188 
Report on Liver-Rot. 
slaughtered for the house had flukes in their livers. The 
lambSj began to show outward symptoms of disease as early 
as the middle of September, and a good many died ; the 
remaining 70 I sold for 30/. I believe the disease shows itself 
sooner in lambs than in older sheep. 
" I am certain that the whole of my flock suffered from liver- 
rot ; why some showed it more than others I cannot explain, 
unless it be that their constitutions varied ; I invariably found 
the weakest first showed symptoms. The only reason I can 
give why some flocks were affected and those adjacent not, is 
that on farms where the sheep have escaped liver-rot they were 
in small numbers proportionately to the quantity of land, and 
were thus kept chiefly, if not wholly, on the tillage-land, which 
had been previously thoroughly drained. As an instance, a 
neighbour of mine, Mr. Cooke, having 50 cows, kept a small 
proportion of sheep, has not had a single sheep affected, whilst 
all my other neighbours have lost all theirs, or suffered to a con- 
siderable extent. The lands in my opinion that produce rot are 
either undrained, or, what is worse, insufficiently drained. There 
are plenty of wet and boggy places in the pastures about this 
neighbourhood. These lands were fairly adapted for sheep till 
within the last year, since then these wet places have grown 
little or no natural grasses, but a quantity of blue carnation- 
grass, bulrushes, »Scc. There are also plenty of open ditches 
and stagnant pools, intended for catching water for summer 
pasturing. 
" Cattle have suffered as well as sheep. My neighbour, 
Mr. Jones, lost 14 cattle from rot, and myself two. About one- 
third of the liver of a fat cow slaughtered on the next farm was 
useless. A yearling heifer which died from quarter evil was 
affected with liver-fluke, but not to such an extent as would 
account for death. On some of my own I tried a good many 
remedies, but my experimental cases nearly all died. 1 do 
not think it possible to cure an animal of liver-rot when the 
disease has a good hold on the system. I lost a yearling 
colt about a fortnight ago ; in his liver I found flukes, but 
not to an extent that would account for death. I therefore 
conclude that all animals which graze are more or less liable 
to liver-flukes, which I have found not only in cattle, sheep, 
and horses, but also in pigs, hares, and rabbits. I do not 
think that cattle show symptoms of disease nearly as soon as 
sheep. When manifested, 1 do not think there is any material 
difference in the progress or symptoms in cattle or sheep. 
When grass is allowed to get long, it is not as likely to pro- 
duce rot as when it is closely grazed. As an instance I may 
mention that a neighbour had a quantity of sheep last summer 
