1.—12 a.

To Mr. Massey, Mr. Gilruth stated what he knew of the King's premiums, the Hunters' Improvement Society, and the methods of selecting horses by the agricultural societies in Britain, who gave a premium and guaranteed so-many mares to the horse they selected. The Chairman asked Mr. Bitchie, We are compiling something now to submit to agricultural and pastoral societies : what is your idea of what a satisfactory Board should be ? Mr. Bitchie : W T hen we submitted the Bill first to the Conference in Dunedin we had a Board composed of veterinary surgeons and two laymen appointed by the agricultural societies from' certain areas. We cut up the whole of the North Island into three districts, and out of the South Island we got three districts. There were two districts in Auckland—all the agricultural societies north of Auckland. We had it all cut up into districts, and the agricultural societies within those districts appointed two men to act with the veterinary surgeons. That was the machinery in the Bill first submitted. The Conference thought that very few members would agree to act on that Board, as it might bring them into conflict with the pastoralists, and they preferred to have it taken out, and instead two veterinary surgeons were put in instead of one. That was practically the unanimous wish of the Conference at Dunedin, and we thought it should go back into the Bill as a matter for the agricultural societies to decide now.

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