352 



is, approximately, 28 Herefords, between the ages of two and a half 

 years and three years, selling for £30 each, amounting to £840, and 200 

 fat shearlings, fifteen mouths old, selling for £2 10s. each, amounting to 

 £.5005 making the value of the annual meat product £1,340, exclusive 

 of hogs fed, but not bred, on the farm. There are 72 acres in wheat, 

 giving an average of 34 bushels per acre, or a total of 2,448 bushels ; 

 and an equal area in barley gives an average of 47 bushels per acre, or 

 a total of 3,384 bushels. 



Protection of animals in Belqium. — The " Societe Royale Pro- 

 tectrice des Animaux" held its annual session on Sunday, May 21, 1871, 

 M. Aug. Visscher, the president, in the chair. The report of the secre- 

 tary, upon the labors of the society during 1870, was read. Among the 

 interesting jjoints presented was the project of a confederative union of 

 the animal-protective societies of Belgium, an idea which, however, had 

 been found very difficult to realize. The tendency to organize inde- 

 , pendent associations in different provinces is strongly deprecated. The 

 societ}' has bepu very active in the work of publication. In addition to 

 its Monthly Official Bulletin, it purchased a newspaper — L' Album Popu- 

 laire — of considerable circulation, reduced its price 50 per cent., and 

 gave it a new character of devotion to the humane mission of benevo- 

 lence to animals. It also jniblished several works bearing .upon the 

 subject. For all its publications it has found an increasing demand, 

 showing that the cause it represents is winning its way to the t)opular 

 heart. During the je/dv 1870 not less than eighty medals were distri- 

 buted, mostly among hackney coachmen, for services in bringing to 

 justice cases of cruelty to horses, i)erpetrated by men of their own call- 

 ing. In the prosecution of cases of this character, the society has man- 

 ifested an energy and determination which have gone far toward the 

 repression of cruelty. During the last year, in Brussels alone, seventy- 

 five offenses were prosecuted to convi(;tion ; of these, fifteen were for 

 the maltreatment of horses, nine for maltreatment of dogs, and one for 

 cruelty to a cat. In thirteen cases, in addition to the payment of dam- 

 ages done to the animals, imprisonment varying from one to five days 

 was added. The omnibus companies, in reply to the letters addressed 

 them by the president of the society, promise strict compliance with 

 the law fixing the number of passengers that may be transported in each 

 vehicle. An American street-railroad had been built, the director of 

 which sympathizes with the objects of the society and asked admission 

 to membership. 



Growing madder in England. — Experiments made by Mr. Side- 

 botham, in England, in the cultivation of madder for dyeing purposes, 

 have proved substantially a failure. The roots were nearly equal in size 

 to fine French roots, but showed in fracture an orange or yellow, instead 

 of a deep red color. On application to fabrics the dyes derived from 

 the madder appeared at first full in color, but, on being cleared with 

 soap, proved quite the contrary, resembling Dutch madder, the purple 

 element almost entirely wanting, and the reds and pinks weak and loose. 

 M. Sidebotham inclines to the opinion that good madder cannot be 

 grown in England. 



The foot and mouth disease. — This disease is spreading in Glas- 

 gow, Scotland. The last week in August the inspector seized upward 

 of one hundred head. In Lancashire, England, reports are made daily 

 of fresh outbreaks. The disease is extremely' prevalent in West Derby 

 Hundred, and in the north of Amounderness Hundred. In Fulwood and 



