The Carmarthen Journal and South Wales Weekly Advertiser

MARKETS. February 2nd and 4tb, 1889. CORN. CARMARTHEN. Siturday.-(Wiii. Pugh's Report) —The supply of all kinds of grain was small, and sold at tho following prices :—Wheat, 35s to 10s barley, 30s to 32s; white oats, 18s to 20s; black, oats, 16s to 18s. CARDIFF, Saturday.—A quiet trade for both home grown and foreign wheats at about last week's, prices. Round maize was unaltered. Flat ditto was 61 per qr dearer. Grinding barley was 3d per qr dearer. Oats were steady at late rates. Beans were scarce and firm. GLOUCESTER, Saturday.—There was not so plen- tiful a supply of English wheat on offer at our market to-day, but trade was slow and prices were 6d to Is per qr lower. Foreign was in the merest retail demand at barely last week's prices. Grind- ing barley was 3d per qr cheaper. Maize was without change in value. LONDON, Monday.—The market is very dull for both English and foreign wheat, and prices may be quoted 6d to Is lower on the week. English white, 34s to 36s ditto red, 3ls to 33s per quarter. Both country and American flour slow, at fully 6d less money. Barley dull, and rather easier. Slow trade for oats. Maize quiet. Beans 6d, peas Is, and lentils Is to 2s lower. Arrivals: -English Wheat, 2,950 qrs; barley. 3,874 qrs oats, 758 qrs; maize, 10 qrs; malt, 18,419 qrs; beans, 918 qrs; peas, 538 qrs; flour, 18,669 packs. Foreign- Wheat, 38,351 qrs; barley, 15,512 qrs; oats, 66,390 qrs; maize, 18,061 qrs; beans, 3,620; peas, 920 qrs; flour, 33,077 sacks, 200 barrels. CATTLE. LONDo. Monday.—Beast trade particular slow, chiefly owing to an endeavour by salesmen to raise prices, but buyers will not give. Primest Scotch and Norfolk, 43 lOd; shorthorns, 4s 6d to 4s 8d per 8 lbs. British arrivals comprise 100 Scotch, 100 Irish, 950 Norfolk, Suffolk, and Esex, 970 midland, home, and western counties. With in- creased supply of sheep trade is dull; small breeds unchanged; heavy and ewes dearer. Calves and pigs are not worth quoting. Milch cows, 418 to JM6 f-ach. Beef, 28 4d to 4s lOd; mutton, 3s 4d to Gs 4<1; veal, 3s 8d to 5s 8d pork, 2s 6d to Is per SIbs. Beasts, 2,430; sheep, 10,310; calves, 10; pigs, 10; including foreign-beasts, 310; sheep, 20. POULTRY. MONMOUTH, Saturday.—There was a short sup- ply of farm produce at to-day's market, poultry being particularly scarce, aud sold rapidly. The following were the prices .-Hen's eggs, 12 for Is. Dressed poultry-Fowls, 4s 3d to 5s 9d per couple, orSd per lb; ducks, from 5s to 6s 6d per couple; geese, lOd to 10jd per lb; turkeys, lid tolled 2 per lb. DliiAD MEAT. LONDON, Saturday-Fair supplies on offer and trade generally quiet at the annexed prices:—Beef, 2s 8d to 38 lOd; prime Scotch do, 2s lOd to 4s Od; mutton, 2s 8d to 5s 4d; veal, 3s Od to 5s 4d large pork, 3s to 3s lOd; small pork, 3s lOd to 4s 2d per 8lbs. BUTTER. CARMARTHEN, Saturday.—(Wm. Pugh's Report) There was a fair supply of cask butter at our market on Saturday last, which sold at for finest quality f om Is lid to Is 2id. per lb. Inferior sorts 2 2 sold at from 10yd to 11 id per lb. Fresh market pound butter, Is 3d to Is 5d. CORK, Saturday. Ordinary: First?, 143s; Seconds, 12011; Mediums, 115s; thirds, 106s.; fourths, 96s. In market-121 firkins, 9 kegs. CH-EESE. CARMARTHEN, Saturday.-(Wm. Pugh's Report.) —A fair supply of cheese, which sold at from 20s to 23s per cwt., according to quality. HOPS. WORCESTEP, Saturday.- We had a very thin attendance at our market to-day, and the few hops offering were of a medium and inferior description, consequently the business done was only for imme- diate requirements. For all good sound hops planters were asking more money. WOOL. BRADFORD, Monday.—The tone of the wool market is rather stronger than on Thursday last. Good wools of fine merino classes, as well as combed sorts, are very firm. English grown wools are in steady consumptive request at late rates. The export trade in worsted yarns is slow orders are scarce, and the terms offered low. In fome cases spinners are accepting a reduction. Piece goods show a slow trade at unsatisfactory prices.

