Chapter LXXIII: Act 1893: compelled sellers of fertilizers (i.e. manures), (2)

Mag- Phosph- Chlor- Crop. Soda. Lime. nesia. ric Acid. ine. Silica. Wheat, grain, 30 bushels 0.6 1.0 3.6 14.2 0.1 0.6 Wheat, straw 2.0 8.2 3.5 6.9 2.4 96.3

Total crop 2.6 9.2 7.1 21.1 2.5 96.9

Barley, grain, 40 bushels 1.1 1.2 4.0 16.0 0.5 11.8 Barley, straw 3.9 8.0 2.9 4.7 3.6 56.8

Total crop 5.0 9.2 6.9 20.7 4.1 68.6

Oats, grain, 45 bushels 0.8 1.8 3.6 13.0 0.5 19.9 Oats, straw 4.6 9.8 5.1 6.4 6.1 65.4

Total crop 5.4 11.6 8.7 19.4 6.6 85.3

Maize, grain, 30 bushels 0.2 0.5 3.4 10.0 0.2 0.5 Maize, stalks, &c. .. .. .. 8.0 .. ..

Total crop .. .. .. 18.0 .. ..

Meadow hay, 1 1/2 ton 9.2 32.1 14.4 12.3 14.6 56.9

Red Clover hay, 2 tons 5.1 90.1 28.2 22.9 9.8 7.0

Beans, grain, 30 bushels 0.6 2.9 4.2 22.8 1.1 0.4 Beans, straw 1.7 26.3 5.7 6.3 4.3 6.9

Total crop 2.3 29.2 9.9 29.1 5.4 7.3

Turnip, root, 17 tons 17.0 25.5 5.7 22.4 10.9 2.6 Turnip, leaf 7.5 48.5 3.8 10.7 11.2 5.1

Total crop 24.5 74.0 9.5 33.1 22.1 7.7

Swedes, root, 14 tons 22.8 19.7 6.8 16.9 6.8 3.1 Swedes, leaf 9.2 22.7 2.4 4.8 8.3 3.6

Total crop 32.0 42.4 9.2 21.7 15.1 6.7

Mangels, root, 22 tons 69.4 15.9 18.3 36.4 42.5 8.7 Mangels, leaf 49.3 27.0 24.2 16.5 40.6 9.2

Total crop 118.7 42.9 42.5 52.9 83.1 17.9

Potatoes, tubers, 6 tons 3.8 3.4 6.3 21.5 4.4 2.6

(*) Calculated from a single analysis only.

carbon from the atmosphere, and produce, besides nitrogenous food materials, a very large amount of the carbohydrate sugar, as respiratory and fat-forming food for the live stock of the farm. The still more highly nitrogenous leguminous crops, although not characteristically benefited by nitrogenous manures, nevertheless contribute much more nitrogen to the total produce of the rotation than any of the other crops comprised in it. It is the leguminous fodder crops--especially clover, which has a much more extended period of growth, and much wider range of collection within the soil and subsoil, than any of the other crops of the rotation--that yield in their produce the largest amount of nitrogen per acre. Much of this is, doubtless taken up as nitrate, yet the direct application of nitrate of soda has comparatively little beneficial influence on their growth. The nitric acid is most likely taken up chiefly as nitrate of lime, but probably as nitrate of potash also, and it is significant that the high nitrogen-yielding clover takes up, or at least retains, very little soda. Table XI., from Warington's Chemistry of the Farm, 19th edition (Vinton and Co.), will serve to illustrate the subjects that have been discussed in this section.

For further information on the routine and details of farming, reference may be made to the articles under the headings of the various crops and implements.

British Live Stock.

The numbers of live stock in the United Kingdom are shown at five-yearly intervals in Table XII. Under horses are embraced only unbroken horses and horses used solely for agriculture (including mares kept for breeding). The highest and lowest annual totals for the United Kingdom in the period 1875-1905 were the following:--

Highest. Lowest. Difference

Horses 2,116,800 in 1905 1,819,687 in 1875 295,113 Cattle 11,674,019 in 1905 9,731,537 in 1877 1,942,482 Sheep 33,642,808 in 1892 27,448,220 in 1882 6,194,588 Pigs 4,362,040 in 1890 2,863,488 in 1880 1,498,552

After 1892 cattle, which in that year numbered 11,119,417, and sheep declined continuously for three years to the totals of 1895, the diminution being mainly the result of the memorable drought of 1803. Sheep, which numbered 32,571,018 in 1878, declined continuously to 27,448,220 in 1882--a loss of over five million head in five years. This was chiefly attributable to the ravages of the liver fluke which began in the disastrously wet season of 1879. Pigs, being prolific breeders, fluctuate more widely in numbers than cattle or sheep, for the difference of 1,498,552 in their case represents one-third of the highest total, whereas the difference is less than one-seventh for horses. less than one-sixth for cattle, and less than one-fifth for sheep. The

TABLE XII.--Numbers of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs in the United Kingdom.

Year. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs.

1875 1,819,687 10,162,787 33,491,948 3,495,167 1880 1,929,680 9,871,533 30,239,620 2,865,488 1885 1,909,200 10,868,760 30,086,200 3,686,628 1890 1,964,911 10,789,858 31,667,195 4,362,040 1895 2,112,207 10,753,314 29,774,853 4,238,870 1900 2,000,402 11,454,902 31,054,547 3,663,669 1905 2,116,800 11,674,019 29,076,777 3,601,659

relative proportions--as distinguished from the actual numbers --in which stock are distributed over the several sections of the United Kingdom do not vary greatly from year to year. Table XIII., in which the totals for the United Kingdom include those for the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, illustrates the preponderance of the sheep-breeding industry in the drier climate of Great Britain, and of the cattle-breeding industry in the more humid atmosphere of Ireland. In Great Britain in 1905, for every head of cattle there were about four head of sheep, whereas in Ireland the cattle outnumbered the sheep. Again. whilst Great Britain possessed only half as many cattle more than

TABLE XIII.--Numbers of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs in the United Kingdom in 1905.

