BREEDING OF PIGS

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23353, 12 June 1941, Page 8

BREEDING OF PIGS

APPEAL ADJOURNED A great deal of interesting technical evidence was heard by the Armed Forces Appeal Board yesterday in the case in which G. E. Hickmott, a specialist pig-breeder, appealed against territorial and overseas service on the grounds of conscientious objection and his father, E. J. B. Hickmott, of Belfast, appealed as co-appellant for the same reservist on the ground of the public interest and undue hardship. On the ground of conscientious objection, Hickmott said he was a member of the Exclusive Brethren, and had been brought up in that sect. His father before him had been a member. He was prepared to do non-combatant service. The chairman of the board, Mr F. F. Reid, S.M., said that the sect was a recognised one. The appeal was dismissed, subject to the reservist not being called up for service in other than a non-combatant force, in respect to both territorial and overseas service. Dealing with the appeal on the ground of the public interest and undue hardship, Mr L. A. Dougall, for the appellant, said that one of the chief grounds relied on was that the reservist was doing something quite different from the average pig breeder. He submitted that the work of the reservist as an expert pig raiser was of national importance. There was still a great deal of developing to do on the property. The father of the reservist, E. J. B. Hickmott, of Belfast, described as a specialised pigfarmer, submitted a statement to the board, and text-books and photographs, to show the scientific methods adopted on, the pig-farm. Emphasis was laid by the witness on the ability, through these methods, to establish a link between the pig and the man handling him—a measure of confidence which led to better production and a better type of pig. To get outside and untrained labour would interfere with that development, the witness said. He could not carry on the place, as it was being run to-day. without the services of his son.

To Mr W. F. Tracy, E. J. B. Hickmott said that it was not possible to get anyone to take his son’s place. He had advertised lor some months for suitable labour.

Mr Hall suggested that it would take considerably less than three years to train an efficient assistant for the farm. The witness Hickmott disagreed, and said it required more than one fullytrained man on the job. Mr Hall contended that witness had not exhausted all the possible contacts for labour. Evidence was given by Q. M. Wilson, manager of T. H. Green and Company, who said his firm was largely interested in the pig industry. He said that South Island supplies of pigs were becoming short, and a great deal of his firm’s requirements had to come from the North Island. He gave evidence of the importance of the farm under discussion in the national effort, particularly for the New Zealand and South Island trade. The chairman of the board, Mr F. F. Reid, S.M., in adjourning the appeal sine die on the ground of the public interest, said that the board was satisfied that the reservist, as a skilled specialist, was making a more valuable contribution to the national welfare by carrying on his present work than by giving non-combatant service in a military unit.