MAINLY NON-COMMITTAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 3 October 1927, Page 7

MAINLY NON-COMMITTAL

AGRICULTURAL MINISTER'S REPLIES TO FARMERS» UNION.

A SHEAF OF REMITS DISPOSED OF.

Replies by the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. O. J. Hawken) to remits passed, at the Dominion conference of the Farmers' Union were received at the meeting of the". Manawatu provincial executive in Levin on Saturday.' While they do not indicate any immediate departures from existing methods and policies, they contain much interesting information', such, for example, as the statement that the Department views with strong disfavour the importation of any produce containing weevils. The replies are as under: — ■ NOXIOUS WEEDS.

With reference to the.remit which 4eals with the subject of the formation of Noxious Weeds Boards, or the appointment of Babbit Board Inspectors as noxious weeds inspectors, final consideration of these proposals must stand over until the Noxious Weeds Amendment Bill has been dealt with and its -effect in actual operation (if it is passed) can be fully gauged. FIBE BLIGHT.

Following on the first outbreak of iireblight in the Auckland province, ■when the Fireblight Act was being prepared, the question of compensating owners of hedges that would require to be destroyed owing to their being affected with the disease, was fully con.sidered w and it was held that the State «ould not reasonably assume responsibility. Begarding the cutting-back of hawthorn hedges, as against their complete eradication, such cutting-back is now accepted in areas where such treatment is held to be a sufficient safeguard, but in circumstances where the •disease is liable to have infected any percentage of the hedge below the height at which it would be topped, such topping would be useless, as one plant so infected would provide sufficient contaminating material to infect* ♦practically the whole district' ia the proper season. The complete destruction of hedges is called for only after .the disease .has made its appearance m a fruit area, and then rarely throughout the whole area, but only in those sections where it has advanced to a dangerous degree and is likely to do ■considerable damage. The Department and the Minister have every sympathy with the farmer in this matter, and' only take action where absolutely necessary, but farmers in general situated within declared commercial fruit areas would be well advised if they £ook advance action in the direction ; •of cutting and .trimming their hedges annually prior to the disease making its appearance. . TLMBEB PESTS.

The question of what action is ne*essaiy :o pro vent the introduction of insect p sb in-imported timbers is now under <■• .az.iriiv-ation. WILD PIGS.

'Arrangements have been made to ■continue the payment of the bonus for the destruction of wild pigs. STOCK FOODS.

With regard to the request that a Stock Food Act be placed on the Statute Book to obviate the possibility of .adulteration of stock foods, the Government appreciates the necessity for- some legislation of this nature. The Minister regrets, however, that the amount of legislation which has already been prepared for submission to Parliament will preclude the possibility of such a Bill being brought forward this session. SPEYED CATTLE. Respecting the requested compulsory branding of speyed cattle, it is_ obvious that if a brand were set aside as the distinguishing mark of such animals, it would be necessary to obtain a list of all.persons in the Dominion who are qualified to undertake the operation and who should be authorised to apply the brand, for it is obvious that to allow the brand to be used by any person claiming to undertake this work would not be in the best interests of the farmers.. It would, however, be an extremely difficult matter to prepare a list of all those in the Dominion who are qualified to spey cattle; and even if such a list were made up, the Government would have no guarantee that the use of the brand would not be extended beyond legitimate cases. The Minister regrets that he cannot see bis way to take action in the desired direction at present; but with regard to the request that the Department recognise speying as a legitimate operation, so far as he was aware the Department had never refused to do SO ' - DEHORNED CATTLE. The conference having • asked that none" but dehorned cattle be allowed to be offered for sale, in any public saleyard or to be trucked after January Ist, 1930, the Minister advises that a Bill has been prepared . providing for the dehorning of all cattle other than registered purebred animals. He tad hoped to introduce the Bill during the current session of Parliament, but -owing to the heavy legislative programme he regrets that he will be unable to do so. ROYALTIES ON TIMBER.

With regard to the resolution suggesting a reduction of the royalties on fencing timber, the Minister states that more definite information is necessary .to enable this resolution to be considFEOZEN MEAT ON LOCAL MAEKETS.

A remit having been passed that the Government be approached with a view to compelling New Zealand butchers to label frozen'meat offered by them for sale as such, the Minister states that all matters relating to the sale of foods are dealt with by tho Public Health Department, and the remit m question is therefore being referred to the Minister in Charge of that Department for his consideration. "Do you consider that,the Agricultural Department is worth its keep?" asked Mr Lethbridge whenthis statement wa3 rea.d at the meeting. "That is rather a hard question to answer," aaid the chairman (Mr Lynch). "The ramifications of the Agricultural Department are very great. While Dr. Ecakos is at the head they must be doing some good." COOL STORAGE IN LONDON. The Government was asked to pass legislation that produce requiring cool

storage from New Zealand for export pass through the New Zealand cool stores in London, when such are established. The Minister considers that until such time as the works are established. and it is demonstrated that the powers now vested in the various Control Boards are not sufficiently wide to enable them to control the question of cool storage, consideration of legislation on the lines suggested might well remain in abeyance. MEAT AND DAIRY BOARDS.

With reference to the remit asking that commercial interests be eliminated from the Meat and Dairy Boards, the Minister advises that so long as the compulsory provisions of the Act remain, it is considered that all interests concerned are entitled to representation on the Boards, and it is not proposed to amend the Acts in the direction suggested by the remit. PROPRIETARY FREEZING WORKS In regfcrd to the remit protesting against & proposal to extend killing space and other facilities at the freezing works owned by overseas interests, the Minister states that the views of the conference '.iave been, noted and will be borne in mind when any application from proprietary freezing works for extending facilities i 3 under consideration. FOREIGN OATS. As to the remit urging that the importation of Chilean and other foreign oats be prohibited, the Minister states that an examination of the import statistics shows that oniy once during the past 10 years has any importation of oats taken place from Chile, this being in 1926, when some 17,333 centals were imported. This formed part of a special cargo which had been lifted by a company which was testing the possibilities of establishing a shipping line with Chile and embracing New Zealand. The oats proved unsatisfactory, and it is considered highly improbable that any further attempt will be made to import further supplies from that country. The. oniy other foreign country from which oats were imported during the oeriod named was the United States, which supplied 448 centals in 1924 and 11 centals in 1926. The Government is of opinion that no useful .purpose would be served by the imposition of (the prohibition asked for, but tha matter will be closely watched and the question given further consideration should there be any material change in the position. WEEVIL-INFECTED MAIZE.

With reference to the remit protesting against the importation of maize affected with weevil, the Minister points out- that for many years .past weevil has been widespread throughout the Dominion. The Department views with strong disfavour the importation of any produce which contains w r eevil or any other insect, but as weevil is to be found in many other articles of commerce imported into the Dominion, the making of prohibiting regulations would constitute a really serious matter. The best solution of the problem would appear to be for the Dominion to b3come self-supporting in respect of its maize requirements.