1905. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs.

England 1,204,124 5,020,936 14,698,018 2,083,226 Wales 161,923 738,789 3,534,967 211,479 Scotland 206,386 1,227,295 7,024,211 130,214

Great Britain 1,572,433 6,987,020 25,257,196 2,424,919

Ireland 534,875 4,645,215 3,749,352 1,164,316

United Kingdom8 2,116,800 11,674,019 29,076,777 3,601,659

Ireland, she possessed six times as many sheep. The cattle population of England alone slightly exceeded that of Ireland. but cattle are more at home on the broad plains of England than amongst the hills and mountains of Wales and Scotland. which are suitable for sheep. Hence, whilst in England sheep were not three times as numerous as cattle, in Wales they were nearly five times, and in Scotland nearly six times as many. Great Britain had twice as many pigs as Ireland, but the swine industry is mainly English and Irish, and England possessed more than six times as many pigs as Wales and Scotland together. the number in the last-named country being particularly small. One English county alone, Suffolk, maintained more pigs than the whole of Scotland.

British Imports of Live Animals and Meat.

The stock-breeders and graziers of the United Kinudom have, equally with the corn-growers, to face the brunt of foreign competition.

Up tp 1896 store cattle were admitted into the United Kingdom for the purpose of being fattened, but under the Diseases of Animals Act of that year animals imported since then have to be slaughtered at the place of landing. The dimensions of this trade are shown in Table XIV.

TABLE XIV.--Numbers of Cattle, Sheep and Pigs Imported into the United Kingdom, 1891-1905.

Year. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs.

1891 507,407 344,504 542 1892 502,237 79,048 3826 1993 340,045 62,682 138 1894 475,440 484,597 8 1895 415,565 1,065,470 321 1896 562,553 769,592 4 1897 618,321 611,504 .. 1898 569,066 663,747 450 1899 503,504 607,755 .. 1900 495,645 382,833 .. 1901 495,635 383,594 .. 1902 419,488 293,203 .. 1903 522,546 354,241 .. 1904 549,532 382,240 .. 1905 565,139 183,084 150

The animals come mainly from the United States of America, Canada and Argentina, and the traffic in cattle is more uniform than that in sheep, whilst that in pigs seems practically to have reached extinction. The quantities of dead meat imported increased with great rapidity from 1891 to 1905, a circumstance largely due to the rise of the trade in chilled and frozen meat. Fresh beef in this form is imported chiefly from the United States and Australasia, fresh mutton from Australasia and Argentina.

Table XV. shows how rapidly this trade expanded during the decade of the 'nineties. The column headed bacon and hams indicates clearly enough that the imports of fresh meat did not displace those of preserved pig meat, for the latter expanded from 4,715,000 cwt. to 7,784,000 cwt. during the decade. The column for all dead meat includes not only the items tabulated, but also

TABLE XV.--Quantities of Dead Meat Imported into the United Kingdom, 1891-1905--Thousands of Cwt.

Year. Fresh Fresh Fresh Bacon All
Beef. Mutton. Pork. and Hams. Dead Meat.

1891 1921 1663 128 4715 9,790 1892 2080 1700 132 5135 10,300 1893 1808 1971 182 4187 9,305 1894 2104 2295 180 4819 10,610 1895 2191 2611 288 5353 11,977 1896 2660 2895 299 6009 13,347 1897 3010 3193 348 6731 14,729 1898 3101 3314 558 7684 16,445 1899 3803 3446 669 7784 17,658 1900 4128 3393 695 7444 17,912 1901 4509 3608 792 7633 18,764 1902 3707 3660 655 6572 16,971 1903 4160 4017 706 6298 17,498 1904 4350 3495 610 6696 17,517 1905 5038 3811 506 6817 18,680

the following, the quantities stated being those for 1905:--Beef, salted, 142,806 cwt.; beef, otherwise preserved, 598,030 cwt.; preserved mutton, 30,111 cwt.; salted pork, 205,965 cwt.; dead rabbits, 656,078 cwt.; meat, unenumerated, 875,032 cwt. The quantities of these are relatively small, and, excepting rabbits from Australia, they show no general tendency to increase. The extent to which these growing imports were associated with a decline in value is shown in Table XVI.

The trend of the import trade in meat, live and dead (exclusive of rabbits), may be gathered from Table XVII., in which are given the annual average imports from the eight quinquennial periods embraced between 1866 and 1905. An increase in live cattle accompanied a decrease in live sheep and pigs, but the imports of dead meat expanded fifteen-fold over the period,

The rate at which the trade in imported frozen mutton increased as compared with the industry in home-grown mutton is illustrated in the figures published annually by Messrs W. Weddel and Company, from which those for 1885 and 1890 and for each year from 1895 to 1906 are given in Table XVIII. The home-grown is the estimated dead weight of sheep and lambs slaughtered, which is taken at 40% of the total number of sheep and lambs returned each year in the United Kingdom. In the

TABLE XVI.--Average Values of Fresh Meat, Bacon and Hams Imported into the United Kingdom, 1891-1905--per Cwt.

Year. Fresh Fresh Fresh Bacon. Hams.
Beef. Mutton. Pork.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

1891 42 1 39 6 47 6 37 11 46 4 1892 42 5 40 6 46 11 40 10 47 4 1893 42 4 39 3 50 0 53 0 58 5 1894 40 0 37 10 48 5 43 10 49 1 1895 39 0 35 2 46 1 39 0 44 11 1896 37 10 32 7 45 11 34 6 43 0 1897 38 5 30 3 44 0 35 5 42 8 1898 38 2 29 7 41 10 36 2 39 6 1899 38 8 31 7 41 11 35 10 41 5 1900 39 7 34 5 43 0 41 9 46 10 1901 39 6 36 7 43 4 47 1 48 8 1902 42 8 37 9 44 2 52 9 52 1 1903 40 3 39 0 44 1 52 10 55 1 1904 37 1 39 3 45 2 47 1 49 11 1905 35 6 38 6 46 0 46 6 47 4

imported column is given the weight of fresh (frozen) mutton and lamb imported, plus the estimated dead weight of the sheep imported on the hoof for slaughter. The quantity imported in 1899 was double that in 1890, and quadruple that in 1885. Moreover, in 1885 the imported product was only about one-seventh

TABLE XVII.--Average Annual Imports of Cattle, Sheep and Pigs, and of Dead Meat, into the United Kingdom over eight 5-yearly periods.

