335 
THE RECORDS OE CONTAGIOUS CATTLE DISEASES IN 
YORKSHIRE DURING THE YEARS 1870-71. 
By J. Dent Dent, M.P. 
[A Letter to the Editor of the c Royal Agricultural Society's Journal.'] 
My dear Sir, —It has occurred to me that some readers 
of the Journal might be interested in the records of con¬ 
tagious diseases amongst animals in Yorkshire, which have 
been collected by the county constabulary since the carrying 
out of the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) 
Acts, 1869; was placed in their hands. Through the courtesy 
of Lieutenant-Colonel Granville Layard and Captains Hill 
and McNeill, the respective heads of the force in the East, 
North, and West Ridings, I am enabled to send you the 
quarterly returns of cases of pleuro-pneumonia and foot 
and mouth disease for the last two years. You will see that, 
as a whole, the East Riding, which is the most purely agri¬ 
cultural part of the county, has suffered the least, although 
the port of Hull, to which many German cattle are sent, is 
situated within it. This fact appears to negative the idea 
that the spread of these diseases or their virulence is propor¬ 
tionate to the introduction of foreign animals. The West 
Riding has suffered the most; this may be attributable partly 
to the fact that there was a great amount of foot and mouth 
disease existing in this Riding when the Act w T as first put 
into operation, and still more that the West Riding fairs are 
the great fairs for Irish cattle. 
Skipton, Knaresborough, Wetherby, and Wakefield, all 
have large fortnightly lean stock markets, which, especially 
during the autumn, are crowded with Irish beasts, many of 
most excellent quality, and invaluable for the use of our 
graziers; but others, much over-driven, overcrowded on ship¬ 
board and in railway trucks, and half starved in their progress 
from the Irish coast, are almost certain to be affected with 
disease either at the fair or on their arrival at the farms for 
which they are purchased. The North Riding, and the West 
too, alike suffer from the great focus of disease in Yorkshire, 
the market at York. This fortnightly market is at certain 
seasons crowded with stock, principally imported from Ireland, 
and from this centre the foot and mouth disease has at all 
times extended throughout the grazing districts of Yorkshire, 
as also did the cattle plague some years ago. There is need 
of a far more effective supervision of fairs, and a more general 
