New-York tribune., 1871-10-10

rather than dmnsh Where the dreaded wet wegther has
come the eeot hss most ujurious letter fr one
of the central counties says the most important fesre
OF the veek b the spread OF the potato disease which
not confined 10 scabs and spec but the roots rot all
svay" Some buyers report short yeld and altogether
the prospect 10 highly discouragng But this extreme
statement need not be taken as applying to than
limited district From other quarters there arc reports
sn,lar In tone but much less sweeping nor can the full
extent OF che deficiency be known at present Scotch
writer speaks of hearing occasionally OF potato blight
and remarks that the weather tends to develop it.
Another observer Scotland makes light Of the disease
The potatoes he has look well. and though ne has
heard OF IT, he has actually seen 1t In one garden plot
op,v On the other hand In Dumfreshire the disease
among the potatoes Is making great progress, and in
lowvinr fields the estimated loss Is 90 per cent. In
south AYRSHIRE calculated that at least third OF
the Is GONE In the COupar Angus district there has
has been no such blight for years In some eds In the
Carse OF Gowre half the crop has been destroyed ana
one correspondent thinks not tontn OF the suou'o vi
potatoes exported last year will be sent on TINS year
and as Scotland ia relied supply considerable part
Of the English demaud the deficiency becomes very I'M
portant, II general And 1t does appear 10 DO geher"
The North British gicuurst says that in almost every
pOtatogrowing district the disease Is making sIeau'
progress aud it generally expected that no small P'
of the crop will undt for human food Ireland seems
10 he somewhat better off than parts OF the KING
DOM Reports from various quarters assert tnat the
potatoes doing fully well as last year IhS eoo
fortune s OF course not universal the blight DeinS aV
work In portions Of the North and where seed OF very
old varieties has been planted much damage has beeh
DONE y
Far more serious than the potato disease s the rapd
spread of the cattle plague. It exists in two forms,
pcuro pneumonia and the foot and mouth disease NO
amount OF pTecautiOn able to arrest either the I'M
portation OF infected cattle or the propagation
OF the maIady among English herds. The En-
gsh farmer ia an obstinate creature. The law tells
nanHh hn abs
move it, But move it he will sell it he sometimes will if
he can and the last thing he will do is 10 obey the law
which imposes partial loss upon him for the beneht OF
the public. Mr.. John Osborne of Wlingham may bo
taken a specimen, not favorable ODe certainly. he
warned by the Inspector not to move his three dis
eased cows His answer was in substance he would do
as he liked with his own would them in spite OF
the globe :" did them, and found himself fined
$50 for vindicating his conception OF the liberty
of the British subject. Thanks partly to this
sort OF stupid obstinacy pleuro-pneumonia exists
in more than one-half Of the counties OF En-
gland and nearly half OF Scotland. In England 81
counties out Of 50 ncludng Waes in Scotland l3 out OF
SO are infected In Ireland the disease exists but either
the returns less full or the proportion is slight
The foot and mouth disease is more widely spread
and in certain districts exhibits far more deadly actiy
iy Official reports affirm its existence i'll 70 counties OF
the three kingdoms. 1t most virurnt and most preva
lent in the central and cont uOus counties Of Hunting
donshire, Cambrdgeshlrc and Northamptonshire IL
hourshes in Oxfordshre and Bucks, which adOn these
counties the south, and in Leicester, which touches
them on the north. In the West Riding of Yorkshire 1t
has grown pestlent within fortnight past it RACES in
Worces estershre and is heard Of far north Perth
shire In Scotland. The statistics everywhere sufi-
ceny alarming The Lord-Lieutenant of Northampton
shire lit that Lords Lieutenant do sometimes try
to be useful well OrnamentaD, wrote urgently to
the Prvy Council complaining that in his own and the
adjacent counties the act OF Parliament and orders of the
yUera enforced,
cng the Council stop forthwith all NOrthamptOnshire
markets and Fairs. and some of those i'll LcesershIe.
| Bucks and OxfOrdshire. But the Council think half
will for the present. though their own
returns show startling results from easy administration
of the law. In NOrhamptonshre there were 35 cases
last week-only the week before. In the two other
counties hardly beset Huntingdonsire and Cam
brdgeshir the spread of the disease was clearly due to
st. Ivess Market. In Cambrdgeshre there are 81 in
ected In Leicestershre there 40 fresh cases
last In FIVE out of nine divisions In Worcester
shire ls animals struck by disease are reported for 10
districts and but 90 out Of the S48 recovered In one
district Of Lancashire that Of Preston there have been
s7I cases There 65S cases in DOrsetshire No1oS
shows badly with 2l64 cases against 1893 the previous
week The disease makes swift progress in Somerset
SHIRE and hearof 300 nmas affected in the western
division alone, and about Bridgewater and Plymouth
state Of things hardly less disagreeable, there being
everywhere increase. Close TO London, IN West and
North ddlcsex and Hers the inspectors have discov
cred whole herds infected the owners OF which pre-
tended to be utterly ignorant Of their danger; While
away up In Cumberland at Carlisle Fair the inspectors
seized 200 cattle all Irish which looks i'll for the chances
of the Sister Isle One Of the worst reports OF all comes
from Chester County, where than week ago 507
animals under treatment.
Throughout the kingdom, according to official returns,
there are 800 of epizo6tc disease and the whole
number Of last week 25,0oO; to which
be added large percentage for cases not officially
reported and often known, since nothing is more
difficult than to induce farmers Of some classes to admit
that the disease exists in their herds Meantime, what
with hesitating Prvy Council and insufficient mags-
trates the disease makes rapid headway Mr. Forster s
touring in Switzerland hence perhaps the reuctanceo OF
his Privy Council Committee to act.
Altogether the prospect for the Winter Is not cheer
full one With deficient wheat crop to make bread drar
with cattle plague threatening to put meat out OF their
reach with disease rottng the potatoes with small
pox fostering in the cities and with cholera creeping In
at the seaport the poorer classes OF England will be
lucky indeed they get through the next six months
without widespread suffering and discomfort G.w s.
IN CENTRAL EUROPE.