Period. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Dead Meat.

No. No. No. Cwt. 1866-1870 194,947 610,300 64,827 1,155,867 1871-1875 215,990 864,516 74,040 3,134,175 1876-1880 272,745 938,704 44,613 5,841,913 1881-1885 387,282 974,316 24,355 6,012,495 1886-1890 438,098 800,599 19,437 7,681,729 1891-1895 448,139 407,260 967 10,436,549 1896-1900 549,818 607,086 91 15,785,354 1901-1905 510,468 319,272 30 17,384,366

as much as the home-grown. whereas in 1890 it was more than one-fourth, and in 1906 close on two-thirds. This large import trade in fresh meat, which sprang up entirely within the last quarter of the 19th century, has placed an abundance of cheap and wholesome food well within the reach of the great industrial

TABLE XVIII.--Home Product and Imports of Sheep and Mutton into the United Kingdom--Thousands of Tons.

Year. Home- Imported. Year. Home- Imported.
grown. grown.

1885 322 47 1900 332 179 1890 339 92 1901 330 191 1895 319 157 1902 322 191 1896 329 164 1903 318 2109 1897 327 175 1904 311 185 1898 333 182 1905 312 195 1899 339 187 1906 313 207

populations of the United Kingdom. At the same time it cannot. be gainsaid that it has opened the way to fraud. Butchers have palmed off upon their customers imported fresh meat as home-grown, and secured a dishonest profit by charging for it the prices of the latter, which are considerably in excess of those of the imported product.

Sale of Cattle by Live Weight

In connexion with the internal live stock trade of Great Britain attention must be directed to the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Act 1891. The object of this measure is to replace the old-fashioned system of guessing at the weight of an animal by the sounder method of obtaining the exact weight by means of the weighbridge. The grazier buys and sells cattle much less frequently than the butcher buys them, so that the latter is naturally more skilled in estimating the weight of a beast through the use of the eye and the hand. The resort to the weighbridge should put both on an equality, and its use tends to increase. Under the act, as supplemented by an order of the Board of Agriculture in 1905, there were in that year 26 scheduled places in England and 10 in Scotland, or 36 altogether, from which returns were obtained. The numbers of cattle (both fat and store) weighed at scheduled places in 1893 and 190510 were respectively 7.59 and 18% of those entering those markets. The numbers for Scotland are greater throughout than those for England, 72% of the fat cattle entering the scheduled markets in Scotland in 1905 (2) having been weighed, while in England the proportion was only 20%. Little use is made of the weighbridge in selling store-cattle, sheep or swine. As the main object of the act is to obtain records of prices, it follows that only in so far as statements of the prices realized, together with the description of the animals involved, are obtained, is the full advantage of the statute secured. In 1905 the average price per cwt. for fat cattle in Great Britain was 32s. 11d. as compared with 35s. 2d. in 1900.

Food Values and Early Maturity.

In the feeding experiments which have been carried on at Rothamsted it has been shown that the amount consumed both for a given live weight of animal within a given time, and for the production of a given amount of increase, is, as current food stuffs go, measurable more by the amounts they contain of digestible and available non-nitrogenous constituents than by the amounts of the digestible and available nitrogenous constituents they supply. The non-nitrogenous substance (the fat) in the increase in live weight of an animal is, at any rate in great part, if not entirely, derived from the non-nitrogenous constituents of the food. Of the nitrogenous compounds in food, on the other hand, only a small proportion of the whole consumed is finally stored up in the increase of the animal--in other words, a very large amount of nitrogen passes through the body beyond that which is finally retained in the increase, and so remains for manure. Hence it is that the amount of food consumed to produce a given amount of increase in live weight, as well as that required for the sustentation of a given live weight for a given time, should--provided the food be not abnormally deficient in nitrogenous substance--be characteristically dependent on its supplies of digestible and available non-nitrogenous constituents. It has further been shown that, in the exercise of force by animals, there is a greatly increased expenditure of the non-nitrogenous constituents of food, but little, if any, Of the nitrogenous. Thus, then, alike for maintenance, for increase, and for the exercise of force, the exigencies of the system are characterized more by the demand for the digestible non-nitrogenous or more specially respiratory and fat-forming constituents than by that for the nitrogenous or more specially flesh-forming ones. Hence, as current fattening food-stuffs go--assuming, of course, that they are not abnormally low in the nitrogenous constituents--they are, as foods, more valuable in proportion to their richness in digestible and available non-nitrogenous than to that of their nitrogenous constituents. As, however, the manure of the animals of the farm is valuable largely in proportion to the nitrogen it contains, there is, so far, an advantage in giving a food somewhat rich in nitrogen, provided it is in other respects a good one, and, weight for weight, not much more costly.

The quantity of digestible nutritive matter in 1000 lb. of ordinary feeding-stuffs when supplied to sheep or oxen is shown in Table XIX. This table is taken from Warington's Chemistry of the Farm, 10th edition (Vinton and Co.), to which reference may be made for a detailed discussion of the feeding of animals.

In the fattening of animals for the butcher the principle of early maturity has received full recognition. If the sole purpose for which an animal is reared is to prepare it for the block--and this is the case with steers amongst cattle and with wethers amongst sheep--the sooner it is ready for slaughter the less should be the outlay involved. During the whole time the animal is living the feeder has to pay what has been termed the ``life tax''--that is, so much of the food has to go to the maintenance of the animal as a living organism into what will subsequenctly be available in the form of beef or mutton. If a bullock can be rendered fit for the butcher at the age of two or three years, will the animal repay another year's feeding? It has been proved at the Christmas fat stock shows that the older a bullock gets the less will he gain in weight per day as a result of the feeding. With regard to this point the work of the Smithfield Club deserves recognition. This body was instituted in 1798 as the Smithfield Cattle and Sheep Society, the title being

TABLE XIX.--Digestible Matter in 1000 lb. of Various Foods.

