The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1872-09-17 00:00:00

Dural Unlit! Ertinsss.

TUE4DAY, 861'11111110t 17, 111;71.

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

Her Majesty the Queen, arioompauled by
their Royal Highnesses Prince Leopold and
Princess Baideice, and attended by the ladies
and gentlemen of the Court, is expected to re-
turn to Windsor Castle iu November.
_

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1 The Prioress of W, seconmemed by her
I fire childreu, returned to Ragland ou Saturday.
Her Royal Ilighuees was met by the Priam
of Wales on her arrival at the °haring 010•1
Ter:Moos, from whence they drove to Marl-
-1 borough house.

_
1 There is • rumour that Princess Beattie* Is to
Sail her home, like the Prineess• Louise, in a
Highland glen, ea the wife of the Marquis of
Stafford, the Duke of Butherland's son. Wo
give it, of course, for. what it is worth, only
adding that the PriuoSsa is in her eighteenth
year and the Marquis just of age.
The Autumn hian,euvros are all over, the
Prince of Wales is back at Marlborough House,
the Duke of Cambridge at the liorse Guards,
the must distinguished of our foreigu visitor, are
hobnobbing with Mr. Cardwell, and now nothing
Is to be beard upon the Wiltshire Downs but the
tinkle of the bell wother, and no sign of the
military picnic which will supply our soldiers aud
volunteers with topics of talk for the rest of the
year but • few cartridge papers and broken
straps. The Imperial totes in Berlin are over,
and our Royal Mistress, after a trip to the
remotest glens of the Highlands, is once more at
, home at BalinoraL The Alabama Arbitration
aimed on Saturday, resulting in :li millions for
Great Britain to pay, and the contest for the
repmentatiou of Preetou has ended in the
Conservative candidate wianing in a canter.
But while Conservatives can boast a victory
in the return of their candidate, Liherahi may
felicitate themselves on the successful trial of
the Ballot upon • large scale. As for the election
itself, the result was so nearly • foregone con-
clusion, that Liberals need not be disappointed
lat not having won a mat from the °they party
even with the aid of the Ballot. The represen-
tation of Preston, Ida party sense, simply stands
as it did before, neither party having gained or
lost; and Conservatives may console themselves
with the reiketiou, that, if the Ballot in operation
is a success for tee Liberal party as • measure, it
by no means follows that it will give the Liberals
more votes than heretofore. The Conservative
majority at Preston, it is true, was considerably
smaller than at the general election in 1868, but
' so WAS the total untuber of the electors that
I voted, the diminished importance of the
, present magi() election may account for this,
i without charging it to the Ballot, either at Pon-
tefract or Preston.

After a succession of brilliant days in the
field, the autumn mauwavres ooncluded 00
Thursday with a review aud march past in the
presence of the Prince of Wales and the Duke
of Cambridge. It is evident that as a whole
there has been more learnt this year than
previously ; the military officers in oommand
have been more severely tried, and a multitude
of mistakes have testified to the real service of
these operations.
By this time the nation knows pretty well
, what sort of a harvest it has. Competent
critics have made their computations, and per-
son. well versed in statistics have instituted
their usual comparisons. More than this, the
farmer, who forms a unit, and by no means an
unimportant one, in the annual source of In-
formation, has thrashed some of his oo r a, and knows
to a nicety his gains and his losses. The verdict
'is not favourable. Theorists and practical men
alike agree that the crops of what may be
termed the staple articles of food are net up to
the average. Wteat on most soils is light; it
was never expected to yield an average: and the
proof, which Is in the thrashing, confirms the
worst anticipations. In no part of England is
there anything like abundance in this important
cereal ; and as in • great many districts the
yield is indifferent, there is nothing to bring the
quantity up to • respectable figure. To make
matters worse, there is • sad deficiency in the
potato crop. It often happens that one article
helps another. This year however this is far
from being the case. Throughout England, as
well as Ireland, the blight is proving most de-
structive, in some parts the crop being scarcely
worth the taking. If to this calamity and •
deficient w hen t-c rop, we add the disease in cattle,
we sum up a list of misfortunes which bodes ill
1 for our comfort during the coming winter. It
, is • remarkable fact—not attributable so tar as
we know, to any well ascertained causes—that
while the food of man promises to be scarce, that
of animals is liked), to be abundaht. Wheat did
not reach an average, but oats appear to have
yielded most plentifully. Beef and mutton are ,
scarce, but gram was never more abundant,
while the crop of hay is larger than has been
known for many years. Potatoes have failed,
whereas other toots of all descriptions are fine
and numerous. And so it comes to piss, that
while men will have to endure privations of no
ordinary character, aniinds will be fed consider-
ably better than for several yearz past. The
fact is not without its consolation. This abun-
dance of fodder is sure to tell to our advantage
in the long run. Either the cattle will produce
for us a more excellent quality of food, or there
will be more of it for our use. To realize the 1
truth of this, we have only to reflect what would
have been the consequence if scarcity Instead of •
, abundance of fodder were the effect of the sea-
son. animals some half-fat and others in bad
conditim would be finding their way to the
market, creating • temporary and fictitious
&bun ; ice, but diminishing daily the sources
of future supply. As it is we know that stores
are being laid up, destined to counteract the
otter disadvantages of the seaeon. It is evident
that if the stock of sheep and cows should be
diminished, it will not be for want of food.

