The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-12-14

and the losses by storms and disease
vary from fraction of one per cent.
to as high as fifty per cent. The ex-
perienced underwater scrutinizes the
condition of the ship, its accommoda-
tions. and the facilities for ventilation,
together with the appearance of the
cattle, and notably the point from which
they are sent to the seaboard. Some
times, with all his skill and trained
Judgment, he is at fault, and the result
is loss, even in the finest weather.
The export of beef to England, which
had barely began in 1875, has now be-
come very large. But $4,000 pounds
were shipped in October, 1875, and 1884,
900 pounds in December, while in No
vember of 1876 the shipment had risen
to 4, 1913, $50, and in December to STA
4S0 pounds. In the succeeding April
S,412,500 and in May over 100000
pounds were shipped. The drawbacks
or hindrances to the increase of the
trade are, first, the great losses if the
cattle are shipped alive; and, second,
the danger of finding an overstocked
market if the beef is exported in re-
frigerators. For, although the meat
can be made to keep very well on the
voyage, it cannot be kept any time
away from the ice. So that, if there
chances to be a somewhat over-supply
of dressed meat, the American beef
has to take the second place, and away
goes the profit.
1t is considered certain that England
cannot supply her own beef. She must
rely on the continent or upon America,
or on both. The effect of this wears
| shipments has been to reduce the price
of dressed OK from twenty-five cents
a pound to seventeen cents pound, and
and this is having a most depressing eff
feet on the agricultural interest. But the
gain will be great if prices are kept down
so that the lower classes can have their
occasional roast beef. The business
has increased so rapidly that it is not
matter of surprise to learn of OCCASION
al loss and failure. From want of care
in the original selection inferior cattle
would sometimes be raised, with "long
legs, thin, ianky bodies and back of
the gothic style of architecture" the
meat coarse in grain and the per cent.
of bone and muscle high. Then, too,
before reaching market, the germs
of the dreaded Texas fever or bloody
murrain might be contracted, and if
the animal survived the voyage it would
be unfit for the shambles; if the Great.
ure has this disease in latent form, it
is sure to appear on the voyage, should
it be long and tempestuous, and with
fatal results. 1t should be stated that
Canadian cattle, as well as those raised
in the Eastern States, are not subject to
the cattle distemper.
All this live stock business, however,
is now being conducted with a more in
telligent purpose. From the vast ranges
in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska,
through the intervening stages, where
the steers are first fattened, then herd
ed and sold, and then shipped to their
ultimate destination, clear intelligence
and the most comprehensive views on
the subject prevail. The great stock
raisers of the west are crossing the old
Spanish stock and the Cherokee COWS
of Texas with bulls of the finest type,
and the product of the best farms in
Kansas is equal to that of the best in
Kentucky. The steers raised in Texas,
however, are still of an inferior grade;
nor does a two years feeding on the
plains of Kansas or Nebraska suffice to
bring them up to the standard.
1t is to be hoped that the lively COM
petition between Chicago on the north
ern and st. Louis and Kansas City on
the more southerly line of travel, will
result in adequate safeguards against
the spread of contagion in the Stock
yards of those important points. 1t has
been said that ga pig which has once
passed through the Chicago stock-yard
never has afterward a sound hoof,"
and it is more than insinuated-and by
disinterested persons, too-that steeris
more likely to have the Texas fever if he
comes East via Chicago than if he is sold
and shipped at Kansas City. This may
not be true, but there is theory that the
yards on the margin of the Missouri are
more easily cleaned, and are more like
ly to be in good condition than the
yards in Chicago. The enormous ex-
tent OF the latter-covering, with their
roads, tracks and sheds, an extent of
$40 acres-almost precludes the idea of
cleanliness. They can accommodate
EO,UUO Hedu VI CdIJlo DIT ONCE, anu Lne
sales often amount to 1000 or 5000 a
day. Where such an immense business
is done the tendency to the neglect of
even the ordinary precautions must be
great; but it should be remembered
that cattle epidemic is one of the
most dreaded of scourges, and the
British nation will be sure to act with
vigor should it appear that their splen-
did herds of blooded cattle are in dan
ger of contagion.
A livestock act will take effect in
Great Britain on the LIST of January
next, which dictates, among other
things, that
Foreign animals are to be landed
at a part of port defined for that pur-
pose bya special order of Council called
a foreign animals wharf.
"They are to be landed in such man.
ner, at such times, and subject to such
supervision and control as the Commits
sioner of Customs may from time to
direct.
"They are not to be moved alive out
of the wharf"
Provision is made for suspending the
act if the Privy Council are satisfied
they can do so with safety. That por-