Total Nitrogeneaous Soluble Organic Substances. Fat. Carbo- Fibre Matter. Alba- Amides, hydrates minoids. etc. Cotton cake (decorticated) 691 374 18 128 158 13 (undecorticated) 422 150 13 50 177 32 Linseed cake 655 230 11 103 266 45 Peas 747 175 25 12 499 36 Beans 733 196 28 12 446 51 Wheat11 786 92 13 15 656 10 Oats 600 81 7 45 441 26 Barley 715 70 4 19 607 15 Maize 786 73 6 44 651 12 Rice meal 612 67 10 102 411 22 Wheat bran 585 90 20 27 426 22 Malt sprouts 681 114 71 11 379 106 Brewers' grains 137 34 2 14 67 20 '' (dried) 529 136 8 57 266 62 Pasture grass 156 19 11 6 84 36 Clover (bloom beginning) 123 17 8 5 63 30 Clover hay (medium) 440 47 25 13 242 113 Meadow hay (best) 511 60 18 13 269 151 (medium) 485 40 12 12 269 152 (poor) 460 29 5 10 242 174 Maize silage 124 1 7 7 75 34 \ / Bean straw 412 40 6 211 155 Oat straw 381 7 5 7 163 199 Barley straw 426 4 3 6 211 202 \ / Wheat straw 351 4 4 150 193 Potatoes 213 5 9 1 195 3 Mangels (large) 89 1 8 1/2 74 6 (small) 109 2 6 1/2 96 5 Swedes 87 2 7 1/2 71 6 Turnips 68 1 5 1/2 56 5

changed to that of the Smithfield Club in 1802. The original object--the supply of the cattle markets of Smithfield and other places with the cheapest and best meat--is still kept strictly in view. The judges, in making their awards at the show held annually in December, at Islington, North London (since 1862), are instructed to decide according to quality of flesh, lightness of offal, age and early maturity, with no restrictions as to feeding, and thus to promote the primary aim of the club in encouraging the selection and breeding of the best and most useful animals for the production of meat, and testing their capabilities in respect of early maturity. At the first show, held at Smithfield in 1799, two classes were provided for cattle and two for sheep, the prizes offered amounting to L. 52 : 10s. In 1839 the classes comprised seven for cattle, six for sheep, and one for pigs, with prizes to the amount of L. 300. By 1862 the classes had risen to 29 for cattle, 17 for sheep and 4 for pigs, and the prize money to L. 2072. At the centenary show in 1898 provision was made for 40 classes for cattle, 29 for sheep, 18 for pigs, and 7 for animals to be slaughtered, whilst to mark the importance of the occasion the prizes offered amounted to close upon L. 5000 in value. In 1907 there were 38 classes for cattle, 29 for sheep, 20 or pigs and 12 for carcase competitors, and the value of the prizes was L. 4113. The sections provided for cattle are properly restricted to what may be termed the beef brands; in the catalogue order they are Devon, South Devon, Hereford, Shorthorn, Sussex, Red Polled, Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Welsh, Highland, Cross-bred, Kerry and Dexter, and Small Cross-bred.

It will be noticed that such characteristically milking breeds as the Ayrshire, Jersey and Guernsey have no place here. Provision is made, however, for all the well-known breeds of sheep and swine. In the cattle classes, aged beasts of huge size and of considerably over a ton in weight used to be common, but in recent years the tendency has been to reduce the upper limit of age, and thus to bring out animals ripe for the butcher in a shorted time than was formerly the case. An important step in this direction was taken in 1896, when the senior class for steers, viz. animals three to four years old, was abolished, the maximum age at which steers were allowed to compete for prizes being reduced to three years. The cow classes were abolished in 1897, and in the schedule of the 1905 exhibition the classes for each breed of cattle were (1) for steers not exceeding two years old, (2) for steers above two years and not exceeding three years old, and (3) for heifers not exceeding three years old. The single exception is provided by the slowly-maturing Highland breed of cattle, for which classes were allotted to (1) steers not exceeding three years old, (2) steers or oxen above three years old (with no maximum limit), and (3) heifers not exceeding four years old. As illustrating heavy weights, there were in the 1893 show, out of 310 entries of cattle, four beasts which weighed over a ton. They were all steers of three to four years old, one being a Hereford weighing 20 cwt. 2 qr. 4 lb, and the others Shorthorns weighing respectively 20 cwt. 2 qr., 20 cwt. 3 qr. 21 lb, and 22 cwt. 2 qr. 18 lb. In the 1895 show, out of 356 entries of cattle, there were seven beasts of more than a ton in weight. They were all three to four years old, and comprised four Shorthorns (top weight 21 cwt. 1 qr. 18 lb), one Sussex (22 cwt. 3 qr. 7 lb), and two cross-breds (top weight 20 cwt. 3 qr. 24 lb). In the 1899 show, with 311 entries of cattle, and the age limited to three years, no beast reached the weight of a ton, the heaviest animal being a crossbred (Aberdeen-Angus and Shorthorn) which, at three years old, turned the scale at 19 cwt. 1 qr. 5 lb. Out of 301 entries in 1905 the top weight was 19 cwt. 1 qr. 25 lb in the case of a Shorthorn steer. Useful figures for purposes of comparison are obtained by dividing the weight of a fat beast by the number of days in its age, the weight at birth being thrown in. The average daily gain in live weight is thus arrived at, and as the animal increases in age this average gradually diminishes, until the daily gain reaches a stage at which it does not afford any profitable return upon the food consumed. At the centenary show of the Smithfield Club in 1898 the highest average daily gains in weight amongst prize-winning cattle were providrd by a Shorthorn-Aberdeen cross-bred steer (age, one year seven months; daily gain 2.47 lb); a Shorthorn steer (age, one year seven months; daily gain, 2.44 lb); and an Aberdeen-Shorthorn cross-bred steer (age, one year ten months; daily gain, 2.33 lb). These beasts, it will be observed, were all under two years old. Amongst prize steers of two and a half to three years old, on the same occasion, the three highest daily average gains in live weight were 2.07 lb. for an Aberdeen-Angus, 1.99 lb. for a Shorthorn-Aberdeen cross-bred and 1.97 lb. for a Sussex. In the sheep section of the Smithfield show the classes for ewes were finally abolished in 1898, and the classes restricted to wethers and wether lambs, whose function is exclusively the production of meat. At the 1905 show, sheep of each breed, and also cross-breds, competed as (1) wether lambs under twelve months old, and (2) wether sheep above twelve and under twenty-four months old. The only exception was in the case of the slowly-maturing Cheviot and mountain breeds, for which the second class was for wether sheep of any age above twelve months. Of prize sheep at the centenary show the largest average daily gain was 0.77 lb. per head given by Oxford-Hampshire cross-bred wether lambs, aged nine months two weeks. In the case of wether sheep, twelve to twenty-four months old, the highest daily increase was 0.56 lb per head as yielded by Lincolns, aged twenty-one months. Within the last quarter of the 19th century the stock-feeding practices of the country were much modified in accordance with these ideas of early maturity. The three-year-old wethers and older oxen that used to be common in the fat stock markets are now rarely seen, excepting perhaps in the case of mountain breeds of sheep and Highland cattle. It was in 1875 that the Smithfield Club first provided the competitive classes for lambs, and in 1883 the champion plate offered for the best pen of sheep of any age in the show was for the first time won by lambs, a pen of Hampshire Downs. The young classes for bullocks were established in 1880. The time-honoured notion that an animal must have completed its growth before it could be profitably fattened is no longer held, and the improved breeds which now exist rival one another as regards the early period at which they may be made ready for the butcher by appropriate feeding and management.