FATRS FOR FEBRUARY. Canton (Cardiff) 9 Builth 18 Newcastle Emlyn 10 Llangadock 18 Monmouth II Aberdare 19 Llandyssil 11 Carmarthen 19 Alltwen 11 Llansamlet .19 & 20 Carew 11 Llandilo 20 Haverfordwest 12 Pembroke. 25 Llantrissant 13 Chepstow 26 Narberth 13 Crytnmych 26 Cardigan 13 Caerphilly 28 j Lettcrstonc is I

NOTES ON FARMING & GARDENiN-G. We invite readers of THE JOURNAL who may be desirous of obtaining information on either of the above subjects to send questions which will be duly inserted and answered as promptly as possible. Each question should be written on a separate sheet of paper, on one side only, and authenticated by the ntine and address of the writer, not for the purpose of publication, but merely to attest its bona, fide character. The subject of the query should be indicated by a title. Questions upon abstract matters of law, being outside the province of this column, cannot be entetttined. Any readers interested in agricultural subjec's, whose experience qualifies them to answer the above are eolioited to do so; and are requested to give the number and title of the query to which they reply. The name and addiess of the writer should accompany answers also. A O MCL' LT U if A PROS PKCTS. The barometer fell very rapidly during Friday night, and since then the weather has been of a decidedly wintry character. A little snow fell on Saturday evening, but there has been no frost as yet to speak of. Rain fell at intervals on Sunday, and was accom- panied by a high cold wind. On Monday, the wind was still high and penetrating, and breathed of snow, though the ground remained soft and wet. Heavy land is not at present 'n a condition to be worked. The high winds have not so thoroughly annulled the effects of the recent rainsas to admit of field opera- tions being indiscriminately proceeded with. We have seen the advantage of so much of the autumn wheat crop being sown in a cold bed, but there is no time to lose in the growth of spring crops, and' it is therefore desirable that the seed-bed for these should be prepared under as favourable conditions as possible. Winter wheat looks healthy. It is well planted as a rule, and in a good, safe state of advancement. It has not suffered in the least from the sudden snatches of frost that occurred during the past month. It was feared the plants would have overgrown themselves on account of the exceptional mild- ness of the season, but there is no complaint of this from any district. Much of the seed was sown while the land was somewhat cold, as the result of autumnal raill, and the pro- gress of the plants has thus been held in n healthful check. Pasture grass is wonderfully good in many p u ts of the country. Sheep stocks are doing well on the fields. Cattle are thriving, although fanners' prospects are somewhat darkened by the prevalence and spreading of pleuro-pneumonia. This dread- ful pest has lately been working havoc in the North of England as well as to some extent in Mid Lothian. Swine fever would seem to be on the increase. Several important dis- tricts are at present infected, fresh outbreaks having been reported within the past two week.—Marh Lane Express. SENSE OF SMELL IN THE HOUSE. The horse will leave musty hay untouched in his bin, however hungry. He will not drink of water objectionable to his question- ing sniffs, or from a bucket which some odour makes offensive, however thirstv. His in- telligent nostril will widen, quiver and query, over the daintiest bit, offered by the fairest of hands. A mare is never satisfied by either sight or whinny that her colt is really her own, until she has certified the fact by means of her nose. A blind horse, now living, will not allow the approach of any stranger with- out showing signs of anger, not to be dis- Z5 Z5 c regarded with impunity. The distinction is evidently made by his sense of smell, and that at a considerable distance. Blind horses, as a rule will gallop wildly about a pasture with- out striking the surrounding fence. The sense of smell informs them of its proximity. Others will, when loosened from the stable, go directly to the gate or bars opening to their accustomed feeding grounds and when desiring to return, after hours of careless wandering, will distinguish the one outlet and patiently await its opening. The odour of that particular part of the fence is their guide to it. The horse in browsing, or while gather- ing herbage with its lips, is guided in its choice of proper food entirely by its nostrils. Blind horses do not make mistakes in their diet. The scent alone of a buffalo robe will cause many horses to evince lively terror, and the floating scent of a railroad train will frighten some long after the locomotive is out of sight and hearing. ZD SEED BEDS AXD SOWING. The advent of spring finds rural affairs in an unusually advanced condition. The past winter will long be remembered for its extreme mildness, not only in the United Kingdom, but over the whole of Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of Russia. It has partaken more of the character of summer than of winter, and as a natural consequence vegetation has been forcing up unseasonably, and field operations have maintained almost unbroken progress. This