if it exists, as is frequently reported. If that 
is an exaggeration, it is certainly true that 
in many dlstrirts a large portion of the labor 
of the farm is performed by woman, 'lhat 
is a field in which our American reformers 
are advised to proclaim the inalienable rights 
of the physically weaker sex. 
Fifth .’—Association for improvement And* 
for protection of property' in labor on the 
part ef those whose only property is labor, 
and eo-operation for greater economy and 
higher profits by those who would employ 
jointly their present efforts with the accu¬ 
mulated surplus of pqst labor. Such asso¬ 
ciations Are quite general in F.’ngland, and 
t heir influence is extending to the Coot ment. 
It is gratifying to know that some of the.-%e 
forms of association have been borrowed 
from this country, as the cheese factories of 
England and the condensed milk factories of 
Switzerland and Great Britain. These com¬ 
binations for more effective use of small 
means will increase and prove salutary and 
profitable here as well ha in Europe ; but 
when not managed with wisdom and pru¬ 
dence will end In many cases, it is feared, in 
mischief and failure. 
1 am strong in the belief that the rural 
population of this country' will yet lead in 
most, as it now does in some of the progress¬ 
ive movement* destined to lighten the hard¬ 
ships of weary toil, to enhance the profit* of 
honest labor, to rendor cheerful and jocund 
the life of the country, and t<r elevate the art 
of agriculture by all the means that applied 
science can furnish or business tact and wis¬ 
dom can procure. 
by milkmen of Prague, but nearly extinct 
since the war of 1815ft, the best giving 11J£ 
liters of milk; and the Montafuner, light 
brown, from Voralberg, good-tempered, D50 
to 1,087 pounds in weight, giving milk .800 
ipeetively '■>%, 
AGRICULTURE IN THE OLD WORLD, 
days per annum, yielding respectively 
It, and 13 liters daily. Besides these were 
several t ribes of spotted or striped rt ock, the 
Kuhlander from Moravia, the Pmsgauer 
from Salzburg, the Molfhaler from Oar.nthia, 
the PnstcnthaJer from Tvr.,1, the Zillcrtlialer 
from Tyrol, the LSchicn from Upper Austria, 
the Egerlandcr from Bohemia, and the 
Gfohler, from I Anver Austria. Diplomas 
were awarded for the La van thaler. theObor- 
inthaler, and the Montafuner. The latter 
arc symmetrical and handsome animals, 
coming very close to the English breeds in 
perfection of development, but scarcely' 
equaling them in harmony of proportion. 
HUNGARY. 
Hungary, though a pavt of Austrian Em¬ 
pire, prefers to be regarded as a distinct 
nationality. Hungary proper is about the 
size of Illinois, and occupies in Europe very 
nearly the position held by thut State as a 
producing section. The level plains of the 
AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE RURAL CLUB OF NEW YORK, BY 
J. R. DOOCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
f Concluded from pane 302, last number.] 
AUSTRIA. • T 
The soil of Austria is far superior in fertil¬ 
ity to that of Prussia, especially the valley of 
the Danube, a vast plain, much of it level us 
the prairies of Illinois, and apparently equal 
in productiveness to average Western lands. 
It has been subjected to a somewhat exhaus¬ 
tive system of culture for a long period, and 
it bears with remarkable success this test of 
its capabilities. Th'.re is little wasts? land in 
Austria proper. With an area nearly three 
times that of the State of Ohio, or 75,000,00ft 
acres, 011,000,000 are productive, or 03 per 
cent, of the whole. These productive lands 
are divided into plow lauds, which aggregate 
about 34,000,000 acres, nearly two-thirds of 
which are in Galicia and Bohemia, meadows 
and gardens, 8,500,000; vineyards, nearly 500,- 
000,; pastures, above 18,000,000; forests, 83,- 
000,01)0. Rice is grown to some extent, on the 
coast lauds, and about 40,000 acres are set in 
olive and eh -.stout, orcha rds in DUm.atia. In 
a portion of the vineyard land olives and 
fruit trees are Bet at regular intervals, and a 
double crop obtained ; and in the coast prov¬ 
inces there are 10,000 acres in which grass 
aud grain arc grown in the intervals of the 
vine rows. Fruit trees are also planted to 
some eAleut in the pasture lands. In the 
Alps there are tracts amounting to 310,000 
acres which are alternately plow lands and 
pasture lauds. This alternation Is now disap¬ 
pearing ; in Moravia, in i860, there were 
140,01)0 acres of such lands, and in 1871 scarcely' 
30,000. At 3,000 feet elevation, in Styria, a 
system of harrow culture is in practice upon 
fully 500,000 acres. 
Since 1851 the productive area has increased 
over three percent,. As elsewhere in Europe, 
the tendency to increase the farm animals, 
and especially to their improvement, with 
reference to increase of meat, milk, and wool, 
is manifest. The meadows have been in¬ 
creased in ten years e glit per cent, and the 
pastures 18, while the forests have been 
diminished 10, and the vineyards 13 per cent. 