In 1895 the Smithfield Club instituted a carcase competition in association with its annual show of fat stock, and it has been continued each year since. The cattle and sheep entered for this competition are shown alive on the first day, at the close of which they are slaughtered and the carcases hung up for exhibition, with details of live and dead weights. The competition thus constitutes what is termed a ``block test,'' and it is instructive in affording the opportunity of seeing the quality of the carcases furnished by the several animals, and in particular the relative proportion and distribution of fat and lean meat. The live animals are judged and subsequently the carcases, and, though the results sometimes agree, more often they do not. Tables are constructed showing the fasted live weight, the carcase weight, and the weight of the various parts that are separated from and not included with the carcase. An abundance of lean meat and a moderate amount of fat well distributed constitutes a better carcase, and a more economical one for the consumer, than a carcase in which gross accumulations of fat are prominent. To add to the educational value of the display, information as to the methods of feeding would be desirable, as it would then be possible to correlate the quality of the meat with the mode of its manufacture. A point of high practical interest is the ratio of carcase weight to fasted live weight, and in the case of prize-winning carcases these ratios usually fluctuate within very narrow limits. At the 1890 show, for example, the highest proportion of the carcase weight to live weight was 68% in the case of an Aberdeen-Angus steer and of a Cheviot wether, whilst the lowest was 61%, afforded alike by a Shorthorn-Sussex cross-bred heifer and a mountain lamb. A familiar practical method of estimating carcase weight from live weight is to reckon one Smithfield stone (8 lb) of carcase for each imperial stone (14 lb) of live weight. This gives carcase weight as equal to 57% of live weight, a ratio much inferior to the best results obtained at the carcase competition promoted by the Smithfield Club.

Breed societies.

A noteworthy feature of the closing decades of the 19th century was the formation of voluntary associations of stockbreeders, with the object of promoting the interests of the respective breeds of live stock. As a typical example of these organizations the Shire Horse Society may be mentioned. It was incorporated in 1878 to improve and promote the breeding of the Shire or old English race of cart-horses, and to effect the distribution of sound and healthy sires throughout the country. The society holds annual shows, publishes annually the Shire Horse Stud Book and offers gold and silver medals for competition amongst Shire horses at agricultural shows in different parts of the country, The society has carried on a work of high national importance, and has effected a marked improvement in the character and quality of the Shire horse. What has thus voluntarily been done in England would in most other countries be left to the state, or would not be attempted at all. It is hardly necessary to say that the Shire Horse Society has never received a penny of public money, nor has any other of the voluntary breeders' societies. The Hackney Horse Society and the Hunters' Improvement Society are conducted on much the same lines as the Shire Horse Society, and, like it, they each hold a show in London in the spring of the year and publish an annual volume. Other horsebreeders' associations, all doing useful work in the interests of their respective breeds, are the Suffolk Horse Society, the Clydesdale Horse Society, the Yorkshire Coach Horse Society, the Cleveland Bay Horse Society, the Polo Pony Society, the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society and the New Forest Pony Association. Thoroughbred race-horses are registered in the General Stud Book. The Royal Commission on Horse Breeding, which dates from 1887, is, as its name implies, not a voluntary organization. Through the commission the money previously spent upon Queen's Plates is offered in the form of ``King's Premiums'' (to the number of twenty-eight in 1907) of L. 150 each for thoroughbred stallions, on condition that each stallion winning a premium shall serve not less than fifty half-bred mares, if required. The winning stallions are distributed in districts throughout Great Britain, and the use of these selected sires has resulted in a decided improvement in the quality of half-bred horses. The annual show of the Royal Commission on Horse Breeding is held in London jointly. and concurrently with that of the Hunters' Improvement Society.

