Subsoilinrj Pastures, Sfc. 
were so trifling that we never kept a separate account ; they were 
merged in the general total of yearly losses. 
The only precaution considered to be necessary was not to 
inoculate during very hot or cold weather ; the latter, in parti- 
cular, proved fatal by preventing the free formation of the 
pustules and driving the disease inwards. Those who have the 
general charge of large flocks in Russia are mostly Germans 
who have some knowledge of the veterinary art, and I never yet 
met with one of them (I have had many under my orders) who 
doubted for one moment the efficacy of inoculation ; on the 
contrary, it is considered by them to be one of their most im- 
portant duties to perform that operation with success. The 
German sheep-inspector, who is always well paid and is intelli- 
gent, would as soon think of being witliout his pipe as without his 
inoculating needle ! 
I shall be most happy to give any further information on this 
head to any one requiring it ; my address will be with the worthy 
Secretary of the Society. 
10. — On Subsoiling Pastures, with a description of a neio Imple- 
ment. By H. Wood. 
As the breaking-up of meadow-land is prohibited by most farm- 
leases under a heavy penalty, my attention has long been directed 
towards the best means of improving it. I venture to lay before 
the readers of the Society's Journal a brief statement of the results 
of my experiments during the last 20 years. 
The roots of meadow-grass require nourishment as much as 
those of garden or field plants under spade or arable cultivation. 
I have known them sometimes to penetrate to the depth of 18 
inches, finding their way into the holes of rabbit-burrows ; at 
other times they have become so interlaced and interwoven as to 
prevent the downward percolation of water, even after a heavy 
fall of rain. Puddles of water on the hide-bound surface of 
meadows tend to rot the grass, and where open drains are con- 
structed, the water in passing off not unfrequently carries away 
with it portions of manure held in solution or suspension, and 
thereby robs the land of nourishment. To prevent this waste of 
valuable fertilising constituents, I have adopted the practice of 
scarifying or cutting through. the surface of the meadow to the 
depth of 12 or 13 inches; and a passage being thus opened, 
through which the water can filter, every particle of manure con- 
tained in it is retained by the soil, just in the same way as an 
ordinary domestic filter abstracts and detains the impurities of 
drinking water. 
