436 



fected 211 head of cattle, .scattered over ten towushi])s. In Berkshire 

 the herds of In^lewood, Balsdou, and Templetou farms are infected. 

 But one infected farm is reported thus far in Derbyshire. In West- 

 moreland 8 cases are re]>orted. in Cnmberland the disease has assnmed 

 a virulent form, and its spread is said to he of great magnitude. In 

 the Carlisle division 27 cases are reported ; 9 in the district around 

 Cockermouth ; 50 in the neighborhood of Wigton ; 3 at Longton, and 

 37 near Brampton. The diseavse has broken out in Wales, on St. Twiu- 

 orell's farm, near Pembroke. It has also made its appearance in 

 Leicestershire. 



The government veterinary department has received information 

 from Berlin to the effect that the cattle plague, after breaking out in 

 the palatinate, has followed in the wake of the Prussian army. It has 

 extended from Cobleutz to Saarbruck, and thence to the Bavarian pal- 

 atinate, iJ^orthern Lorraine, and Alsace. It is supposed to have been 

 imported from Podolia, through Upper Silesia, by means of the herds 

 intended for the provisioning of the army. The disease is chronic in 

 that breed, but the wants of the army are so pressing that there is no 

 possibility of doing without these cattle, and the only thing to be done 

 is to enforce local iH^ecautions. 



WOOL-GEOWIXG IN UEUGUAY. 



Mr. E. W. Loggin, of Uruguay, gives the following account of the 

 method of feeding and managing sheep in that country: 



Sheep are kept in large flocks of one to three thoixsaud, and are taken care of by a 

 man on horseback. They are gathered on one spot at night, and, by constant watching 

 for a montli or so, are tauglit to stay there. In winter they are not allowed to go off to 

 feed until the dew is ofl' the gTass, as it is supposed to make them very thin. The 

 rams are X)ut into these flocks (which generally have a considerable percentage of 

 wethers) early in October, thereby bringing the lambing on in March and April. Forty 

 per cent, of lambs to a mixed flock is considered very good, bnt a flock consisting en- 

 tirely of breeding ewes will give 70 to 90 per cent. It has been the cnstoui to have two 

 lambing seasons, one in March and one in September, bnt it is now generally allowed 

 that one lambing is more advantageous, l)ringiug as large an increase in the long run, 

 and the sheep keeping in better condition. 



f" The sheep are a cross of the original sheep of the country, a very loose, long-wooled 

 sheep, something like the black-faced sheep in Scotland regarding the fiber of the wool, 

 but I should say infei'ior in every other I'espect, it being almost impossible to fatten 

 them. These sheep were crossed with the English Leicester and Southdown, and the pxire 

 Merino ; but the English blood being found so liable to scab, the Rambouillet took their 

 place, producing a very flne, although not a very long, wool, and plenty of it ; an aver- 

 age flock yielding an average of 4 pounds per fleece. These sheep ten years ago were 

 worth IS-y. a head after shearing, but to-day would scarcely command 12d. Saxony 

 rams have been introduced of late years and have proved very remunerative, being 

 very fine and close in their wool, and shearing up to 15 pounds per fleece. Ten years 

 ago fine wool was greatly in demand, good half-breed Merino selling in Montevideo at 

 lOd. to Is. per pound, but this class of wool is not nearly so much in demand now, a 

 longer staple being preferred, and ctmsequently wool has fallen to bd. per pound. 



Sheariug costs about five farthings a sheep, a ram two-pence, but the farmer has to 

 keep the shearers during the shearing, and find men for catching, tying, and bagging 

 or baling, as the case may be. A fat ewe is worth 2s. 6d., and a fat wether about 3s. id. 

 for market; a good average wether weighing about 14 pounds to the quarter. 