Of organizations of cattle-breeders the English Jersey Cattle Society, established in 1878, may be taken as a type. It offers prizes in butter-test competitions and milking trials at various agricultural shows, and publishes the English Herd Book and Register of Pure-Bred Jersey Cattle. This volume records the births in the herds of members of the society, and gives the pedigrees of cows and bulls, besides furnishing lists of prize-winners at the principal shows and butter-test awards, and reports of sales by auction of Jersey cattle. Other cattle societies, all well caring for the interest of their respective breeds, are the Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn Association, the Hereford Herd Book Society, the Devon Cattle Breeders' Society, the South Devon Herd Book Society, the Sussex Herd Book Society, the Long-horned Cattle Society, the Red Polled Society, the English Guernsey Cattle Society, the English Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society, the Welsh Black Cattle Society, the Polled Cattle Society (for the Aberdeen-Angus breed), the English Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Association, the Galloway Cattle Society, the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book Society, the Highland Cattle Society of Scotland and the Dairy Shorthorn Association.

In the case of sheep the National Sheep Breeders' Association looks after the interests of flockmasters in general, whilst most of the pure breeds are represented also by separate organizations. The Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders' Association may be taken as a type of the latter, its principal object being to encourage the breeding of Hampshire Down sheep at home and abroad, and to maintain the purity of the breed. It publishes an annual Flock Book, the first volume of which appeared in 1890. In this book are named the recognized and pure-bred sires which have been used, and ewes which have been bred from, whilst there are also registered the pedigrees of such sheep as are proved to be eligible for entry. Prizes are offered by the society at various agricultural shows where Hampshire Down sheep are exhibited. Other sheep societies include the Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association, the Cotswold Sheep Society, the Lincoln Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association, the Oxford Down Sheep Breeders' Association, the Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Southdown Sheep Society, the Suffolk Sheep Society, the Border Leicester Sheep Breeders' Society, the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Incorporated Wensleydale Blue-faced Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Kent Sheep Breeders' Association, the Devon Longwool Sheep Breeders' Society, the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association, the Cheviot Sheep Society and the Roscommon Sheep Breeders' Association.

The interests of pig-breeders are the care of the National Pig Breeders' Association, in addition to which there exist the British Berkshire, the Large Black Pig, and the Lincoln Curly-Coated White Pig Societies, and the Incorporated Tamworth Pig Breeders' Association.

The addresses of the secretaries of the various live-stock societies in the United Kingdom are published annually in the Live Stock Journal Almanac.

The Maintenance of the Health of Live Stock.

It was not till the closing decade of the 19th century that the stock-breeders of the United Kingdom found themselves in a position to prosecute their industry free from the fear of the introduction of contagious disease through the medium of store animals imported from abroad for fattening on the native pastures. By the Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 15) it was provided that cattle, sheep and pigs imported into the United Kingdom should be slaughtered at the place of landing. The effect was to reduce to a minimum the risk of the introduction of disease amongst the herds and flocks of the country, and at the same time to confine the trade in store stock exclusively to the breeders of Great Britain and Ireland. This arrangement makes no difference to the food-supply of the people, for dead meat continues to arrive at British ports in ever-increasing quantity. Moreover, live animals are admitted freely from certain countries, provided such animals are slaughtered at the place of landing. At Deptford, for example, large numbers of cattle and sheep which thus arrive--mainly from Argentina, Canada and the United States--are at once slaughtered, and so furnish a steady supply of fresh-killed beef and mutton. The animals which are shipped in this way are necessarily of the best quality, because the freight on a superior beast is no more costly than on an inferior one, and the proportion of freight to sale price is therefore less. With this superior description of butchers' stock all classes of home-grown stock--good, bad and indifferent--have, of course, to compete. The Board of Agriculture has the power to close the ports of the United Kingdom against live animals from any country in which contagious disease is known to exist. This accounts for the circumstance that so few countries--none of them in Europe--enjoy the privilege of sending live animals to British ports. In 1900 the discovery early in the year of the existence of foot-and-mouth disease amongst cattle and sheep shipped from Argentina to the United Kingdom led to the issue of an order by which all British ports were closed against live animals from the country named. This order came into force on the 30th of April, and the result was a marked decline in the shipments of live cattle and sheep from the River Plate, but a decided increase in the quantity of frozen meat sent thence to the United Kingdom.

The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed an important change in the attitude of public opinion towards legislative control over the contagious diseases of animals. When, after the introduction of cattle plague or rinderpest in 1865, the proposal was made to resort to the extreme remedy of slaughter in order to check the ravages of a disease which was pursuing its course with ruinous results, the idea was received with public indignation and denounced as barbarous. Views have undergone profound modification since then, and the most drastic remedy has come to be regarded as the most effective, and in the long run the least costly. The Cattle Diseases Prevention Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 2) made compulsory the slaughter of diseased cattle, and permitted the slaughter of cattle which had been exposed to infection, compensation being provided out of the rates. The Act 30 & 31 Vict. c. 125, 1867, is of historical interest, in that it contains the first mention of pleuro-pneumonia, and the exposure in any market of cattle suffering from that disease was made an offence. The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 70) revoked all former acts, and defined disease to mean cattle plague, pleuro-pneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, sheep-pox, sheep-scab and glanders, together with any disease which the Privy Council might by order specify. The principle of this act in regard to foreign animals was that of free importation, with power for the Privy Council to prohibit or subject to quarantine and slaughter, as circumstances seemed to require. The act of 1869 was at that time the most complete measure that had ever been passed for dealing with diseases of animals. The re-introduction of cattle plague into England in 1877 led to the passing of the Act 41 & 42 Vict. c. 74, 1878, which repealed the act of 1869, and affirmed as a principle the landing of foreign animals for slaughter only, though free importation or quarantine on the one hand and prohibition on the other were provided for in exceptional circumstances. By an order of council which came into operation in December 1878, swine fever was declared to be a disease for the purposes of the act of that year. It was not, however, till October 1886 that anthrax and rabies were officially declared to be contagious diseases for the purposes of certain sections of the act of 1878. In 1884 the Act 47 & 48 Vict. c. 13 empowered the Privy Council to prohibit the landing of animals from any country in respect of which the circumstances were not such as to afford reasonable security against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease. After one or two other measures of minor importance came the Act 53 & 54 Vict. c. 14, known as the Pleuro-pneumonia Act 1890, which transferred the powers of local authorities to slaughter and pay compensation in cases of pleuro-pneumonia to the Board of Agriculture, and provided further for the payment of such compensation out of money specifically voted by parliament. This measure was regarded at the time as a marked step in advance, and was only carried after a vigorous campaign in its favour. In 1892 by the Act 55 & 56 Vict. c. 47 power was given to the Board of Agriculture to use the sums voted on account of pleuro-pneumonia for paying the costs involved in dealing with foot-and-mouth disease; under this act the board could order the slaughter of diseased animals and of animals in contact with these, and could pay compensation for animals so slaughtered. Under the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 43) swine fever in Great Britain was, from the 1st of November in that year, dealt with by the Board of Agriculture in the same way as pleuro-pneumonia, the slaughter of infected swine being carried out under directions from the central authority, and compensation allowed from the imperial exchequer. In 1894 was passed the Diseases of Animals Act (57 & 58 Vict. c. 57), the word ``contagious'' being omitted from the title. This was a measure to consolidate the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts 1878-1893. In it ``the expression `disease' means cattle plague (that is to say, rinderpest, or the disease commonly called cattle plague), contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle (in this act called pleuro-pneumonia), foot-and-mouth disease, sheep-pox, sheep-scab, or swine fever (that is to say, the disease known as typhoid fever of swine, soldier purples, red disease, hog cholera or swine plague).'' The Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 15) rendered compulsory the slaughter of imported live stock at the place of landing, a boon for which British stock-breeders had striven for many years. The ports in Great Britain at which foreign animals may be landed are Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Animals from the Channel Islands may be landed at Southampton.