condition of things sounds not badly, especially as farm work is ofcener in arrears than otherwise at this period of the year, but the absence of frost is much to be regretted. Z5 The absence of frost will render spring work more arduous than usual. The land will require so much more tilling on that account as will leiva quite enough work, with the risks of a bad spring, for the forces of the L farm to accomplish before the crops of 1889 are all safely seeded. Every favourable hour, therefore, should be taken advantage of in pulverising the soil. We may yet get more frost than is required, and, provided the land is dry, it cannot be too well exposed to the atmospheric agencies of the next few months. Where there is more moisture than is desir- able, it would be unwise to keep stirring the land, but if it is tolerably dry, there is no danger of keeping the farm teams in constant employment in preparing the seed-beds. It is good policy to push, or rather to work dili- gently at this time of the year if the land is 5 1 in a fit state to be worked. Especially com- mendable is it on the wake of such a lamb-like winter. Spring months may completely reverse matters, and the less there is to do at the date of sowing the better. The importance of a fine tilth is of course fully realised by every farmer.—Marh Lane Express. WORK ON THE FARM FOR FEBRUARY. The weather throughout January was seasonable, and the frosts that prevailed had certain favouring influences on the fields, not being sufficiently severe either to damage crops on the arable land, or to be over-trying to animals. The worst feature in connection with the weather has been dense fogs, but in the depth of winter it is scarcely reasonable to look for a clear atmosphere. Barley sowing will first demand attention. Every dry day y must be made the best of, to prepare the soil, j and towards the latter end of the month the first sowing should be made. Every good farmer knows that primer malting samples are produced from February sowings than from those made at any other time. This may be attributed to the fact that early-sown barley comes to harvest in good time, and so often escapes mildew, which attacks later sowings. Again, better weather may be reckoned on in August than near Michaelmas. It is ab- solutely necessary that good seed lie used, (e and that a change is given, at least, every 1 second year. Wheat sowing should be finished eaily in the month, and thus one im- portant work will be got over. Look to the seeds, see that they are not suffering from at- tacks of slugs look also to wheat, vetches, and trifolium it is in mild weather that they suffer most. Main crops of peas should be drilled when the ground will work freely. Bean ground ought to be ploughed as fast as possible where it has not already been done, and the beans promptly got in after the middle of the month. Three bushels of good, bold seed should be drilled to the acre, m rows from ten to fourteen inches apart, according to the quality of the ground. Good seed will be difficult to get from last year's harvest, consequently, in some cases it may be good policy to sow old beans. Thorough harrowing lengthwise of the drill should be given when the beans are got in, and a second harrowing crosswise when the young plants came up; I this will destroy many weeds, particularly that terrible pest—charlock. All farm stock still demand great attention. It too often happens that in this month store cattle living mostly on straw, young stock, too, and milking cows also, are allowed to lose flesh, the consequence being that they do not regain it till grass comes. In order to avoid I? this undesirable waste, they should be allowed generous food. Even where roots and hay are scarce, corn and cake will be found cheap. In the sheep-yards lambing will become general towards the end of the month, and 5 here the owner should concentrate his attention. The medicine chest, warm quarters for ailing sheep, and comfortable pens for young lambs should all be prepared in advance, so that no delay may occur in serving any necessary medicines, &-c., when wanted. The flock- master is apt to under-estimate a case of death among the lambs about weaning time, but he should consider that nearly a pound is lost with every lamb that dies. Push on with hedging, ditching, and draining, as next month will be a busy one. Prepare meadows for mowing, and provide, if possible, an extra field for silage. Ensilage is now undoubtedly a recognised acquisition to the food supply of stock. Those farmers whose land will not allow them to grow roots will reap very considerable benefit from this new fodder. Push on with carting when the ground is hard with frost. There are pipes, limes, fencing material, and manure heaps to be conveyed to their proper places. This work should be seen to. Two advantages are gained in attending to this now-the teams get exercise, and work is got forward against a busier time. In the kitchen garden planting, manuring, trenching, and trans- planting is the work of the month. Not an hour's labour should be postponed, as when March comes in there will be more than enough to do.