for the wool staplers and manufacturers, as 

 regards this important animal product. Large as the 

 extension of sheep farming has become, and exten- 

 sively as pastoral occupationii are now carried on in 

 old and new districts, they are far from commensurate 

 to the wants of Commerce. Side by side with the ex- 

 ploration and occupation of the squatter and sheep far- 

 mer, comes the rolling tide of population, as Emigration 

 proceeds to new fields, and the demand for food becomes 

 equally urgent with that for clothing, since the flocks 

 are more extensively bred and sacrificed for the carcase. 

 In Europe and the United States the number of sheep 

 reared scarcely averages one per head to each of the 

 population. It is only in thinly -settled districts, like 

 the Cape colony and the interior African settlements, 

 Australia, and the River Plate districts, that there is a 

 large excess, and a yearly increasing extension in the ex- 

 ports of wool. 



Glancing over the statistics of the past year, it is 

 highly satisfactory to note the large increase in our im- 

 ports of wool, which sets at rest the fears entertained, a year 

 or two ago, of declining supplies. Although the foreign 

 wools in this progressive increase, compared with the pre- 

 ceding years, have pushed a-head, and show greater strides 

 than the colonial imports do ; still there is a steady in- 

 crease shown in the wool supplies from the colonies 

 each year, of five or six million pounds. The total im- 

 ports for the first eleven months of 1857 are equal to 

 those of the whole twelve months of 1856. Of the im- 

 ports, two-thiids were colonial wools, and one-third 

 foreign. 



In the colonial wools there is a decline in the receipts 

 of upwards of 7, OUO bales from Australia. The Cape 

 show little alteration from the previous year's figures. 

 From India and China there have been increased receipts 

 to the extent of 10,000 bales. We firmly believe that 

 there is a large scope for increased supplies of wool 

 from India, Persia, and China ; and more attention will 

 doubtless be paid to the preparation of the fleece for 

 market. Some of these long-stapled wools are already 

 in good favour as a substitute for English combing wools. 

 Passing now to the European wools, we find an in- 

 crease of about 21,000 bales from Russia. 



The production of wool in Russia might be indefi- 

 nitely extended. The Government has always fostered 

 this branch of husbandry. Hundreds of thousands of 

 acres of the unoccupied public lands have been given to 

 those who would establish sheep foldsonan extensivescale. 

 Too much attention is, however, paid in Russia to the 

 increase of the flocks rather than the improvement of 

 the breed of sheep. The washing and sorting of the 

 wool are also performed with the greatest slovenliness. 



Lately the rearing of fine-woolled sheep has become an 

 object of increased attention, and out of the total num- 

 ber of about 50,000,000 sheep in Russia, one-fifth are 

 stated to be fine-woolled sheep. 



There was an increase of 3,000 or 4,000 bales of wool 

 from Portugal last year, and about 2,000 bales from 

 Spain : these being chiefly forwarded to France. From 

 Germany we received more than 7,000 bales less than 

 in 1856. The production of wool there would seem to 

 be stationary, if not retrograding, and is by no means 

 adequate to the increasing domestic wants. 



Remarks are freely made on a wretched practice 

 which prevails in some parts of Germany and Hun- 

 gary, and is also followed by the German and Dutch 

 settlers in Southern Africa, and the Western States of 

 America — namely, that of shearing twice in the year. 

 This is both injurious to the animal and to the quality 

 of the wool. Our South American supplies continue 

 beyond an average, and in some instances show an 

 excess : thus Peruvian and Alpaca wool is 8,000 bales 

 in excess. 



A rather singular item is the receipt of about 1,400 

 bags of wool the domestic growth of the United States, 

 the first import of any extent for some years past ; and 

 this shipment probably arose out of the panic, and the de- 

 sire to realize in this market. This wool will probably 

 be reshipped with other supplies for the American mar- 

 ket. Considerable attention is now paid to wool grow- 

 ing in the United States. American wool even surpasses 

 many of the foreign wools for its felting properties, and 

 for its suitability for making light or heavy broadcloth. 

 Samples have been obtained from American flocks 

 which contained 2,522 serrations to the inch, while the 

 finest Saxony wools from Hungary will only contain 

 about 2,400 serrations. 



The unlimited extent of pasture available, with proper 

 care and shelter, would ensure a large production of 

 wool ; but labour is dear and scarce, and large flocks 

 can seldom or ever be kept. Still the number of sheep 

 is greatly on the increase, and is computed at 

 29,000,000; while the production of wool must be fully 

 80,000,000 lbs. ^ , , ^^ ^ 



Wool is much cultivated in the New England States, 

 especially in Vermont. The Ohio wool-clip last year 

 is estimated to have exceeded that of 1856 by at least 

 three million pounds. The counties in the centre of 

 that State are now as famous for their fine wool as they 

 formerly were for their great crops of wheat. 



America, however, does not produce enough wool 

 even for home consumption. The alteration in the 

 American tariff, which admitted in July last wools be- 

 low lOd. per lb. in value, free of duty, further stimulated 

 shipments across the Atlantic ; although some of these 

 arrived at an inopportune time, during the prevalence Of 

 the financial crisis. 