The Diseases of Animals.

Under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1894 and 1896 weekly returns are issued by the Board of Agriculture of outbreaks of anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, glanders (including farcy), pleuro-pneumonia, rabies and swine fever in the counties of Great Britain; also monthly returns of outbreaks of sheep-scab.

Cattle plague, or rinderpest, has not been recorded in Great Britain since 1877. In that year there were 47 outbreaks distributed over five counties and involving 263 head of cattle.

The course of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain between 1877 and 1905 inclusive is told in Table XX., from which the

TABLE XX.--Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Great Britain, 1877-1905.

Animals attacked.
Out Other
Year. Counties. Breaks. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Animals.

1877 55 858 5,640 7,405 2,099 1878 45 235 912 8,609 245 1879 29 137 261 15,681 5 1880 38 1,461 20,918 9,572 1,886 2 1881 49 4,833 59,484 117,152 6,330 80 1882 49 1,970 23,973 11,412 2,564 1 1883 75 18,732 219,289 217,492 24,332 32 1884 55 949 12,186 14,174 1,860 1 1885 10 30 354 34 30 1886 1 1 10 1892 15 95 1,248 3,412 107 1893 2 2 30 1894 3 3 7 261 1900 9 21 214 50 2 1901 3 12 43 626 1902 1 1 2 118

years 1887 to 1891, 1895 to 1899 and 1903 to 1905 inclusive are omitted, because there was no outbreak during those periods. The disease is seen to have attained its maximum virulence in 1883.

Sheep-scab is a loathsome skin disease due to an acarian parasite. Table XXI. shows the number of outbreaks and the number of counties over which they were distributed from 1877 to 1905. The recorded outbreaks were more numerous in the decade of the 'nineties than in that of the 'eighties, though possibly this may have been due to greater official activity in the later period. The largest number of sheep attacked was

TABLE XXI.--Outbreaks of Sheep-Scab in Great Britain, 1877-1905.

Year. Counties. Outbreaks. Year. Counties. Outbreaks.

1877 77 3214 1890 75 1506 1880 70 1556 1895 88 3092 1885 69 1512 1900 78 1939 1905 73 918

68,715 (in 1877). It is compulsory on owners to notify the authorities as to the existence of scab amongst their sheep. By the Diseases of Animals Act(1903) powers to prescribe the dipping of sheep, irrespective of the presence or otherwise of sheep scab, were conferred upon the Board of Agriculture. An inspector of the board or of the local authority was by the same act authorized to enter premises and examine sheep. Each year the disorder runs a similar course, the outbreaks dwindling to a minimum in the summer months, June to August, and attaining a maximum in the winter months, December to February. It is chiefly in the ``flying'' flocks and not in the breeding flocks that the disease is rife, and it is so easily communicable that a drove of scab-infested sheep passing along a road may leave behind them traces sufficient to set up the disorder in a drove of healthy sheep that may follow. For its size and in relation to its sheep population Wales harbours the disease to a far greater extent than the other divisions of Great Britain.

The fatal disease known as anthrax did not form the subject of official returns previous to the passing of the Anthrax Order of 1886. Isolated outbreaks are of common occurrence, and from the totals for Great Britain given in Table XXII. it would appear that there is little prospect of the eradication of this bacterial disorder.

Glanders (including farcy) was the subject during the twenty-four years 1877-1900 of outbreaks in Great Britain ranging between a minimum of 518 in 1877 and a maximum of 1657 in 1892; in the former year 758 horses were attacked, and in the latter 3001. A recrudescence of the disease marked the closing years of the 19th century, the outbreaks having been 748 in 1898, 853 in 1899 and 1119 in 1900. The counties of Great Britain over which the annual outbreaks have been distributed have ranged between 24 in 1890 and 52 in 1879. As a matter of fact,

TABLE XXII.--Outbreaks of Anthrax in Great Britain, 1895-1905.

Animals Attacked.
Year. Counties. Outbreaks. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Horses.

1895 66 434 604 158 140 32 1896 64 488 632 34 200 38 1897 67 433 521 39 284 38 1898 73 556 634 22 161 39 1899 67 534 634 69 253 30 1900 74 571 668 40 204 44 1901 63 651 708 76 152 35 1902 71 678 746 50 192 44 1903 78 767 809 48 234 51 1904 77 1049 1115 62 365 47 1905 84 970 1001 53 210 53

however, the disease is strongly centred upon the metropolitan area, more than half of the outbreaks being reported from the county of London alone.

