EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
935 
when a suggestion is publicly advanced, to arrange for the 
carriage of cattle, sheep, and pigs in the same way as for 
horses, that is to say, that each animal shall have a separate 
padded stall on board ship or in the railway van, we are 
constrained to tell the enthusiastic proposer that the thing is 
utterly beyond the scope of our present means. There is no 
doubt, indeed never has been any, of the possibility of carry- 
ing animals in perfect comfort. If an exhibitor wishes to 
transmit a valuable bull or cow to a cattle show, he com- 
monly hires a horse-box for the purpose, and pays for it as 
he would for the conveyance of one of his hunters. An 
attendant accompanies the beast all the way and carefully 
attends to its wants, fearful lest a short abstinence from its 
accustomed food should be detrimental to its appearance 
and diminish its chance of a prize ; but if half a dozen fat 
oxen or a dozen steers are to be sent to a distant fair, the 
farmer is content to cram them into a truck, and start them 
off unattended, leaving it to the Fates to determine whether 
they shall fast on the road or by some happy chance find 
refreshment. 
Valuable cattle and sheep can be transmitted in comfort 
and security to Australia or New Zealand, so that the 
number does not reach beyond units, but if for units we 
have to read hundreds and thousands, the difficulty of 
transit is proportionably increased. Given that two or three 
thousand cattle, as many pigs, and ten or twelve thousand 
sheep are to be sent from the Continent to England in one 
week, what becomes of the separate padded stalls for each 
animal ? Setting the money question on one side there are 
not ships enough in the trade to convey half the required 
number of animals to our shores, if provision had to be 
made for the comfort and security of each individual. 
Upon the subject of overcrowding of animals on board 
ship, great misunderstanding prevails among uninformed 
persons. The fact is, the greatest amount of mischief 
always occurs when animals are too loosely congregated ; 
something approximating to close packing, however un- 
pleasant the phrase may sound, is absolutely necessary for 
their safety ; and the great advantage of pens on board ship 