The recently reported yield of cereals is, for 
wheat 15.3 bushels; rye, 14.7; barley, 17; 
oats, It); maize, 15. Maize is a somewhat 
prominent product of this country, as well 
as of Hungary' and Italy. In a favorable 
season a small export occurs, as in 1801), when 
nearly 5,000,000 of bushels were exported ; 
but iu 1871 the imports exceeded the exports 
by more than 1,000,000 bushels. The only 
provinces having a surplus of bread products 
are Galicia and Moravia; Bohemia ami 
Lower Austria have a small purplus in good 
harvests; other districts al ways have occa¬ 
sion to import, mainly from Hungary, though 
in recent years a small trade has sprung up 
with Western Europe. 
The beet sugar interest is prominent, hav¬ 
ing now 100 factories iu operation, of which 
120 are in Bonemia. The average price ot 
dry beets we four florins and eighty kreul- 
zers per centner, or about $2.40 cents for 130 
pounds. The industry gives employment to 
31,858 men and 18,08’.) women, the wages of 
the former ranging from 18 to 80 cent* per 
day, and of the latter from 13 to 75 cents. 
During the Exhibition in Vienna there was 
a permanent show of the dairy stock of Aus¬ 
tria made by' the agricultural societies of the 
Provinces, comprising three type specimens 
of each distinctive breed, if breeds they can 
be called, viz :—The self-colored breeds, the 
Mariahofer, or grayish color, good keepers, 
the yield of milk from each of these cows 
ranging daily from 8 to 15% liters, the heav¬ 
iest weighing 1,038 pounds; Lavanthalar 
from Cariuthia, white, small-boned, early- 
maturing, weight 8'JO to 1,085, the best yield¬ 
ing 10%liters; the Stockeruuer, from Loser 
Austria, dark gray, meat producers, valuable 
for crossing with Dutch stuck, weight 005 to 
( _ _ m The level plains of the 
Danube Galley are among the very richest 
lands of Europe, and have long been th- 
granary of Central Europe, to which the 
Hungry of the German States, as the Cannon- 
it.es went down to Egypt to buy bread, have 
made pilgrimages iu search of food in seasons 
ot scarcity. 
The condition of the peasantry lias been 
much improved. The robot, a labor tax 
payable to the nobility, was abolished in 
1848, and the wine tax aud game restrictions 
have been abolished. Every feeholding peas¬ 
ant, or householder now possesses his prop¬ 
erty in lee simple, by the same title that 
secures ttie possessions of the nobility. The 
mud is now occupied about one-third by 
mall proprietor-, Imldim hv < •> I mi l.y jon i 
(a jud is 1.4223 acres), or seven to thirty-live 
acres; a third to a medium class, owning 
from 30 lo 8(H) joche; and a third to those 
owning from 300 to W,tmjuckc. The number 
of holdings is 8,486,355 ol which 8,348,110 are 
small farms. Three-fourths ol the land be¬ 
longs tr> individuals, aud the remainder is 
held in mortmain or oy the crown, the gov¬ 
ernment lands coinpri ing 8,700,Ooil joche, or 
ox pur cent. The price of laud has advanced 
'really during this period of political change. 
Formerly 50 to 00 norms per jock was it com¬ 
mon price; now in some neighborhoods 
lands can be had for 100 florins; moderately 
productive lands in hotter situation- com¬ 
mand 800, aud occasionally, under the compe¬ 
tition of active demand for smad tracts 
which are very productive, 400 florins arc 
obtained. This is equivalent to $1 ID per acre. 
There are two races of cattle, those of the 
plains, which are white, large, with long 
uorna, herds of whicu form a striking pic¬ 
ture on their broad and level pastures ; ofid 
those of the mountains, the Liobeiiburger, n 
mountain Puce, yellow and brown in color, 
small, compact with short horns. The plains 
cattle are alert iu movement, hardy, endur¬ 
ing cuauges ol climate, and fattening readily, 
in Hungary proper there are 1,073 sheep to 
every 1,000 of its population. Thin is alarger 
proportion, in comparison with population, 
khan is found elsewhere in Europe. The in 
crease lia., been 83 per cent, since 1857. The 
number of sheep m ISJO whs 25,077,000 ; oi 
cattle, 5,270,000 ; of horses, 2,158,800; of 
swine, 4,443,300. 
The industries are flour manufacturing, 
pork packing, and grain selling, making the 
country appear more like home to a Western 
American tuau any other part of Europe, 
and the great maize Uelds do not detract 
from the similarity; but the people, their lan¬ 
guage, their nmnuers. their methods of in¬ 
dustrial labor, and their agricultural ma¬ 
chinery a e all strange, and many of the 
comparisons instituted by the Westerner arc 
uut lavoraoie to the progressivencss of the 
country. Still he will tind our reapers and 
mowers there, aud coining in yet more 
rapidly, wuile the old ladies of the harvest 
n id look on with sorrow, wringing their 
hands, wi'h rears in Llieir eyes, as tney bt> 
nold lor Die first time an movation which 
they fear may take the bread from their 
own mouths. 