The rabies order was passed in 1886, and the number of counties in Great Britain in which cases of rabies in dogs were reported in each subsequent year is shown in Table XXIII. In addition there have been some cases of rabies in animals other than dogs. The disease was very rife in 1895, but the extensive application of the muzzling restrictions of the Board of Agriculture was accompanied by so steady a diminution in the

TABLE XXIII.--Cases of Rabies in Dogs in Great Britain,
1887-1902.

Year. Counties. Cases. Year. Counties. Cases.

1887 28 217 1895 29 672 1888 19 160 1896 41 438 1889 20 312 1897 30 151 1890 20 129 1898 10 17 1891 17 79 1899 4 9 1892 12 38 1900 2 6 1893 18 93 1901 1 1 1894 17 248 1902 4 13

prevalence of the disease, that it was thought the latter had been extirpated. The entire revocation of the muzzling order, which accordingly followed, proved, however, to be premature, and it became necessary to reimpose it in the districts where it had last been operative, namely, certain parts of South Wales. No cases were reported in 1903, 1904 or 1905.

Pleuro-pneumonia in Great Britain was dealt with by the local authorities up to the year 1890. Between 1870 and 1889 the annual outbreaks had ranged between a minimum of 312 in 1884 and a maximum of 3262 in 1874, the largest number of cattle attacked in any one year being 7983 in 1872. The largest number of counties over which thin outbreaks were distributed was 72 in 1873. On the 1st of September 1890 the Board of Agriculture assumed powers with respect to pleuro-pneumonia under the Diseases of Animals Act of that year. Their administration was attended by success, for from 192 outbreaks in Great Britain in 1891 the total fell to 35 in 1892 and to 9 in 1893. In the four subsequent years, 1894-1897, the outbreaks numbered 2, 1, 2, and 7 respectively. In January 1898 an outbreak was discovered in a London cow-shed. This proved to be the last case in the 19th century of what at one time had been a veritable scourge to cattle-owners and a source of heavy financial loss.

Between 1879 and 1892 inclusive, administration with regard to swine-fever was entrusted to local authorities. The largest number of outbreaks neported in any one of those years was 7926 in 1885, and the smallest 1717 in 1881. In 1893 the Board of Agriculture took over the management, and Table XXIV. shows the number of counties in which swine-fever existed, the number of outbreaks confirmed and the number of swine slaughtered by order of the board in each year since. The trouble with this disease has been mainly in England, the outbreaks in Wales and Scotland being comparatively few. What are termed ``swine-fever infected areas'' are scheduled by the board when and where circumstances seem to require, and the movement

TABLE XXIV.--Outbreaks of Swine Fever in Great Britain, 1894-1905.

Swine slaughtered as
Outbreaks diseased, or as having been
Year. Counties. confirmed. exposed to infection.

1894 73 5682 56,296 1895 73 6305 69,931 1896 77 5166 79,586 1897 74 2155 40,432 1898 72 2514 43,756 1899 71 2322 30,797 1900 62 1940 17,933 1901 71 3140 15,237 1902 67 1688 8,263 1903 63 1478 7,933 1904 64 1196 5,603 1905 58 817 3,876

of swine within such areas is prohibited, much inconvenience to trade resulting from restrictions of this kind. Frequently, moreover, the exhibition of pigs at agricultural shows has to be abandoned in consequence of these swine-fever regulations.

The Trade in Live Stock Between Ireland and Great Britain.

The compulsory slaughter at the place of landing does not extend to animals shipped from Ireland into Great Britain, and this is a matter of the highest importance to Irish stock-breeders, who find their best market close at hand on the east of St George's Channel. Table XXV. shows the number of cattle, sheep and pigs shipped from Ireland into Great Britain in each of the fifteen years 1891-1905, the numbers of horses similarly shipped being also indicated. On the average rather more than half the total of cattle is made up of store animals for fattening or breeding purposes, the fattening of Irish stores being a business of considerable magnitude in Norfolk and other counties. Calves constitute about one-twelfth of the total number of cattle.

TABLE XXV.--Imports of Live Stock from Ireland into Great Britain, 1891-1905.

Year. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Horses.

1891 630,802 893,175 503,584 33,396 1892 624,457 1,080,202 500,951 32,481 1893 688,669 1,107,960 456,571 30,390 1894 826,954 957,101 584,967 33,589 1895 791,607 652,578 547,220 34,560 1896 681,560 737,306 610,589 39,856 1897 746,012 804,515 695,307 38,422 1898 803,362 833,458 588,785 38,804 1899 772,272 871,953 688,553 42,087 1900 745,519 862,263 715,202 35,606 1901 642,638 843,325 596,129 25,607 1902 959,241 1,055,802 637,972 25,260 1903 897,645 825,679 569,920 27,719 1904 772,363 739,266 505,080 27,500 1905 749,131 700,626 363,823 30,723

Most of the pigs sent from Ireland into Great Britain are fat, the store pigs accounting for less than one-tenth of the total number. The returns from Ireland under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1894 and 1896 are less significant than those of Great Britain. Thus, in the year ending June 1905, they included 4 outbreaks of anthrax, 219 of swine-fever and 343 of sheep-scab, while there were no cases of rabies. Compared with the export trade in live stock from Ireland to Great Britain the reciprocal trade from Great Britain to Ireland is small, and is largely restricted to animals for breeding purposes. Owing to the reappearance of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain early in 1900 the importation of cattle, sheep, goats and swine therefrom into Ireland was temporarily suspended by the authorities in the latter country.

Exports of Animals from the United Kingdom.

The general export trade of the United Kingdom in living animals represented an aggregate average annual value over the five years 1896-1900 of L. 1,017,000 as against L. 935,801 over the five years 1901-1905. To these sums the value of horses alone contributed about three-fourths, Belgium taking more than half the number of exported horses. The export trade in cattle, sheep and pigs is practically restricted to pedigree animals required for breeding purposes, and though its aggregate value

TABLE XXVI.--Quantities and Value of Home-bred Live Stock Exported from the United Kingdom, 1900-1905.

Other
Year. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Animals.