The itinderpest has not yet been extinguished
in Yorkshire, although the Yapham herd has
been slaughtered, and buried in quick-lime, the
dogs shot, Sue herdsmen disinfected, and the
farm for • cede alt round put in quarantine;
and the report of the Privy Council Inspectors
upon the origin of the disease is rather worse
than the outbreak it elf. AU this herd of Mr.
Berriman's apparently was purchased in the
market of Huumanby, and formed part of •
cargo of German cattle lauded at Hull • few
days previously from Hamburg. Part of the
cargo has been seat to Scotland, part to York,
part to Cheshire, and part to Lancashire,
travelling all the distance, of course, either by
road or rail, with the germs of the post in
their system. At present, however, we have
heard nothing of the disease beyond the four
corners of the East Riding, and the outbreaks
at Bridlington and Hetherthorpe are apparently
independent of the case at Yapham, arising, it
is said, from carcases which have been thrown
overboard in the North Sea and afterwards
washed ashore on the Yorkshire coast. The
Privy Coutt.iil ha. done all that it can to stop
the spread of the disown), slaughtering every
head of cattle with the slightest taint, inter-
dicting all furs, markets, and agricultural shows
in the test Riding, and strengthening the hands
of the inspectors all along the line of coast

'rho President of the Royal Agrlcultoral
Society, Lord Cathcart, haa offered • prize of
£lOO for the best essay on the potato plague
and its prevention. His lordship observes that
if we have in the United Kingdom (garden
grounds included) two millions acres of potatoes,
at £2O an acre, representing in pounds sterling
no lees a sum than forty millions, this produce is
a considerable portion of the necessary and
usually wholesome food of the people—food
which money cannot replace.
There is hope for us with coal at last I The
colliery proprietors of the Pas de (lab& are
supplying Us with coals cheaper than our own
men at the pit's mouth ; and it is stated cm com-
mercial authority that coals of first-rate quality,
hard, durable, and of high evaporating power,
are to be had in abundance from the vagey of
the Don, and that recent trials show that they
are likely to supersede &Wish stein reale in
Southern Russia and the black Sea porta, the
price on board steamers at Kertch or laganrog
being about lEss.less than coals imported from
this country. This is • turning of the tables
upon us with • vengeance; but the Ingliah
colliers have no one to thank but themselves.

From the text of the award of the Geneva—e;-
bltratuis, it appease that under it Great Britain
II declared liable for the acts committed by the
Alabama and the Florida, and also for those
committed by the Shenandoah after leaving
Melbourne, the liabdiy UI
,tho ow* of the..
vessels extending to the tenders as well as the
aruisers to which they„insee attached- On the
ether hand, Great.fkitain is held not to be re.
eponsible for the actmd the Georgia, or of any
of the Confederate cosimera besides the three
above-named. The Arbitrarors have likewirie
4eiaatad altogether the claim of the United
Biata Glovecautsat foe espeadiiust liwuro I

tzejected

•••- +Apr-

--.0.0"11111,

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the pursuit and capture of the cruisers. Th•
practical or pecuniary result of the award is
that this couutry has to pay a gross stun of
15,500.000 dell.ra in gold (about 1:3.3.49,166
13s. ), In satisfaction and final settlement
of all claims, illlClUdlng interest. The amoutit
of claims preferred before tho Tribunal by the
United States under the revised statement pre-
sentod in A pril last was 19,739 095 ,i„inin in
gold, to winch was added a ado, for ex penees of
pursuit and capture to the &tumult of
dollars, with interest at seven pie cent. on the
whole amount for shoot ten years, or, in all.
45,ii00.000 dollars in gold, being about 9,479,16131
13s. 41 sterling.

M. Thiel" paid • visit to Havre on Saturday,
and met with a very euthuelestio reception. in
• speech at the liotel do Ville the President of
the Republic said he had very good news from
England, that he did not wish to destro y free
trade, and would it soon arrive at an Wailer-
stauthug. Peace w h foreign couutrita. he sad,
was aasuml, •nd he should oude•vour to estab-
lish peace at home.