1906.] 



Miscellaneous Notes. 



439 



each holding. Of the owners 495 were under 30 years of age, 

 758 under 40, 467 under 50, and the remainder above that age. 

 Nearly all of them were married. The great majority (1,465) 

 were agricultural day labourers, 202 were in regular service, 

 and 147 had some other occupation. The total area amounted 

 to 14,552 acres, or nearly 8 acres each. The quality of the soil 

 naturally varied very greatly, and the price ranged from £^ 8s. 

 to ^29 per acre. The live stock which were returned on 1,517 

 of the holdings, numbered 642 horses, 4,714 cows, 5,351 pigs, 

 722 sheep, and 38,327 head of poultry. 



The majority of the holders appear to be members of co- 

 operative societies, and so far as the returns were filled up, they 

 showed that nine-tenths were members of co-operative dairies, 

 one-third members of bacon curing societies, and one-fourth 

 members of societies for the co-operative sale of eggs. 



Admission of Shorthorn Cattle into Cuba. — The Cuban 

 Gaceta Oficial for the 27th June contains a Decision of the 

 Cuban Secretary of Finance to the effect 



of the tariff, the term " Short Horn " being held to be equiva- 

 lent to " Durham." Importers must duly prove the origin of 

 the cattle, and comply with the other regulations on the subject. 



Sheep Farming in the NortJiern Caucasus. — According to a 

 Report from Mr. Consul Medhurst, forwarded by the Foreign 

 Office, sheep farming in the Northern Caucasus dates from the 

 year i860, when peasants from other provinces wandered to the 

 then unoccupied steppes in search of pasturage for their flocks 

 and herds. These first settlers prospered and reached their 

 highest prosperity in 1880, merino wool being not only supplied 

 to the interior of Russia, but also exported in considerable quanti- 

 ties. The opening of the port of Novorossisk and the advent of 

 the railways arrested the further development of sheep farming 

 owing to the number of settlers who poured into the country. 

 These latter took up land for wheat-growing, and as the acreage 

 under cultivation increased the value of the steppe land and the 



Miscellaneous 

 Notes. 



that " Short Horn " cattle are to be admit- 

 ted into Cuba free of duty, under No. 184 



