CATTLE DISEASE AND HIGH PRICE OF BUTCHERS* MEAT. 739 
good doctors as can be found ; but a serious case arises, they 
try their hands on it, fail ; at last send for the 'vet/ too late 
to give him or the beast a fair chance, grumble at his bill, 
however hard-earned, and grudge paying it nine months after 
the animal is defunct. Had there been a e club-doctor* the 
expense, the grudge, and perhaps the bullock, would have 
been saved. Of course a 6 vet.* could of himself start and 
organise such a club without the assistance of the local 
society, but I cannot help thinking that the co-operation of 
the latter would prove more satisfactory to all the parties 
concerned. " Yours truly, 
"Ralph Neville-Grenville. 
“ To Colonel Ltjttrell 
“ Since writing the above I have read an interesting paper 
on Veterinary Contracts, to which a premium of £ 5 was 
awarded by the ‘ Highland and Agricultural Society,* and to 
which I would refer any one requiring information on this 
subject. The w r riter is acquainted with contracts made in 
accordance with the total acreage of the farm, in some in- 
stances at Is., in some at 6d. per acre. The Somerton petty 
sessional division contains upwards of 55,000 acres. If only 
the occupiers of half of it would agree to contract at the 
lowest of these sums, the veterinary surgeon would at the 
beginning of the year receive nearly £700, and 6d. per acre 
seems a small sum for any one to pay for so great an advan- 
tage.— R. N.-G.** 
Journal of the Bath and West of England Society. 
CATTLE DISEASE, AND THE HIGH PRICE OE BUTCHERS’ 
MEAT. 
To the Editor of the c Newcastle Daily Post / 
Sir, — The high price of butchers* meat makes us naturally 
anxious about the health of our flocks and herds, and the in- 
crease or decrease of flesh commodities for the people. Since 
the subsidence of rinderpest in 1865 — 6, we have been excep- 
tionally free from diseases of all kinds ; yet the prices of 
meat have ruled higher for the last four years than ever was 
known over a like period at any previous era. This has been 
owing to the barren, dry state of the earth in this country, 
and the heavy embargoes laid upon the bulk of foreign stock 
brought from abroad, rather than to any prolonged decimation 
caused by the rinderpest. It is therefore much to be de- 
plored, now that the earth is teeming with plenty of food for 
