200 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



death of many of these animals. These worms often 

 existed in large quantities, thickly besetting the mucous 

 coat and having their heads firmly embedded in it. 

 Their expulsion or detachment was prevented by a 

 barbed state of the skin near the head of the worm, but 

 which the creature could depress when moving from 

 spot to spot. The large quantity of nutriment par- 

 taken of by those entozoa ultimately anjemiated the 

 animal. They were met with early in life, and while the 

 lambs had every appearance of health, consequently 

 they could not be viewed as an effect of the diseased 

 state of the organism but as its cause. Professor 

 Simonds also stated that many entozoa underwent 

 transformation, and gave as an illustration the hydatid 

 in the brain of sheep, the cause of the disease as being 

 one stage of the development of the tapeworm of the 

 dog in particular. He also stated that the measly con- 

 dition of the flesh of pigs depended on the presence of 

 hydatids, which in the digestive organs of other animals 

 would develop into tapeworms ; but that either the salt- 

 ing or cooking of pork would destroy the hydatids. 

 Such food could be eaten with impunity, although it 

 wanted nutritive properties. Oil of turpentine with 

 linseed oil was among the most useful vermifuges. Sul- 



phate of iron mixed in the food of Iambs had been 

 found very beneficial in the expulsion of the barbed 

 worms from their stomachs. 



Communications were received from 



1. Mr. W. Melton, of Bathurat St. Mary'a, River Gambia, 

 transmitting a specimen of haulm of the Arrachide or 

 Ground-nut. 



2. Mr. Cadogan Williams, of Bridgend, Glamorganshire, on 

 the means of aecuriog corn iu wet harvests. 



3. Messrs. Hardy and Son, Seed Growers, Maldon, Essex, 

 inclosing diagram of a clamp or shed for preserving roots 

 in winter. 



4. Mr. Bernard Boyle, 7, Tokenhouse Yard, submitting a 

 plan for disposal of metropolitan sewage. 



5. Mr. T. Hampton Corbet, of Whittington, Towcester, on 

 the potato disease. 



6. Mr. G. H. Bolton, of Warrington, on a method of deter- 

 mining the sex of future animals. 



7. Mr. Thomas Tiiruor, Pool Park, Ruthin, North Wales, 

 with a plan of a moveable cattle-shed. 



8. Mr. James S. Randell, Rudloe Lodge, Chippenham, on 

 the utilisation of sewage ; and 



9. Mons. lePontois, ll,Ruede3 Colonies, L'Orient, France, 

 forwarding specifications and designs of two new seed 

 leps of his invention. 



THE BUDGET, AND THE FARMER. 



We have only to listen to the voice of the charmer, 

 in the facts and figures adduced by the Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer, in order to be convinced that we are a 

 great nation. Ours is the most flourishing, prosperous, 

 and progressive country on the face of the earth. To 

 test the fact, wo have but to apply the screw of the 

 Income Tax — to pay our pence under the various 

 schedules of so pleasant a charge, assessed for this 

 financial year on £■'•200,000,000— and we have forth- 

 with an index of the wealth of the country. But, of 

 all classes of society, " our old friend Mr. Farmer " 

 (as the Chancellor facetiously speaks of him) ought to 

 be particularly happy, seeing that, viewed in this plea- 

 sant kaleidoscope, he has improved his position in 

 the past four years two or three per cent, more than 

 the trading and professional branches of the community 

 have. That is, of course, if we take this tax to be the 

 infallible index of progress and general prosperity as- 

 sumed for it, which is by no means so clear. Moreover, 

 it must be remembered that the agricultural classes are 

 the most heavily pressed in many ways, and that they 

 have less opportunity or, indeed, disposition to make 

 incorrect returns of income and profits, than the manu- 

 facturing and professional classes ranged under the 

 other alphabetical schedules. But it is not all couleur 

 de rose. If in the last six years the national 

 wealth has advanced at' the rate of 16| per cent., 

 the national expenditure has gone on much faster. 

 We are spending, it appears, at the increased 

 ratio of 58 per cent. So that, labouring under 

 many heavy burdens, with all the prosperity so 

 glowingly pictured forth by Mr. Gladstone, we cannot 

 turn to a trade, profession, business, or industry, which 

 is not just now complaining of depression or loss. We 

 have invited unrestricted competition in every branch, 

 and we have crij/pled several interests, and are likely 

 to kill many more by the proposed measures. There 

 is, however, a truly British feeling dominant, rising 

 superior to all difficulties, that is not easily conquered. 

 If knocked down by one blow it recovers itself and 

 strikes out in another. Still, it is a continual and 

 desperate struggle— an uncertainty of position and 



tenure of advantages, which no foresight, prudence, or 

 perseverance can overcome. We have flooded every 

 present available market with our manufactures, at 

 ruinous sacrifices. Until at length, the producers, at 

 their wits' end, are beginning to look round for other 

 fields for competitive business, and considering what 

 concessions can be made to get the introduction of the 

 thin end of the wedge. 



To this cause we are certainly indebted for the ener- 

 getic labours of Mr. Cobden on the Continent, and 

 the much discussed commercial treaty with France is 

 the result. The concessions, however, made to our 

 Continental neighbours, both under this treaty and in 

 Mr. Gladstone's new budget, are very one-sided, and 

 by no means calculated to be reciprocally beneficial, 

 as we shall take occasion to show. We can all readily 

 appreciate the imposition or reduction of homo taxa- 

 tion, though we may not be able to form so prompt an 

 opinion or appreciation of the benefits or disadvan- 

 tages likely to arise from the concessions which France 

 is to make to us. We shall therefore pass under notice 

 first the proposed alterations propounded by Mr. 

 Gladstone on Friday night in his long-expected budget. 

 The deficit to be made up was about £9,400,000, and 

 the various alterations and reductions proposed are 

 estimated to give a relief of nearly £^4,000,000 to the 

 consumer, and cause a net loss to the revenue of 

 about £2,000,000. Or, that is, a sum equal to the 

 amount falling in from the cessation of Government 

 annuities this year. 



The war duties on tea and sugar, which have now been 

 paid for three years, are to be maintained for a year 

 longer, and, as a mainstay, the Chancellor again resorts 

 to the Income Tax, which is expected to yield about 

 £''8,500,000, at the increased rate of lOd. in the pound 

 on incomes above £150, and 7d. in the pound on those 

 below that sum. But Mr. Gladstone proposes to make 

 some large reductions of taxation, notwithstanding his 

 financial position from increased expenditure upon the 

 China war, and the naval and military estimates. The 

 principal articles which he proposes to admit in future 

 duty free, are the following : — 



