THE SCAB.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 137, 20 August 1853, Page 8

THE SCAB.

The following very interesting; communication appears in the Melbourne Art, -s ; To the Sheep Owners of the 1 '.mmera and of the Counties of Dundas ai '. Pollelt. Upper Glenelg, Inverqu' n'ity, 22: id June, 1553. Gentlemen, —As I am the Inspector for your district, I feel it to be my duty to make yon acquainted with the following observations and experiments, which the aid of a powerful microscope has enabled me to make. I have recently visited the station of Mr. David Edgar, Pine Hills, Upper Glenelg, and examined a flock of sheep which had been dipped in lime live or six days previous, upon which I found the'scab insects still living, and very numerous. Mr. Edgar procured for my examination a piece of wool with the skin attached, from the sheep out of a flock which had been dipped in lime the day before, but in this also the insects had survived the dressing. ' Some of the insects which I obtained from the piece of wool just named I placed upon glass, and dropped upon them a thick mixture of lime and water, leaving them in it until the water had evaporated, and the insects became dry ; but even this failed to kill them. I repeated the above experiments, which produced the same unsatisfactory results, at the station of Mr. Gleudeuning, .upon a flock of

sheep which he had dipped in lime a week previous. I have treated those insects, by dropping upon them separately spirit of tar, turpentine, solution of arsenic, solution of sublimate, and tobacco water mixed with sulphur, all of which succeeded in killing them with greater or less speed ; the first-named proving almost instanne'Uis. The preceding experiments have been witnessed by Messrs. Edgar, Grieve, Glendenning, and others, who can testify to the facts that I have stated, from which you may draw your own conclusions. If any party has succeeded in curing his sheep with lime as is reported, he will confer a favour by making the how and where public. Should it prove to be the fact, the lime-stone which has been used, must contain some foreign matter, in which the healing property resides; or the lime in the Wirnmera district is of an inferior quality. As my duties require me to be continually travelling through your district, it affords me many opportunities of ascertaining what dressing is used for the cure of scab, as well as of the success attending each ; and it is my desire not only to induce others to make known any remedy which they may have successfully applied, but also to. become the medium by which the experience of each individual settler may be quickly concentrated, and made known for the benefit of all. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, Robert Sheridan, Inspector of Sheep* A New South Wales paper makes the following observations on the present position of the flock-masters, and the increasing prevalence of the scab : " But we are by no means disposed to^underrate the difficulties of the flock master, or to shut our eyes to the dangers by which he is threatened. We know that whilst mammoth sheep establishments in the Moreton Bay districts are solely dependant upon Chinese labour for existence, in the Wellington country others are kept together by the assistance of the aborigines alone. We are aware that some cattle stations require stockmen, whilst many want superintendence ; and inconveniences of a kindred character are experienced in every industrial branch of the community. But the characteristics of which we have spoken manifest their power by turning to account the means within their reach. Had European labour been at all procurable, would the settlers of the Wellington district have learnt the degree of usefulness of which the native tribes are capable ? When reduced to one expedient, and no other means of salvation offer themselves, they discover that kind treatment and honest fair dealing are quite competent to overcome that supposed intractibility, that unconquerably nomadic spirit with which they have ever been credited. And, much as upon its own merits we have always disapproved of the introduction into our social system of a foreign and a pagan element, we could hardly carry our antagonism to the extent of exclusion, should its temporary admission become necessary to stem the ruin of one of our most irnportaut branches of commerce. But approve or disapprove, we have the fact before us, that the labour difficulties of the times have stimulated Chinese immigration, and that to a certain extent our flocks have, in consequence, been preserved. And the question which now opens itself for the consideration of its opponents, amongst whom we have ever taken our stand, is, whether, under present circumstances, the evils of their introduction or exclusion would be greater. "In addition to shepherd desertion, another danger hangs over us. Eeport from respectable sources says that in Victoria alone there are a million of infected sheep, and that the scab is spreading like wild-fire over the face of the country. In our own and the neighbouring districts, it is extending itself most alarmingly. Here as there the infection may fix its starting point at the diggings, to which diseased sheep have been forwarded for sale from all points of the compass, as the easiest and safest market: and in this manner has the contagion been communicated. Now as every one practically acquainted with sheep must be aware, that where scab exists there can be no increase, but that with, the^best and most skil-

ful management, an absolute reduction must follow, the probability is that from this cause alone, a considerable diminution in the production of Victoria wool must be the result. To whatever proximate extent such may be the case it would be premature to say, as if the disease progresses in the same fearful ratio which it has latterly done, it will be difficult to find a clean flock in the colony. In fact it is only reasonable to assume that from the present temper of sheep-owners, a tremendous destruction will take place upon the first appearance of the disease in order to arrest its progress. Another consequence of the general prevalence of the scab will be seen in an indisposition to breed in the localities where it exists ; so that considered in every point of view this terrific scourge has a tendency to diminish production."