84 
TUe Rot ill Sheep. 
belonging' to tlie Duke of Portland, which for twenty years 
previous to 1826, when the improved drainage was effected, 
had carried ewes and lamias without the occurrence of rot, be- 
coming subsequently thereto so dangerous to sheep that it invari- 
ably rotted them.* The field is described as being during twenty 
years so wet as to grow rushes and coarse water-grasses, but 
yet to be safe pasturage. This it might possibly have been in 
the spring, but not in the summer and autumn. We are bound 
to receive the statement as it is ; but we nevertheless think the 
entire evidence, both with reference to the safety and the subse- 
quent dangerous condition of the pasture, to be wanting in that 
preciseness which would bear a rigid investigation. 
An analogous case has been published in The Quarterly Jo^irnal 
of Agriculture, which has so many features in common that it would 
appear to be identical, but for a slight difference in the dates and a 
few other particulars. This case received such an excellent reply 
from an anonymous writer under the signature F. B., which also 
appeared in the same journal, that, although somewhat long, we 
venture to transcribe both the case and reply, as thereby some 
light may possibly be thrown on the other instance : — 
"On Watek-Meadows causing the Eot in Sheep. — About the year 1808 
some land, part of which had been under water, iniich of wliich was a l)og, and 
part of which was nearly dry, was drained, levelled, and irrigated. Altliougli 
it was drained and was so far dry that horses coidd at all times walk npon it, 
yet it produced coarse herbage, rushes, and even some flags. In this state it 
remained for at least fifteen years, and during the whole of the time it was 
constantly fed by ewes and lambs in the spring, and no instance was ever 
known of any of these sheep ever showing the slightest symptom of the rot. 
" As, however, the herbage was not good, and it was supposed that by ob"- 
taining a better outfall and a more effectual mode of drainage the meadow 
might be much improved, it was broken up in 1829, drained more perfectlj', 
better levelled, and was again laid down to grass after a turnip-fallow. The 
land then appeared to be perfectly drained. The turnips were excellent, and 
the grass which was sown in 1831 was beautiful. It was mown that autumn, 
after having been irrigated, and produced abundantly. It carried great flocks of 
sheep the ensuing spring, and jiroduced a verj' great crop of grass early in the 
simimer ; but afterwards in that year the land appeared starved, and the grass 
did not come a second time to the scythe. In the spring of 1833 the meadow 
yielded a good pasture to the sheep, but, except in those parts which were dry 
and steep, it produced little for the scythe. Rushes made their appearance ; 
and as it was probable that the land was not sufficieutl}^ drained, more drains 
were made, which produced a great deal of water. Then for the first time 
suspicions were raised that the sheep fed on the land were tainted by the rot, 
and it has been ascertained that since Christmas 1833 sheep fed upon it have 
taken the rot in five days. In the spring of 1834 more drains were made in 
it ; the consequence of which has been a great improvement in the quality and 
quantity of the herbage, but, as far as the rot is concerned, it has been equally 
fatal to every sheep put upon it. It is necessar}' to add, that, although the whole 
of this meadow is now so well drained that after a fortnight's irrigation it will 
* See Royal Agricultural Society "s Journal, vol. i., p. 368 et seq. 
