SHEEP EIGHTY YEARS AGO.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1811, 14 February 1884, Page 4

SHEEP EIGHTY YEARS AGO.

'I 4> if Tti — " '♦' ~ i The following information culled from a file of OjUjl gapers of the first three years in t iis century t seems worth taking pxs(w ,of>;ps giving standards of comparison,, we may measure what eiglity years of what is held to be im pjrpved , agricultural practice liave done for this country. AnAyrshue correspondent, writjng of- what he considered .extraordinary prices for cattle in that district/ ..thus delivers himself : "Black cattle and sheep arc uncommonly high. You, cannot get a lean cow here or in tfalU>w.vy; v to v lay upon the grass in May, for less than 6 to 10 guineas ; and these cows, 1 at? an average, when as fat as they can be made, would not weigh much more thari'2# stones English " Is this weight Anything like what Galloway cows now r'Mich per head when fat off grass ? aSuother correspondent, writing from Rokburglishire, Bpeaks of an experiment in sheep-feeding lately tiied, under the patronage of the Duke of Buccleuch, Sir John Sinclair, and others. The object was to determine whether the Southdown or the Leicester would be the better cross upon " the Forest breed," anil wethers had been kept on an iinpioved and enclosed pasture as Edgerston to ascertain the point. Three sheep were weighed alive in September, ISOO, and gave this return : Leicester, 122^1b. ; Southdown, 10741b. ; Forest, pme, 7411b. In September. 18U2, the same animal were •weighed again, the result as follows : Leicester. lSG^lb. ; Southdown. lS3lb. ; Forest, 1451b. The three weie then slaughtered, and their dead weight weie : Leicester. 1241b.; Southdown. IOUb. ; Forest, 7Spb. The fleeces, for two years produced : Leicester, 111b. at l'i^d. perlb., lls. s.\d. ; Southdown, 91b, at 2l^d. perlb., fCs. I^l. ; Forest, 9Ub. at 4d., 3s. 2d. It will" be observed that the Forest (which seems to have been the black-faced) sheep had the Lugest amount of offal, and that its wool was out of all proportion in value to that of the others. The percentage of mutton is in favour of the Leicester. This yields 666 per cent, of carcases, the Southdown 61-6 ; and the Forest only 539. Taking the carcase at9d. per lb., and the wool at the pricos of the time, the Leicester, at 3 years old, only returned £>o Is. 10d. for its keep. The* Southdown (valuing its mutton at lOd.) would come next, with a return for flesh and w ooi of £6 0s SW. ; and the Fo:est sheep, with mutton at 10d., would gi\e but £3 8s 2<l. These statements furnish pretty plain evidence of what Scotland lus dm ing eighty years gained by ciossing its Hook and herds with English blood. But in another light the stoiies are not quite so satisfactory to our self-complacency. At how many agncultural shows of ISS3, from the Royal downwatds, has there been any experiment conducted wheieby so much really serviceable information as to comparative weights and off.il of lival breeds bas been bi ought to light as there •was at the exhibition, Camptown, Roxburghshire, at Michaelmas, 1802 ?— G.

London has a company which insures Ugainst bicycle and tricycle accidents. An English doctor avers that he has found fasting from four to eight days to be a specific cure for rheumatism. No medicines are given under this treatment, but the patient is allowed water and lemons in moderation Thkke has lately come to light in an Elizabethan wainscoted room, in a cathedral town in the west ot England, what is alleged to be a contempoiaiy bust of Shakespeare, which stands upon a splendidly carved mantel piece side by side with Queen Elizabeth, Sir W.iltei Raleigh, and other worthies of the period, and which is said to be more like the Stratford bust than the Dioeehout head. Miss Hakkis, daughterof the late Bailie Harris, of Dundee, who recently presented £30,000 to the town for educational purposes, has given £10,000 fi r a fin the r extention of the High School. Iri.sh-Amliii(.'\> t *i who have \isited the Old Countiy during the summer, le port that the farming class has not been for 3 ears in so prosperous a condition. Scotland piys royally for her education. Glasgow Univeisity has 2S professors; 10 aie in rjccipt ofupwaids of £1000 a year, and 3 of upwauls of £-2000 a year. Not one of them is o\ er GO vcais of age. Medical professors consider their salaiies as only the basis of their incomes. M. Marcel Di>prez's imention for transposing ilectraal fjices t) great distances has been applied to a watei fall near Grenoble, which is enabled to woik, to the extent of seven hotse power, a sand mill, a printing preos, and other machinery at Grenoble. Two hundred years ago one pcison in five had sound teath. A bundled yeais ago but one person in 25 had perfect teeth ; and in this nineteenth centiuy age of leform our veiy latest statistics show that but one person in SO has perfectly sound tee Hi. The city Council of Lisbon has p\«sed an ordinance making cremation compulsory in times of epidemic. At oidinary times it is to be optional, but the remains of m ten ed bodies aic to be burnt every fi\e years. Lisbon, like Pans, suffers from the lack of cemetery accommodation and the proximity of biuial grounds to populous quarters. The Tunnel of the Arlbeig "Railroad, which is expected to become such an important e\it for Au>tio Ilunganan produce to France and Switzeilaud, will be nearly six and one hilf miles long. It is expected to be finished by the end of October. Upon the subject of Federation the Spectator says :— " We English <ue veiy virtuous just now, a good dealo\erloaded, and much botliL j red by belies ing two systems of moiality at once ; but if anybody touches New Guinea, we should help Australia to ti<;ht for it as we should fight for the Sciily Isles." A People's Palace in East London. — Readeis of Besant's charming story, "All Soits and Conditions of Men,' will recollect what an important part the " Palace of Delight" plays. The novelist's dream, according to the London coiipspondent of the Manchester Guaidian has some chance of being turned into u-ality. The committee of the Beaumont Tiust have it in contemplation to devote the remainder of their capital and £200 of income to the building of a " people's palace," to be situated in tlu Mile End road. It is intende-l that the palace shall contain a hall for lectures and concerts, a large circular libiary, like the one at the Biitish Museum, bays or recesses for priv.t* study, classrooms for instruction, a gymnasium like a first-class German Turnhalle, wheie all kinds of gymnastics could be carried on under an instructor, a swimming bath and a school, a promenade adjoining the conceit hall, an open garden, with fountains and botanical specimens, and, lastly, a winter gaiden. Unfortunately, no Angela Marsden Messenger has yet turned up, and as the Beaumont trustees have only about to devote to the building, while it is estimated that quite £50.000 will be required, it was ai ranged that the Lord Mayor should hold a meeting on December 14th, in order to inaugurate the scheme and open subscription lists. An English woman has walked 1,500 miles in 1,000 hours. There must have been a woman with a new bonnet ac the other end of the route. In the Catholic Congress at Naples a letter from a Roman Duke was read, declaring that 60,000 Catholics in Italy were ready to strfke for the restoration of the "temporal power of the Pope. Thr total income of the charities of London last year was £5,315,200. * The Brussels police have discovered thafseverftl of 'the cheap restaurants' have bsen supplying their customers with dog's flesh instead of mutton, obtained tyjfl l&ityfohw; who has oarrje,d l on' the, „ tatfte fgr year?,-? ■ „-v