-AGRICOLA in Farm, Field and Fireside. THE POULTRY YARD. All hens and pullets that have not been laying should now do so. The food should be given regularly, and not consist largely of anything of a too fattening kind. Continual change should be made in the diet; wheat, barley, and oats will prove the best food for afternoon meals. By the middle of the month broody hens may be set, but only so many eggs should be given as the hen can well Of, r_1 cover. Ducks should also lay now. It is advisable to feed them on whole gain, as they are sure to take sufficient moisture, i.e., if they run loose. Immediately sufficient ducks' eggs are collected they should be put under a broody hen, for the earliest ducks make the most profit. It is better to set two hens at the same time, putting nine eggs under each then at hatching time both broods may be put together if thought desirable. Moss FOR FOWL-HOUSES. Has it never dawned upon the many amateurs and others who keep fowls, ducks, kc., in close, badly-ventilated, damp, and draughty structures, that their birds pass nearly one-half of their life either upon the floors or perches of their roasting houses II Surely not, or we should not have so much sickness, mortality, or bad returns of laying to contend with, arising from negligence in Z3 tD respect of the way in which the roosting houses are managed. If a poultry-keeper has a damp fowl-house, or one with a badly-made floor, the result of covering the latter with peat moss, even if but an inch deep, seems to be magical. The dampness disappears, being absorbed or taken up by the little bladder- like formations of the lateral growths of this sphagnum moss, which, being perfectly desiccated by hydraulic pressure and the sun, re have power of sucking up all moisture, and, like a sponge, will hold it and not throw it off again until it is thoroughly saturated. The fowls will always go to roost with dry feet after walking over the floor, strewn with this article. Again, this peat moss has the power of absorbing and taking up the gasses thrown off by the excrement of the fowls, so much so that anyone covering the floor of his fowl- house, with from three to four inches of it, who has not hitherto used this deodoriser, will be surprised at the result. Poultry- houses when first opened are frequently so offensive thatit is impossible to stay in them. Peat moss will change this. Lastly, our horticultural and floricultural friends will hail this peat moss with delight, after it has done duty as litter for a few weeks or even months, if regularly raked over as it is one of the finest manures to be had, and if allowed to decay, makes an article superior to any leaf- mould and manure combined.—Marh Lane Express. THE FLOWER GARDEN. When large numbers of summer bedding plants are required an early start must be made with their propagation. A gentle hot- bed in a forcing house of some kind is always found of the greatest service in raising plants from seed and cuttings, this being better in every respect than the dry heat from hot- water pipes. If oak or beech leaves are plentiful, a good bed of these alone may be formed, or they may be mixed with well- prepared stable manure in equal quantities. Stable manure alone is apt to heat very violently, and shallow beds only are quickly available for use. Tanners' bark gives a fairly brisk and lasting heat, and it is also suitable for mixing with leaves. Where the bottom heat in propagating frames or pits is from hot-water pipes, these ought to be heavily covered either with cocoa-nut fibre refuse, sawdust, ashes, or sand. The first- named is preferable, and if kept well moistened conducts the heat admirably, and is a very clean plunging material.—Journal of Horti- culture. I PROTECTING GOOSEKERUY BUSHES. A permanent wire netting covered frame- work is the cheapest and best form of protec- tion in the long run, this being available for saving both the buds and the fruit from the birds. As the latter will soon be busy among the bushes, it is advisable to at once close the doorways and shutters of wire.covered struc- tures, and where these are not erected to pro- tect tho bushes in some other manner. Strong black cotton plentifully strung about the outer branches of the bushes serves to check the birds somewhat, but is of little service where they are very plentiful or voracious. The plan cf gathering all the branches up to a close and impenetrable head is a rather rough undertaking, but it answers well. Two per- sons are required for accomplishing this pro- perly, and tar twine is needed for binding. When the buds are about half expanded the bushes can be let down to their natural posi- tion and pruned. Bushes thus treated never fail to bear well. The least that can be done is to well coat the branches and shoots of the bushes with soot and lime, or the latter only. The quickest way of effecting this is to mix the soot and lime into paste, and afterwards add sufficient water to thin it sufficiently to admit of its being applied through an old syringe. The bushes may also be fairly well coated if a mixture of dry fine soot and lime, or the latter alone, is shaken from a bag among the branches where these are damp. When the rains have washed off these dressings more must be applied.—Journal of Horticulture.

