STOCK EMBARGO

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19131, 28 September 1936, Page 11

STOCK EMBARGO

ABOLITION ADVOCATED FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN Mr. A. Roseoe Smith writes to the Auckland Herald : "L was fortunate enough to be one. of the New Zealand Fanners' touring party, which lias just returned! to the Dominion, and during- our sojourn in the Old Country arid, on the' Continent, we had many opportunities of studying the foot and'mouth disease. Our itinerary included visits to many of the loading studs of sheep, cattle, and pigs-, and the Poseareh Station at Pothamslcd, Cooper, McD'ougall and Robertson's Experimental Farm at Little C.addesden. and the Animal Research Station at Cambridge. "At all these various places we had opoprtnnities of meeting some of England's leading men mi animal culture, and' without exception, they proved to us that there was no possible chance, of this disease, ever getting into New Zealand through any animal whatsoever. In addition, they are; also very strict on all matters pertaining to isolation and quarantine, and when the disease does break out the authorities simply shut down on a. five-mile, radius. There has heen no outbreak now for over two years, and outbreaks are considerably less than they have ever been. The disease is not. new, and during the time New Zealand was stocking up many years ago, it was very prevalent. "Our safety lies in. the fact that the disease manifests itself generally in the first week, but never over 13 days. New Zealand is the only country in the world to-day that does not recognise this fact. "We were privileged to be the guests of the Royal Society at the Royal Show, Bristol, and there saw some of the finest stock in the world, and saw it being bought, up by Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, and other countries, and not a hoof for New Zealand. It gave ns food for thought to see our main competitors in the wool, mutton, beef and butter markets purchasing all these wonderful animals.

"From the Royal Show we went on to Lydnoy, the beautiful home of Lord and Lady Bledisloe. Lord Bledisloe personally showed, us over his well-rnn estate arid.' the up-to-date methods! of handling his stock. Ho is, as always, deeply interested in New Zealand, and he showed deep concern at the. trend of events in connection with the embargo, ami his parting remark to ns was: 'For goodness sake get. that, wretched embargo lifted off English stock,' and that, in short, is the opinion of all - Englishmen that have the. welfare, of our country at. heart. "The actual value of our stock business to England is small, and she has no trouble to get rid of her surplus stud animals without our aid, but as Lord Bledisloe emphasised, New Zealand cannot expect to hold her export position while other countries go on improving their stock at the rate they are doing 1 . "I am one of thousands of farmers of this country who rely on the stud breeders to keep me supplied with the rams and bulls; required to. keep up and improve the quality of my stock. If breeders are prohibited from going back to the "source of supply," how are we faring? .In conclusion I want to say that, it is the considered opinion of every member of our party, that the time has arrived when the embargo must be lifted, and I am asking Ihp Farmers' Unions throughout, the country to give the. mattor their early, earnest and favourable consideration."