James G. Swan & Company

JAMES G. SWAN & Coy., Chemical Manufacturers, 74, Bath Street, Glasgow.

    The special branches of chemical manufacture with which Messrs. James G. Swan & Company have now become identified all over the United Kingdom may be said to illustrate a department of productive activity which has developed in importance consistently with the universal recognition of the value and usefulness of sheep dips as the most effectual remedy for, and preventive of, all the numerous ailments to which sheep and live stock generally are subject.

    Within the past six years Messrs. Swan have rapidly become prominent in association with the far-famed Caledonian Dip and Standard Dip, the respective merits of which may be said to present one of the best available comparisons between a sheep-farming specialty that is absolutely non-poisonous and one that is rendered infallible and effective by reason of the distinctly poisonous ingredients of which it is composed. With regard to the latter, flock masters everywhere have tested its qualifications by constant use not only as a powerful destructive agent for parasites, but also one of the best known cures of the scab disease, which has long formed the bete noir of sheep rearing ; and the fact that two gallons of the Standard Dip, amalgamated with forty times that quantity of water, will form a dipping solution for about 160 sheep at the small cost of 7s. 6d. is a revelation to many who are unacquainted with the manner in which Messrs. Swan have introduced a system of sheep-cleansing at a cost of something much less than a penny per sheep.

    While the Standard is exclusively a sheep dip, the Caledonian has been produced with the view of affording many adaptations. It is not only a dip but a disinfectant, an eradicator of lice, and an unfailing preventative and cure for all the contagious diseases that afflict either sheep or cattle. Such benefits can scarcely be overrated when the importance of sheep farming in modern times is considered. These advantages have already found adequate appreciation, and, having regard for the very brief development of Messrs. Swan’s business, nothing is more remarkable than the number of the testimonials received by the firm and the extensive range of custom which they indicate. From many of the leading sheep farms in North Britain there are shown unsolicited expressions of approval, the names attached to which embrace those of gentlemen whose opinions on all subjects relating to sheep farming are at all times unimpeachable. Among other patrons in the Isle of Skye, Mr. Donald Macdonald, of Lynedale, contributed some interesting facts as to the utility of the Caledonian Dip. “My experience now is”, writes this eminent sheep farmer, “having finished the season’s clipping, that your Caledonian Sheep Dip is a very valuable preparation. It is easy of use, and has withstood our heavy west coast rains as well, if not better, than other dips I have tried”.

    The same scientific minds that suggested these two popular sheep dips named have also mastered the difficulties that hitherto rendered such a thing as a perfect antiseptic disinfectant impossible. By a process patented and only known and observed by themselves, Messrs. Swan have manufactured an effectual deodorizer and disinfectant under the appropriate title of “Hygeia”, and, carrying this class of productions further, they have supplemented its invention by an anti-fouling composition that is now reputed one of the most serviceable for ship’s bottoms.

    To say that Messrs. Swan’s specialities are now used extensively at home and abroad is to reiterate a commercial fact that requires no endorsement. Unaided by any ostentatious advertisement, Messrs. Swan’s manufactures have met with a popularity that is everywhere on the increase ; and, apart from the extent and scope of the firm’s home trade, it may be said that there is no better proof of the imperative demand which their manufactures have solicited than the numerous and large consignments that are being constantly made to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the River Plate, and many other rising Colonial centres. With every practical resource and facility that can be obtained, the firm have organised their undertaking on a basis of efficiency well fitted to provide against the most urgent exigencies of trade. The whole operations are controlled under the best systems of daily routine and management, and at the present time few undertakings of the kind indicate more rapid progression or are better fitted to exemplify the branch of industry already described than that of Messrs. James G. Swan & Company, of Glasgow.

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