The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-09-27 00:00:00

Agriculture.

ABORTION AMONG Cows.—lt is by no means entre-
, quent for us to hear at this *casein of the year serious
I complaints from breeders of cattle as to the great diffi-
culty of keeping their cows anti heifers in calf. Day
after day hemp fresh instances of this kind, in some
cases where the animal was supposed to have been in
calf for two, three or even four months. Various and
mysterious are the causes which may predate those
results, but they are worthy our observation ; indeed
their importance demands an inquiry. The =liar
speed with which this evil spreads is too well wits
and the pecuniary losses to many
of our breeders are so
heavy that we have no deficiency of evidence in seprt
of our statements in almost every part of England. no
loss of the calf (or foetus) in its early period of growth is
often unaccompanied even by indications which smite
our doubts, and the instances are exceedingly rare in
which we have direct ocular proof of the loss at the
flatus. The result however still appears, and by the
necessity of the cow again being put to the bell we have
proof of the loss which has arisen. Some of the causes
are of • secondary character, being communicated from
other animals. During the period of pregnancy the
senses are peculiarly excitable, and the rapidity with
which abortion spreads through a herd is so well knows
that it is almost unnecessary to give an illustration of
its apparently contagious character. A cow or bailer
which by some accident has from purely mechanical
injuries suffered abortion, has been the means of dis-
seminating the same evil, and other cows of the same
herd have consequently to follow the example. Ties
we have proof that when once abortion has made its
appearance in a herd there is great danger of its spread-
ing. In overcoming this serious evil we have to adopt
preventive as well as rmiedial measures. We have
especially referred to this subject because it is important.
that one CRAW, which is exceedingly powerful, but we
regret to sly very much overlooked, should receive
greater attention. The cause to which we refer is the
diseased herbage of our pastures. All are familiar with
the fact that much of our grass land, however carefully
it may have been fed, will throw up seed stems during
the summer menthe, which the stock refuse to eat, and
these consequently remain after the green and fresh
grass has been consumed, presenting the appearance of
email straws, or, as they are frequently alled, bents.
Thus far the grasses follow the growth of our cereal
grasses or corn crops, in throwing up a seed stem of a
strawy character; but the similarity does not end here,
for these straws carry the seed of the grass, and these
seeds, like corn, are subject to disease. The rye Ur-
nishes us with the most familiar illustration of this
diseased character in the ergot of rye, which is produced
Upon it. This ergot is is variety of fungus which
establishes itself upon the seed and produces an action
upon the animal system of a most important character.
Rye-grass bears a similar ergot, and moat, if not all,
other grasses have their peculiar ergotised forms. The
circumstances which predispose the rye to produce its
ergot, act with even greater engergy upon our
The seed when it approaches matunty, and is tLfrer:-
posed to the action of moisture, is liable to become the
passive agent in producing the ergot. Thus we find that
the grass seeds ripened by the summer warmth, and
subsequently exposed to the rains become ergothied.
and thereby rendered injurious to stock. Although
stock avoid the tough-grown seed item they are quite
disposed to consume the seed it beam, and in this man-
ner this injurious :natter is introduced into the epees
there to work most prejudicially upon the health of the
animal and the welfare of the herd, causing loss, diffi-
culty, and disappointment to the breeder, and materially
retarding the increase of many of our best herda-49r1.
cultural Gazette.

THE ATTRACTION OF AGRICULTURAL SHOWS.—The
Agricultural Meeting at Ashby-de-la-Zouch inaugurates
the agricultural season, • when lords, squires, and
farmers, with their wives and families, meet to look at
"short-horns" and "Shropshire.," and to criticise
"roots" and " cowcabbage." The order of the day is
• dinner in a tent, toasts and speeches, a band, and flags
and colours flying. All meetings of ill societies, espe-
cially those who patronize the open air, have a large
common material. The crowd itself, in the first place is
very much the same, the tents and the brass band are
the same. Whether you go to a flower show or an
arclueohrgical or an agricultural meeting, as soon as you
have got over the business part, criticised the helio-
tropes or the imanguldwurzel, or heard the paper on
Muulderhain Castle or Curinbling Abbey, the rest is
pretty much the same—lounging about and looking
about you, seeing one person and then another, as the
accidents of the crowd bring you across each other. To
some persons • crowd of itself is an amusing scene,
especially a well-dressed one ; plenty of colour for the
eye, good music for the ear, and a general stir and
flutter all around you, appease the cravings of the pri-
mitive infantine part of human nature, which is
not • small one. An endless succession of dif-
ferent faces in itself leads to • pleasing dreamy
state of mind, • magnetic repose of all the faculties.
The effect is worth the attention of those who have
overworked themselves and tormented their brains.
Such persons are apt to go to solitary places in order to
get, as they think, perfect rest, but a deeper physical
experience says no; • solitary cliff where he communes
with himself or nature is not the place for this sort of
patient—let him try a crowd of faces ; he will find
the spectacle soothing—fully as pacifying as the waves
of the sea. We shall doubtless have all the pleasure
which these scenes create explained some day upon
scientific principles, and we shall know exactly what
subtle electric fluids of our interne/ frame are touched;
meantime, however, we may observe a basis of inno-
cent hypocrisy in these meetings of associations. The
distinctive or business part of these meetings is what
Mr. Carlyle would call a " formula ;" the reality, that
which constitutes the attraction and occupies the eye
and mind, is the common material—the crowd, the din-
nei in the tent, the hand, the stir and flutter, the suc-
cession of faces. how many votaries could the business
part collect without the aid of these adventitious ap-
pendages? Nut ninny. The great attendance on each
one of these 0CC12401111 is Collll.oSell of those who attend
at all, of that undistinguishing and large-minded class
who like seeing each other's faces, whether in connexion
with " swedes," "round arches," or orchid's:en, does
nut particularly signify.— Times.