QUESTIONS. ENQUIRER. — Your question hardly comes within the province of this column.

SHORT PARLIAMENTS. Mr Bryce's recent work on the constitution of the United States contains some valuable passages bearing on the agitation for the abolition of the Septennial Act, upon which Mr Gladstone has receatlyembarked. We extract one :—"An ambitioascdngressman is forced to think day and night of his re- nomination, and to secure it, not only by pro- curing, if he can, grants from the Federal treasury for local purposes, and places for the relatives and friends of the local Wire-pullers who control the nominating conventions, but also by seduiwsly" nursing" the constituency during the vacation. No habit could more effectually discourage noble ambition, or check the growth of a class of accomplished statesmen. There are few walks in life in wh ch experience counts for more than it does in Parliamentary politics. It is an education in itself, and education in which the quick-witted Western American would make rapid progress were he suffered to, remain long enough at Washington. At present he is not giiffered, for nearly one-half of each successive House consists of new men, while the old members are too much harassed by the trouble of pio- curing their re-election to have time or motive for the serious study of political problems. This is what comes of the doctrine that a j member ought to be absolutely dependent on his constituents."

j.1— GOLD MINING IN CARMARTHEN- SHIRE. BY ANTIQUARIAN. (Continued from last week). Among the curiosities of historical interest j worthy of our notice in the immediate vicinity of the Ogofau gold field are the two "stones of Pantypolion," which lie in the park of Dolaucothy. These boulders have been very carefully examined by various antiquarians, and a very general opinion is entertained that they were monuments erected to the fame of some brave warrior of the prehistoric ages who had shed bis blood-on the altar of his country's defence, or to the memory of a long departed saint. Regarding the two stones Bishop Gibson, in Camden's "Brittania," writes:— I have lately received from a curious person the following inscriptions which he copied from two stones at a place called Pantypolion, in this parish (Caio.) The first (being a monu- ment of one Paulinus, whence, doubtless, is the name of Pantypolion) lies flat on the ground, and is placed across a gutter, but the other, which seems to be somewhat of a later date, is pitched on end, and is about a yard in I height." The first bears the following inscrip- tion :— Servator fidei, patriteque semper amator Hio Paolinns jacit cultor pientissimus alqui. And on the second is Talor, Advent, Maquerog, Filius." "Whether Odin (con- tinues the Bishop) in the several names of places in this neighbourhood be from the same Advent (or Adwen) whose monument this was, or some other origin, is recommended to the observation of the inhabitants. However it be, it is certain there are more of them hereabouts than in all Wales besides, as Gallt yr Odin, Pant yr Odin, Rhydodin (Edwins- ford), &c." A controversy has arisen among historians respecting Pauhnus, and perhaps it would not be illappr-opriatc in this place to discuss the different assertions placed before us. While one traces the identity of Paulinus to Pawl'Hen, of British renown, the other claims him to be a Roman officer who distin- guished himself in one of the Silurian wars The advocates of the former theory affirm that Paulinus was no other than the divine, who being a disciple of Germanus, taught Dewi Sant to read and write. It is said that he was the firmest opposer at the tribunal of Llaiiddewi- bi-efl, in 529, of Morgan's heresy, and that lie was the founder of several abbeys and monasteries in Gwent and Dyfed. Other historians entertain the opinion that lie was an attache of Augustine's mission, who, when the tide of reaction in favour of Woden and Thor was overpowering the new Creed, escaped from Northumbria to the West. Some even presume that he -was the Paulinus Suetonius, a Roman general who was sent over at the head of a small squadron to quell a minor civil disturbance which had broken out in Britain, and the evidence furnished in Tacitus (Annals, Book 12), goes far to prove that he was the one to whose memory the stone of Pantypolion was erected. However, when we consider the natural enmity that existed between the Briton and Roman, it is not natural to believe that Paulinus had other blood than Briton in his veins if it cannot be shown that this inscrip- tion was cut by a Roman to the memory of a Roman. There is, therefore, every reason to believe that lie was one of Augustine's followers, who had introduced the Latin tongue and Christianity int,) the western part of the island. At his death no language could be more appropriate to frame an epitaph for his monument than the language of thg reli- 2D gion which he had planted in their midst. This and other bouldeijs found at Port Talbot, Glamorganshire, with similar inscriptions, convince us that Paulinus was a priest and a Roman. (To be continued.)

