IMPORTED STOCK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 456, 15 March 1909, Page 2

IMPORTED STOCK.

PROPOSED HOUSE QUARANTINING. NEW ZEALAND INTJCIiKSTJSI). Uncertainly lias always attended the im« >orliition of valuable farm stock, 011 account if lliu (|iinnintino ordeal, with its tuberculin :est, which lias to bu gone through at this ■nd. TIIO riuostion of having at least the überculin test dono at Home, before shipliont, has previously been dismissed, and icrhaps one of tlio strongest hindrances to ts adoption has been that it would oll'ord 1 loopholo for owners to "fake" their cattle >0 that they would not re-act to the lest, I'ho question is now being revived at Home, md the proposal is that Argentina should ;ontrol a testing-station there on any lines -■hat would satisfy its requirements. If thif ivoro agreed to, it is possible that Now Zealand could co-operate. Probably sovoraj months' quarantining at Homo would hav» to bo an essential part of tho scheme U. >void any tampering with tho tuberculin lest; and possibly that expense, in additioc to such briefer supervision as might still lie necessary hero, would bo agreed to by breeders. Deferring to tho matter, tho London "Field" says: — "Tho manner of conducting tho tuberculin test in animals introduced to the. Argentine from this country has long been a serious jriovance both to British breeders and iiniiorters. Hitherto it has been tho practice to apply the test to tho animals oil their irrival at tho Argentine ports. liven if there wero 110 other disadvantages, tho fact that tho stock wero subjected to so searching an ordoal at tho end of a long, fatiguing sea voyage suggests an clement of unfairness, and, indeed, tends to depreciate tho iccuracy- of tho diagnostic. Allowing that 111 animal would not react unless the disease ivcro present in somo form or other, it is tolerably certain that reaction would bo more probable at the end of an exhausting voyage than when the patient is treated under normal circumstances. An enfeebled physical stato predisposes_ to symptoms of disease, and 011 tho principle that contraction of tuberculous and other ailments is largely regulated by the ability of the constitution to resist attack, it is evident that the tuberculin test in tho Argentine is carried out under circumstances disadvantageous to tho owners of tho stock. "Hut there is another aspect of t'lie qunstion which merits consideration —that is, tho uncertainty that is involved by deferring tho official test until tho arrival of tho animals in the Argentine. So long as importers could count upon handsome profits from tho animals that successfully emerged from the test there was less disposition to complain regarding tho loss that resulted from rejected stock. Tho events of the past year or two, however, have put a now complexion upon the situation, and tho sacrifices incurred aro greater than tho possibilities of the. South American market justify. Tho loss arising from tho failure of an animal to pass tho test is not restricted to the freightage, but the animal which may have cost hundreds of pounds in,this country is reduced to baro butcher value 011 tho Argentine standard. I'cimpovlation into this country is prohibited under the Diseases of Animals Acts, and ' therefore the only course for the owner to pursue, as was done in the ease somo two years ago of a 3000-guinea bull, is to accept what the butcher is pleased to give for tho carcass. This clearly is a serious business to both importers and British farmers, and one ; can easily understand the sincerity of tho desire for an alteration. "The proposed alternative to the existing method is the establishment by the Argentina Government of a testing station at Liverpool, o.' somo other British jwrt. British stockowners am perfectly agreeable that the control of the centre should be entirely in iho hands of tho Argentine authorities —that is, that they should lmvo the same facilities and freedom intosting tho animals that they have in their own country. Their sole object ill moving for.the change suggested is to save the trouble, expense, and loss of shipping valuable stock to Buenos Ayrcs, to bo there condemned to tho slaughter-house. The petition is surely not an unreasonable 0110, and wo cannot help thinking that if tho breed societies and other agricultural organisations interested wero to talcc joint action in approaching tho Argentine authorities through tiie Board of Agriculture their appeal would not be, disregarded. They do not ask for any consideration that would interfere with tho efficacy of the test; they merely make a suggestion, which if granted would avert heavy loss to themselves and their customers, and that could not possibly impair tho value of tho test as a safeguard against the introduction of tuberculous animals into tho importing country. "The question was revived at a meeting of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Agriculture, and a resolution adopted advocating a conference between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina to consider tho matter. There is a feeling in the country that the Board of Agriculture might ho able to initiate a successful movement in' t|io direction desired, but unless steek owners can bring pressure to bear upon tho Department, the latter, in tho midst of its multifarious and intricate duties, is not likely to voluntarily increase tho claims upon its attention. The Board of Agriculture is not in the position of having to search for work. Many of the duties that devolve upon it may bo of minor account from a practical poijit of view, but they aro 11011 c the less exacting, and unless pressure is brought to hear front outside and the merits of tho case impressed in authoritative quarters therp. is littlo prospect of official intervention in this or kindred questions; therefore it may bo suggested that the present would bo an opportune moment for breeders of stock interested in the South American trade to make an organised effort to enlist the influence and co-operation of the Board of Agriculture ill approaching the Argentino Government with a proposal to provide in this country a station for the application of the tuberculino test, and thus put an end to the serious loss and disappointment that arise from the rejection of high-priced stock at Buenos Ayrcs."