316 Chronicles of Science. [ April, 
Hoebridge Farm, near Woking, and the utter worthlessness of the waste 
close by. 
The principal point of recent interest, however, under our present 
head, during the present quarter, undoubtedly has been the introduction 
by the Government of the Bill for permitting the use of malt, free of 
duty, as food for sheep and cattle. Whatever the satisfaction with 
reference to this measure may be, taking it in some degree to indicate 
that the Government may hereafter be willing to reconsider the whole 
subject of the malt tax, there can be little doubt nevertheless that it is 
in the meantime an utterly worthless concession to the agricultural 
interest. There are cheaper foods already at our command than ever 
malt, duty free, will be—and the mixture of the malt with linseed meal, 
which is one of the safeguards which the Bill provides against those 
frauds against the revenue which it will facilitate, is no improvement 
of the material for use in either feeding-stall or sheep-fold. 
5. The value of pure-bred stock in the market, which indicates 
their intrinsic merits in the eye of judges, has lately received a singular 
illustration in high prices realized at the sales at Towneley and at 
Sarsden of the short-horn herds which have grown up under the manage- 
ment of Colonel Towneley and the late Mr. Langston, M.P., respectively. 
The success of the former herd especially which has been in existence 
only during the past fifteen years, has been extraordinary. During 
that time more than 2,000/. have been won as prizes, besides 22 cups, 
2 “challenge” cups, 26 gold medals, and more than 10 others of silver 
and bronze. 
The only other point to be noticed in our present agricultural 
chronicle, is the excitement which prevails on the subject of contagious 
disease amongst our live-stock. Notwithstanding that the mischief is 
in all pr obability exaggerated, yet it is bad enough to justify a certain 
amount of interference and supervision by the Government; and a 
measure has accordingly been introduced into Parliament forbidding 
the turning out of stock afflicted with certain specified contagious 
diseases into public places ; enabling the Secretary of State to forbid, 
if necessary, the removal of cattle or sheep from any infected district ; 
and requiring all carriers to provide cleaned carriages for the convey- 
ance of stock, &c. This, with another measure dealing in a similar 
spirit with imported live-stock, has been referred to a select —s 
mittee of the House of Commons. 
It appears that we have 8,000,000 of cattle, 40,000,000 of es 
and 4,300,000 pigs in the United Kingdom, and that the annual mor- 
tality by disease is 5 per cent. of the cattle, 4 per cent. of the sheep, 
and in Ireland 10 per cent. of the pigs. The total value of live-stock 
destroyed by disease last year is thus believed to have been 6,120,0001. 
In addition to this their owners had to suffer the loss of condition in 
the animals which have recovered, and the general public undoubtedly 
suffer considerably from the consumption of the meat of animals 
slaughtered when in a diseased condition. These appear to be suffi- 
ciently urgent reasons for Government interference. 