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THE FAMINE IN CHINA. The Lord Mayor has received the following letter on the subject of the famine in China from Sir Halliday Macartney, K.C.M.G., Secretary to the Chinese Legation in Lon- don :— "Chinese Legation, Jan. 30th, 1889. My Lord Mayor. —Though I may not be able to add much to the information as regards the famine in China which has appeared in the public Press, and which the influential Deputation that waited on your Lordship on the 21st inst., sub- mitted to you for your consideration, neverthe- less, in view of the eloquent appeal which your Lordship has addressed to the citizens of London on behalf of the sufferers, I consider it my duty to inform you that the news recently received by this Legation from the famine-stricken districts goes to prove that the amount and intensity of distress are even greater than the published accounts, would have led us to believe. It can now no longer be dout-ted- that China has been visited not so much by a calamity as by a com- bination of calamities. The Viceroy of Nanking, the uncle of the Marquess Tseng, formerly Chinese Minister at this Court, has written to the Chinese Minister here, asking for contribu- tions from him and the members of the various Chinese Legations in Europe, in aid of the sufferers. Immense tracts of country, says the Viceroy, have been devastated and reduced to the most pitiable condition, by causes of the most opposite nature. For wfiile- some have been laid waste by the invasion of the waters of the Velio w River, in others the crops have literally been burnt up in consequence of the want of rain. It may thus be said that flood and fire, appearing at the same moment, have intensified the evil, by making it impossible for the people of one region to give the other that assistance which, had misfortune come singly, they might naturally have rendered. Of the provinces of-Kiang Su and Gnanhwel- two ptbviboo8 which may be called the garden of China—the Viceroy informs the Chinese Minis- ter, the prefectures of Fung Yang, Yin chow, Szu-chow, and much of the country bord, r ng on the Hwei Ho, are under water, while the pre- fectnres of Lii-chow, Chii-chow, Gnan-ching, Yang-chow, Chiankiang, Kiang-ning, aud Cliu- chow are suffering from drought to such an extent that the cattle, which in China are reared almosi exclusively for agricultural purposes, have had to be killed for food. or to keeD them from dviner for want of grass. To those who know that to the Chinese peasant companionship in toil has made the ox only one degree less sacred than it is to the Brahmins in the Courts of the temples of Benares, nothing more than this need be said, to show to what straits he must have been driven before he laid his hand on the life of the patient associate with him in the labours of the field. As this long string of strange names of places may fail to convey any distinct and adequate idea of the extent of the distress that is hidden under them, you will perhaps allow me to state that each of these perfectures may be considered at, being as large and as populous as an English county. Let us then imagine the destitution which the total and complete failure of the har- vest in ten of our English counties, and the in- undation of four others, would produce, and we shalt then have some idea of the extent and the bitterness of the destitution which now exists in that part of China of which I speak, and which it must not be forgotten, is only one of the afflicted districts. After viewing it in this manner, we stand appalled at the magnitude of the calamity a calamity so great that it has even been sug- gested it would be hopeless to strive against. But, my Ljrd Mayor, we are not asked to cope with it alone. What we are asked to do is to co- operate with others, not to undertake the work of relief single-handed. The Chinese Govern- ment and the Chinese people throughout the Empire, and even those of foreign countries, are not insensible to the suffering which pervades the land. The authorities of the three rich provinces that constitute the Viceroyalty of Kiang-Nan have been commanded by the Emperor to retain for distribution, in the famine districts in tha central provinces, the whole of the grain which it is customary to forward annually to Peking to replenish the granaries in the North. Private efforts also are being made, not only in China, but wherever Chinese subjects may be settled abroad, to relieve the fearful distress. Great, then, as is the misery, and more black yet as is the outlook in the immediate future, there is no room to doubt that the fruits of the potent appeal your Lordship has made to the charity of the richest of cities, and the most cosmopolitan iu its sympathies, will be unavailing in appre- ciably relieving the amount of suffering. And this is all the more so, as a tithe of a tithe of what would scarcely keep body and soul together among the agricultural classes of this country will amply suffice to meet the simple wants of the people on whose behalf an appeal has been made from the Mansion House. Black as is the outlook.' What do I mean by that ? I mean that though the breach in the banks of the Yellow River has been repaired, the famine has not yet reached its height. For let Heaven smile never so kindly on the efforts of the husbandman in a land where flood and drought 0 have robbed him of his means of tilling the soil, what can he hope to recover in the near future from the retiring waters ? Nothing. The first of the two harvests which bounteous Nature gives in China in the year must be considered as already lost; and, as for the second, months must yet pass before it can ever be Sown, It is this that makes the Shanghai "Famine Relief Committee so urgent and isoimportunate in its appeals to the people of this country for assistance, to enable it to cope with what maytrutybecaHed a national calamity. I am, my Lord, your obedient servant, HALLIDAY MACARTNEY." A Correspondent sends The Standard the following letter, which he has just received, under date of Chefoo, December 24th As I told you last week, I want to give you some information about the dreadful distress and famine in Shantung. For some time past we knew vaguely that there was great scarcity in the province, but we had no accurate informa- tion until Dr Nevins, returned from his Autumn journey, and the account he gives is appaliug. First let me make it quite clear that the present Shantung famine has nothing to do with the Yellow River. The distress consequent on last year's inundation was, and is still, very terrible, the country being in some parts buried under a layer of sand, several feet thick, left by the river, rendering the soil quite unfit for cultivation. We in Chefoo, however, are more immediately con- cerned in the trouble nearer to us. The cause of the present famine is the abnormal irregu- larity in the Summer rainfall this year. In the Spring no rain fell, therefore the wheat crop was less than half the average amount, The people struggled on, hoping that the Autumn harvest of beans, millet, and sorghum would be an abundant one. When the Summer rains did fall, they passed over the southern part of the province entirely, leaving it parched and thirsty, while they spent their fury in the northern part, where the rainfall exceeded anything that had been seen before. On the 11th day of the 7th Moon (August 18th) the deluge culminated. The streams burst their banks, and swept in one flood over the vast northern plain, about CO miles from east to west and 100 miles broad, including an area of 6000 square nnles. The beans and millet were drowned at once, and though the tall sorghum remained standing in •some places, it produced little else but husks. But this is not all. In the numerous villages and small towns the floods have washed away many of the houses, so that the poor people are homeless as well as famine-striken. The worst example of this is the little town or Han-Ch'iao. It is surrounded by an earth wall 20 feet high, and contains 2000 inhabit- ants. When the flood reached the wall it speedily made a breach and poured into the strccts--thc result being that ninc-tcnths of the houses were completely swept away. It is nut only tire poorer ciasses that are involved in this wid-spread rum, but also the well-to-do fanners, many of whom wheu the rains began were uoping to be enriched by a fat harvest. All are reduced to a dead level of hopeless destitution their only food is a kind of hardly edible cake, made by mixing the speds of a wild grass with chaff from the sorghum husks. It contains hardly any nourishment, and even this will soon be exhausted. In s-jms places it is alieady gone, and the people are driven y o to pluck and eat the young green blades of the Autumn wheat, and it is to be feared that they may devour the roots as well, and thus destroy all prospect of a Spring wheat harvest. The ease then is simply this: The inhabitants of Northern Shantung, numbering about a million and a half, are ill state of desperate destitution. They cannot sell anything for food as they have nothing left to sell, except the clothes on their backs, and too often they have been driven to sell their wadded garments to the sharpers who pour into the distiict for less than a tenth of their value. One of the saddest features of this abounding misery was witnessed by Dr Fraser Smith, of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. In crossing Shantung, on his way to Honan, he saw two processions meet in the central region of the Pioviuce. One was a baud of refugees from the parched South, the other from the flooded North. They met half-way, and each band, hearing from the other of what lay before them, they turned back and went to their homes to await death. Here in Chcfoo money is being raised to send immediate relief, which wilt be distributed by missionaries .-not by officials. We have also asked help from Shanghai and other ports but as the famine must continue till the June harvest it would be a great, thing if some aid could be sent from home, so as to continue the relief in the Spring. There are so many in England now who have spent a long tune in China, and they may feel more interest in the matter than th.;se who are strangers to the country.

