FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2004, 21 July 1892, Page 6

FARM AND STATION.

THE TRIENNIAL STOCK CONFERENCE.

The Triennial Stock Conference, the members of which are the chief inspectors of stock and delegates representing the stock-owners of all the Australasian colonies, is to be held during the current year, and as it is understood that some very material changes in the regulations affecting importations of stock will be discussed, it will bo necessary that onr representatives at the meeting shall be in a position to represent impartially and without reserve the exceptional position of this colony in regard to the most pernicious diseases of stock. This duty will be all the more imperative ns the sheep of the colony were properly tabooed by Aut-tralian flockmasters because of the outbreak of scab two or three years ago among flocks in some of our outlying mountainous districts in the western divisions of the provinces. In the eastern divisions much money was expended by breeders in the improvement of their flocks by considerable importations of British breeds, the leading object being to develop flocks of valuable " mutton and woolsheep" combined. In view of the expansion of the frozen meat trade and the averages realised for New Zealand crossbred wool?, it is couceded that the efforts in this direction have been eminently successful. The flocks were judiciously improved, and sheep - farmers had their rewards in the returns for frozen mutton and wool. The "scabby" spots were to all intents and purposes insulated, and these, it is right to observe, were generally held by "big companies" who were in no way ashamed of the reproach, and who abused the leniency of successive Governments and Government officials until the odium became insufferable to sheep breeders in the settled districts of the colony. The apathy previously observed was altogether due to the fact that the '•tainted" localities were isolated, and therefore the possibility of infection was remote. Still, the stigma on the colony remained, and was at last so resented by the mass of mutton and wool producers that the authorities were compelled to deal incisively with the Stock Inspection department and the officials. Under the present exacting supervision, the former abuses are not possible, and it is now alleged by the authorities that the flocks in the colony have been "clean" for quite two years. This is a matter of growing importance to breeders of all varieties of long and mid-wool sheep in the colony, for there is a decided disposition on the part of Australian graziers to invest in these breeds for crossbreeding with merinos, and there is a preference for New Zealand bred animals for the purpose, because of their healthy constitution and the lessened risk of deterioration consequent on extreme change of climate. For some time past there have been inquiries on Australian account for suitable stud sheep from this colony, and if matters are put right there can be no doubt of a continuous and expanding demand. Writing on the subject the Queenslander, a well-informed authoity, says : — " The movement of the different Australasian colonies in the direction of the export of meat has caused an unusual demand for stud sheep of English breeds for the production of crossbred mutton, a demand that cannot be satisfied by breeders of that class of sheep on the Australian continent, while New Zealand is in a position to supply it." Our contemporary, in reference to the regulations drafted at the first conference and in force since, says : — "According to the understanding arrived at at the last conference, all the ports on the Australian continent and Tasmania are closed against the introduction of New Zealand sheep, and will remain closed until a period of two years shall have elapeed from the date at which that colony shall have been proclaimed free from scab. ... It is now generally conceded that a two-years' embargo is unnecessarily long, and that if the conference was held in New Zealand, the true state of the flocks in that colony would be ascertained, and it would be seen that New Zealand sheep might be introduced into these colonies without any risk." When such a leading organ of Queensland pastoralists gives expression to such views, New Zealand breeders of high-class stock may confidently anticipate a profitable outlet in years to come for all of the various classes of stud sheep that may be in demand in Australia. But to remove all doubts on the scab question, the New Zealand representatives at the forthcoming conference must be provided with conclusive evidence as to the last reported outbreak of the scourge, and further, that cases could not occur without detection. This duty properly devolves on the Stock department, with whom must rest the responsibility of misleading or inaccurate statements. It can be truthfully averred that in all the noted sheepbreeding districts which have exclusively contributed to the expansion of the frozen mutton trade, scab among flocks has been unknown for the last 10 or 15 years. Those are the only districts from which Australian buyers could procure desirable sheep, so that there is no possible danger of infection. It mubt be remarked, however, that there is a manifest inconsistency on the part of Australians in pro■cribing New Zealand sheep for two years while imports from Great Britain are continuous to their continent with an embargo in quarantine of only 90 days. Now it is well known that British flocks have never been entirely free from scab. Scarcely an exchange of a British agricultural journal comes to hand without a record of an unreported outbreak of scab in a flock and the infliction of a fine on the owner, so that virtually there is more risk of the introduction of infection from British and foreign importations than from those from New Zealand. Any Australian buyer of stud sheep in New Zealand can readily and completely assure himself of the freedom from disease for generations of any flock of repute in the colony. Another of the regulations dictated at the last conference — the 9o days' quarantine enforced on British cattle and sheep — will probably be amended. In its operation it has been so punitive that only the few could indulge in efforts for the improvement of their stock by the introduction of "fresh blood." So far as sheep or swine are concerned, as regards the introduction of scab by the former or swine fever by the latter, the quarantine prescribed is> utterly absurd and indefensible, for in neither case — that of scab in the former or swine fever in the latter— is the period of incubation so prolonged as would risk the transmission of either of the diseases after the animals had undergone a two months' sea voyage, with the preliminary inspection at the port of departure, and say, to satisfy professional extremists, a 30 days' quarantine. The 6ame remarks apply to the probabilities of the introduction of foot and mouth disease among cattle, but as regards pleuro-pneumonia all the well-attested conditions are so emphatically different that exceptionally exempt, as the cattle in this colony are, from this terrible plague, the settlers will be slow to assent to any relaxation of the regulations intended to prevent its introduction. The efforts of the Britibh Agricultural department to stamp out

the malady in the United Kingdom by the slaughter of the diseased animals, and all of those at any time in contact with them meet the hearty approval of the cattle owners in this colony, notwithstanding all that has been said and written concerning the efficacy of inoculation and other preventive measures suggested. The position is strongly strengthened by the Jersey Cows' incident following the Dublin show, held over 12 months ago. These cows took prominent rank at the exhibition, and some of them at least, if not all, were sold into other herds. They transmitted the disease in every instance, and this necessitated the slaughter of all cattle with which they had been in contact, including a noted herd of shorthorns. Lessons like this are certain to be treasured up m the memories of New Zealand cattlo breeders.