LIVESTOCK EMBARGO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 15

LIVESTOCK EMBARGO

PROSPECT OF REMOVAL . i VISCOUNT BLEDISLOE'S VIEWS STATEMENT IN LONDON The opinion that there was every likelihood that British livestock owners might soon be exporting again to New Zealand was expressed -by Viscount Bledisloe to a representative of the Farmer and Stock Breeder within a few hours of his arrival in London. He thought that restrictions on imports to the Dominion would soon be very considerably eased, if not removed altogether. " I have done my utmost," Viscount Elodisloe said, " to emphasise the fact that, although the average standard of livestock of the Dominion is distinctly higher than the average in this country, there is a definite and progressive decadence of quality, particularly among cattle of all breeds, owing to inbreeding and the want of infusion of the best of pedigree blood. I have taken every opportunity of pointing out in public that the best possible blood of almost every breed of farm animal, with the exception of jVJerino sheep and Clydesdale horses, must in the national interest be secured from the Old' Country during the next few years, or New Zealand stock owners will find themselves heavily handicapped in the markets of the world. " The Government has long ago appeared to have been convinced that the embargo upon the direct importation of pedigree stock cannot longer be justified," Viscount Bledisloe continued, " but the dread of the introduction of foot and mouth disease among so many of the leading farmers in nearly every area of the Dominion has stood in the way of any definite action being taken until recently to lift this embargo."