ADMINISTRATION MATTERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 101, 22 January 1908, Page 2

ADMINISTRATION MATTERS.

THE MINISTER TALKS. BEE, BUTTER, AND SHEEP INDUSTRIES Tho Hon. R. M'Nab, during-a first visit to Gisborne last Friday, gave the-"Times" oi tliat town a three-column interview ■ lho Minister spoke of tho dairy produce and frozon meat industries, and tho great assistance expected' from -: tho inspectors about to be stationed in London. How Butter Depreciates, 1 . ' 'Supposing" (said the ■ Minister) ■; "butter is graded 00 points or over', and shipped Homo, wo <vant to know, through ono of our graders at tho othor end, how many points it depreciates on an avorage; compared with that giaded. at 88 points and over, or 86 and, over,-..and whether- it depreciates l uni-; formly through ; tho. butters' of all- grades, or .whether: it l is at a minimum for' high grade butter, or ; at a maximum for low grade. j'-That; is a most important aspect of the tiairy industry which no previous Minister has, tackled.". ' A "'The reason for'' this action?"- queried tho reportor. - "\\ 011, the fact is that we were continually getting complaints from the.'Old- Country of faults alleged .to exist, in shipments of Zealand butter, and wo had no proper means of testing whether or not the'allegations were justified, nor of finding a remedy where fault uid exist. "We had to-legislato last year ; to prevent an excess of moisture in our butter. The strengthening-, of the chemical branch of i our Department rosulted ; in, our finding butters were being-, exported up, to 22 and 23 per cent, moisture. AVe have -legislated by- fixing the limit at 16, which is'high; but fit-s, iu with tho Imperial limit-.'' • A Beo-kceplng Story. - ■ The Minister tlion' dipped into the'honey question " Bee-keeping is a branch" of agricultural work that is^ becoming very popular.; Strange to-say, -it' is at: the extreme ends of tho Dominion, Auckland and Southland, that', it has 'been most extensively taken up, and like bce-k.eop'ers all. over tho Iworld, , they.'fmd themselves unable to copo with the question of foul brood. l I was very sorry when legislation was brought, forward,;,to find a;lot of hostility ■ to l the proposals. l It is, perhaps, Olitside of regular interview work, but I may tell you of oiie prominent opponent of the Apiaries Act, who asked why should the farmer, who only one hive, be compelled to put that hivo into a frame, to enable foul brood to ,be coped with. He was a sheepgrower, and haa sheep glaring on a hundred Hills, perhaps one of tho biggest fioekowners in the Dominion. Mr. Kirk, the Government Biologist-, said that tno reason for getting it done was exactly, on . all-fours with the case', of a man who, had ono sheep scabby,- andwho had to dip for the benefit of the man who was .a flocltowner on a largo scale. We got tho sheepowner as a supporter of tho Bill.' Under ,tbe Apiaries Act wo can.|force the man who has only pne hive to put itunder such conditions that disease can be dealt with in order to build up the hee-keep-ing, industry. _ We have- a travelling inspector for tho North 1 Island,' and one for the South, under Mr. Hopkins, and we do not intend to do anything for a whilo beyond the educative aspect or tho work. We hopo to be ablo to carry on the Department afterwards, by showing t-hft advantages of following the law, rathor than by appealing to its penalties. - Wo are getting out; information in bulletin form on bee-keeping, the class of hives, tho most economical hives, : and tho cheapest, way the work can ha done. Theso we hope to circulate shortly." -, inspection of Dairies. Of the inspection of dairies, the Minister reiterated his intention of promoting a septic treatment, rather than an anti-septic treatment. • "We are going to stop the dirt from getting into the milk, instead of waiting to take it out after-it has got tfiero. Before leaving Wellington I gave the necessary authority for the .expenditure of a thousand pounds, put at my disposal by the House, for the staff under the Chief -i Inspector of Stock, and we will commence with a proper instruction of the dairy inspectors, cbietly the new men. Mr. Clifton will: have tho services of a veterinary surgeon to give tho men elementary instruction', in tho means to. bo adopted by tho inspectors to ensure the detecting of. diseases iii cows. • The various scientific branches of the Department of Agriculture will contribute to tho teaching of tho staff, and wo. hope to secure a uniform system of work, and, above all, an intelligent ono by these inspectors. I may say ' that the instruction work to the dairy, inspectors is but the beginning of the instructive work to all inspectors in the Department, and it is intended, when the system is in working order, that no man shall recoivo a fixed payment until ho has, during the term of temporary payment, shown in the school of instruction that ho. is capable of doing the work given him to do." Sheep-Dipping. The - Minister's attention was drawn to the action of the local stock inspector iu condemning several pens of sliccp at the ,Matawliero sale on Thursday, and it was suggested that- the Act might be enforced with loss severity at tho present time. ' Mr. Al'Nal/s reply was that prosecutions were entirely outsido his influence, as he would not permit any suggestion that action of that kind might bo due to political reasons. The hoad of the Stock Department was iu complete charge of this work. Of course, if a person felt aggrieved at his treatment by the head of that Department he could appeal to the Minister, and his caso would receive consideration.