LLANDILO LOCAL BOARD. A meeting of this Board was held at the office of Mr R. S. C, Lewis (solicitor), clerk to the Board, on Tuesday evening last. The members present were Messrs. D. Bowen (ill the chair), W. Griffiths, T. Hopkins, E. A. Roberts. J. O. Jones, and Griffith Williams. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. ° The Surveyor laid before the Board a specifica- tion for the new drain in Rhosniaen-street, and the Clerk was directed to advertise for tenders for doing the work. It was resolved that the Surveyor be authorised to clear the drains running through the Mount Pleasant fields. THE PLAXTIXG OF TREES. The Clerk said that he had received a letter from Mr W. Philipps, the Chief Constable, in- titnatmg that it wuuld not be possible for him to attend their meeting on that evening. It was the ititeiition of Mr Philipps to bring on his motion with regard to planting trees in the New Ruad and Crescent Road. Perhaps the Chairman would be so kind as to read the letter to the Board. Mr Bowen (the Chairman) then read the follow- ing letter from the Chief Constable Llaudilo, February 5th, 1889. DKAK Slit.-I am very sorry I shall not be able to attend the Local Board meeting this evening 'With regard to my motion, notice of which I gave at the last meeting, I intended asking the Board for a sum not exceeding X10 for the purpose of planting trees on the south side of the New Koad from the Market Place to Prospect House, and on the north side of the Crescent Koad, from Mr Rees thorns, the tailor, to Mount Pleasant. From enquiries I have made at Swansea and Llanelly I iiud it would net cost more than tlo. If any member of the Board would like to brinr this motion forward, well and good. If not, there is nothing to be done, as after this month it would be too late to plant. I need scarcely say it would be a great improvement to the town. W. PHILIPPS. Mr Bowen wished to know, as Mr Philipps was not in attendance, if any gentleman present would bring the motion forward on his behalf. Mr J. O. James said he would be very pleased to do so under the circumstances, and he would propose that trees be planted accordingly. Mr W. Griffiths wished to know if "Mr James meant in the New Road and Crescent Road. Mr J. O. James—Well I follow the letter. The Chairman thought that it would be a great disadvantage to plant trees in the .New Road. On fair days it was a very busy street. It was the one in which horse fairs were held. Crescent Road was better adapted for the purpose, and no doubt trees would look vere nice there, but he much questioned the propriety of spending money on any property which was not in the hands of the Board. Mr 1. Hopkins thought it would be a great improvement to plant trees in the Crescent Road. There was not so much traffic there. They had however, to take into consideration, the building that was then proceeding there. He would pro- pose that the question be deferred for a year. Mr James' proposition was not seconded, and the matter remains in statit quo.

THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF MEJIBEKS. The Clerk called the attention of the Board to the motion of Mr W. Jones, Canton Stores, as to increasing the number of members of that Board. Mr Jones was not present, but he (the Clerk) believed it was rather premature to proceed with it now, as they could not exactly say what changes the new enactment as to Local Govern- ment would occasion. It was more than likely that they would be made a District Council. The question was deferred. MISCELLANEOUS. Mr W. Griffiths gave notice that at the next meeting of the Board lie would move that the water sluices in the town be repaired, and a few new ones placed where required. The Clerk was directed to advertise for tenders by the next ordinary meeting of the Board for carrying away the ashes and town refuse, from the 25th day of March next to the 25th day of March, 1891, and also for tenders for the right of collecting the market tolls during the same period. The Clerk reported that the term of office for which the medical officer of health and inspector of nuisances were appointed would expire on the 25th day of March next, and Mr Bowen gave notice that at the next ordinary meeting he would move that they be re-appointed for the period of one year. Mr Bowen gave notice that at the next meet- ing he would bring forward the question of paying for water used for other than domestic purposes." A bill for ;Cl Is 6d for gas used in the gas stove placed in the clock room was laid before the Board, and it was proposed by Mr D. Bowen, seconded by Mr Griffith Williams, and resolved that it be disallowed, and that no cheque be drawn for it. It was resolved that the meeting be adjourned to Tuesday, the 19th inst., at 7.30 p.m., to receive the tenders for the drain in Rhosmaen- street.

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