2RS 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



of " hitter-ticlracHve," says — " Animals that feed in marshy 

 lands on food containing hut little nourishment are hest 

 defended from the diseases they are liable to con- 

 tract in such situations by the ingestion of bitter jilants. 

 Thus has it been found that the Msnyanthcs trifoliata (the 

 water trefoil*), which, on account of its bitterness, has been 

 use'd as a substitute for hops, is a cure for the rot in sheep, 

 •when given in doses of a dram of the powered leaves ; 

 and Dr. William Bulleyn, the contemporary of Turner, the 

 father of English botany, observes in his work entitled 

 ' The Bulwark of Defence,' that tormentil in pastures 

 will prevent the rot in sheep. Upon these occasions 

 Nature would appear to be very kind, for the pai'ticiilar 



situation that engenders endemic disease is generally con- 

 genial to the growth of such plants as operate as anti- 

 dotes." In corroboration of this last sentence we may re- 

 mark that in the moist climate of KiUarney tormentil 

 gi'ows so plentifully that the roots are dug up and given to 

 pigs ; and in the Scottish isles they are used in the tanning 

 of leather. Thus looking at the facts of the case as we 

 find them exemplified in our provinces, we arrive at the 

 conclusion (advanced above — that our sheep require bitter 

 plants in their food, as well as salt, in order to prevent rot; 

 and that such being the natural food of this animal, they 

 must be, under artificial systems, artificially supplied. 



W. B. 



THE. DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF WOOL. 



The dearth of raw materials for our staple manufac- 

 tures, and especially for our textile industries, is 

 becoming a matter of grave interest. That is, if our 

 factories are to be kept employed and our leading in- 

 dustries are to advance, instead of standing still. Even 

 in the matter of oak timber for naval purposes the 

 A dmiralty are at their wit's end, for iron will not serve all 

 purposes of naval construction, largely as it has of late 

 been pressed into the service. Owing to the scarcity of 

 good oak for naval timber, and its high price, in the 

 Government dockyards and private yards, oak is now 

 only used in parts where nothing else will do so well ; 

 and the next best timber is so sought after. The Admi- 

 ralty are now, at considerable expense, making search 

 for useful timber, by competent persons, in North 

 China and Japan, the West Coast of Africa, up the 

 rivers of British Guiana, and in Tasmania. 



Cotton and flax, too, are both deficient in supply, 

 and the Secretary of State has had to communicate to 

 the colonies the extreme want felt by the manufactur- 

 ing interest of Great Britain of raw material for the 

 production of textile fabrics. This has induced an ap- 

 plication to the General Association for the Australian 

 Colonies, for the purpose of discovering the existence 

 (if any) of some fibrous product in the Australian con- 

 tinent, that might tend to remove the difficulty, and 

 at the same time prove a sufficiently valuable article of 

 commerce to ensure its being successfully and profita- 

 bly cultivated. 



In another great industry the manufacturers are cry- 

 ing out for larger supplies of raw material. Wool is 

 not so abundant in the market as could be wished; 

 great as has been the progress of production in our 

 colonies of late years. We have learnt to utilize all 

 descriptions of wool, from the long silky fleece of the 

 Angora goat to the low common wools of China and 

 India. But yet the manufacturers cannot keep pace 

 with the demand for worsteds and woollens at home 

 and abroad. Other nations also press for supplies of 

 wool, and compete with us in the markets of the world. 

 Already about £10,000,000 a year are required to pur- 



* Baiter, in his "Library of Agriculture," quotes an instance 

 where the presence of this plant (water-trefoil, or buck-bean) 

 prevented the rot; while in (lie adjoining pastures, where it did 

 not grow, rot prevailed. 



chase foreign and colonial wools ; and we should be 

 ready to greatly increase this sum, if we could obtain 

 additional supplies at moderate prices. But there has 

 been a gradual upward tendency in prices, owing to in- 

 creased foreign demands and limited supplies. A lead- 

 ing firm of Liverpool brokers thus speak of the matter : 

 " The position of the woollen and worsted trades 

 throughout the manufacturing world is such as to be- 

 speak grave reflections, and ought to command an 

 active sympathy — they are not extending in the same 

 I ratio as other branches of industry, and are precluded 

 from doing so for want of adequate supplies of the raw 

 I material. The cry of scarcity which has been sounded 

 for the last eight or nine yeai's has produced no practi- 

 cal effect, the small increase of growth having been 

 absorbed without any relief. In England economising 

 expedients have been resorted to, on an enlarged scale. 

 The use of cotton in woollen and worsted fabincs has 

 been vastly augmented ; and the manufacture of rag- 

 wool (which consists of old worn-out woollens, torn 

 and ground up) has been developed into quite an im- 

 portant branch of business, under the name of 

 ' shoddy' or ' mungo.' " The rag-wool is now utilized 

 to the extent of at least 50,000,0001bs. annually (equal to 

 more than one-third of our yearly importations of colo- 

 nial and foreign wools) for the purpose of mixing with 

 or adulterating wool in its manufacture, to the great 

 complaint of consumers and buyers of manufactures. 

 This trade, both as regards collection, distribution, and 

 manufacture, is attaining gigantic proportions. In- 

 stead of consigning old woollen rags to the soil as 

 manui'e for hops or other plants, every shred is care- 

 fully collected and sorted; and as an article of import, 

 the samples may be seen in city brokers' offices as 

 often, if not to the same extent, as raw wool. So in 

 Leeds, as other towns of Yorkshire, the business of the 

 rag-grinder has become most important, for in Leeds 

 alone there are a dozen or more factories, which pro- 

 duce about 4,000,000 or 5,000,0001bs. of this rag-wool 

 annually. The pieces, or patches, of cloth are forcibly 

 torn asunder, and remodelled into raw material again, 

 to be once more used by the first customer. The 

 mania for cheap goods has no doubt something to do 

 with this branch of the trade, but deficiency of foreign 