TAIY. 
Iu passing rapidly through Northern Italy 
among the most striking industrial features 
of the country was the vast system of irriga¬ 
tion in operation there, by which the clear 
Alpine waters are swiftly conveyed in broad 
and deep Channels through every portion of 
the pixxiUctive area, und distributed by a 
net-work of minor streams, giving refresh¬ 
ment, verdure, and fruitage to fields that 
would otherwise be dry and dreury in their 
comparative barrenness. There was almost 
monotony in the uppeurunee of the fields, 
though lucre was variety in unity from 
Trieste, to Venice, from Verona to Milan and 
Arona, al. me base of the mountains, mi al¬ 
most continuous field of maize, broken by 
parallel hues of the mulberry, which were 
kept closely trimmed and hung with festoons 
of vines, thus three crops are grown on the 
same land, furnishing food, drink, and cloth¬ 
ing. Polenta, a sort of hasty pudding, 
appears to be the principal food of large 
numbers ; it is used every where, sold on the 
markets cut in slices, taken tor lunch iu the 
field or at home, and always acceptable. 
Perhaps no other food could so well support 
so large a population. 
FRANCE. 
This distracted country lills an important 
place in the production of Europe, it is a 
country' noted for scientific experiments iu 
agriculture ; u. has 43 farm schools under the 
supervision of the Government, several ofli- 
eiul veterinary and other establishments for 
the advancement of rural industry. It makes 
a profitable speciality of sugar-beet produc- 
ITCH IN SHEEP 
A more injudicious treatment than the 
one recommended for the cure of what is 
usually called the scab, could hardly be 
thought of. When a young man, at home, 
on a large grass farm, wc generally had two 
or three hundred sheep, mostly bought and 
sold within the year. It scorned almost im¬ 
possible to bo entirely free from the infec¬ 
tion, and we then and there bought mercu¬ 
rial ointment by the pound ; and 1 am afraid 
to say how much I have used and seen used, 
on one sheep at n single dressing, but 1 really 
think nearly half a pound. 1 expect human 
animals, whan sick, rarely escape without 
more or less poison administered to them in 
their medicine ; and if horses, cattle and 
sheep should lick in a little mercury diluted 
with hog’s lard, i presume it would do them 
no harm. I have always used it without the 
least restraint, and have never known any 
harm to come of it. 
Sheep often break out in large lilotches in 
various parts of their skin. I will suppose a 
place as large as your hand on the neck near 
the shoulders, a very common occurrence. 
1 would take hold of the sheep, put its head 
between my knees, then carefully divide the 
wool the whole length of the affected part, 
then break through the crust with the ends 
of my fingers—true cleanliness docs not con¬ 
sist in never coming in c intact with dirt and 
filth, but in well washing every time you do 
—then well rubbing in the ointment ; then I 
would go (say half an inch) to the right, and 
make a. similar opening in the wool and well 
rub iu the ointment; and I would p oeaed 
in this way till satisfied I was below the af¬ 
fected parts ; thou servo the. other side the 
same. A man that understood his business 
would not destroy as much wool as would 
grow on a surface r o lurger than the end <>f 
your finger. 'There ia no kind of need of 
washing ; and the use of tobacco in any way 
you cun fix it, is dry and harsh, and is inju¬ 
rious to the growth of wool. G. 
SOUTHDOWNS vs. MERINOS In PRANCE 
A French correspondent of the Massa- 
chusettu Ploughman says :—The partizans of 
the Southdowns arc in great joy; not con¬ 
tent with the superiority of this breed over 
all others in point of precocity and fine¬ 
grained, wel -flavored meat, they are about 
disputing with the Merino for its monopoly 
in fineness, lei gth of staple and quantity of 
WOO). In a recent show in the Department 
of the Seine and Marne, the stronghold of 
the Merinos and where the Aiistr; liau flock- 
masters came to seek new blood, a South- 
down lias carried off the second prize for 
excellence of fleece, The sheep question in 
France is more und more narrowing down to 
the flu ding of rii animal eapab o of trans¬ 
forming food into flesh in the smallest period 
of time. Connected with this point is to 
secure that the mothers yield a good supply 
of milk. 
Dogs and Sheep.— We see it stated that 
Mr. R. W. CAMftnoN, whose farm Ls on Staten 
Island, offers his valuable flock of Cots wolds, 
most of them importations from the best. En¬ 
glish breeders, for sale, bee mse be is losing 
them bv dogs in the neighborhood and des¬ 
pairs Of his ability to protect them. Our 
impression is that we should protect them, if 
we had to poison or shoot every dog on the 
Island. 
