H.—29a

4

Later the Board again met the representatives of (a) the Clydesdale Horse Society, and the Draught Horse Stud-book Council; and (6) the South Island Sheep-breeders' Association, and the Bomney Marsh Sheep-breeders' Association, with the object of bringing them into line with the motion as above —that there should not be more than one association for each distinct breed of horses or sheep—and fully and freely discussed matters with them. The Board have made repeated attempts to bring the two bodies together, and we have no doubt that the good sense of the breeders will eventually result in amalgamation being effected. In the ease of the flock-books, breeders show more inclination to come together, and the Council of the Romney Marsh Sheep-breeders' A'sociation have informed us, in reply to our representations that the Romney Marsh Flock-book be reopened to all eligible Romney flocks in New Zealand, that at their annual meeting in June they will recommend that that flock-book be reopened to all the Romney flocks registered in the South Island Flock-book. If this be done in a liberal spirit we hope to see an amalgamation come about in the near future. The question of uniformity in rules for flock-books has also had the Board's consideration, as the outcome of suggested rules which have been drafted by the sub-committee of the Board set up to deal with the matter. With the practice of the registration of sheep in the Dominion properly regulated it must make for the improvement of the stock and the consequent raising of the standard of the several breeds. A copy of the suggested rules will be forwarded to you in due course. Prohibition of Exportation of Inferior Sheep. This question was discussed at length with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of the Live-stock Division, and while the Board considered it was extremely necessarj' that some restriction should be placed upon the export of inferior sheep, it was found that this could not be done except hj legislative enactment. The matter, you will remember, also formed the subject of a conversation with yourself in which you expressed the opinion that something should be done to protect the good name of the purebred stock of the Dominion. Later you suggested in a communication to the Board that we might utilize the breed societies so that all sheep which would be exported should be inspected on the owner's property, the Government rendering assistance to enable the inspection to be carried out through the Board or otherwise. Until the joint questions of uniformity in flock-books and rules are settled the Board thought that this matter might wait, when if it still be thought necessary to introduce legislation to prohibit the exportation of the class of sheep referred to it could be gone on with. It will doubtless come up for discussion again when the Council of Agriculture meets in July next, and the various breeding societies are represented thereat. Collection of Sheep Statistics. Representations were made to the Board in connection with the collection of sheep statistics, and it was pointed out that the existing procedure was not satisfactory, inasmuch as the figures at present collected of the number of sheep shorn and the lambs tailed were published too late to be of use. It was suggested, inter alia, that the Department of Agriculture should collect the lambing returns as at the 30th November, so that they could be published at least by the 31st January, the main returns to be taken not biter than the Ist, or at latest, the 15th March to prevent over-export. It was claimed that this would enable exporters to decide how many sheep it would be safe to kill. After discussing the matter the Board decided to write to the Government Statistician and ask him whether it was possible to have the docking and shearing tallies published earlier than was the case at present, so that farmers might be in the position of knowing what the stocks of sheep are by the end of February, or by the middle of March at the latest. To the Board's communication the Government Statistician replied as follows : — " I fully recognize the importance of this information being published as early as possible, and I have given careful consideration to the matter on various occasions. "It would be quite impracticable to make a special collection of information as to sheep flocks at the end of the year as has been suggested. The collection of agricultural and pastoral statistics (in conjunction with which the present enumeration of sheep and lambs is made) is taken from the 31st January onwards, so that the results of the harvest may be ascertained. If it were possible for police officers to devote the whole of their time to this work it should be possible to publish the results in June or July, but it is always found that there are unavoidable delays in furnishing returns. There is no reason to believe that if a separate collection was made of information regarding sheep and lambs the figures would be furnished any more promptly. " But in any case, with the lambing percentages which will in future be published in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics (it is hoped in December and January) all the necessary information will be available to farmers, freezing companies, and others interested. By applying the lambing percentages to the number of breeding-ewes in each district as published in the Second Interim Sheep Return a very close approximation of the position can be arrived at —this was demonstrated bj' the close agreement of these figures last year. " There is no doubt that in normal peace-times the police would be able to complete the collection-work within a reasonable time, and that publication of the statistics could be made within two months of the time set for completion of the collection, namely : (I) North Island, end of March; (2) northern portion of South Island, middle of April; (3) South Canterbury and Otago, end of April; and (4) Southland, middle of May. It is necessary to allow the times as here set out so as to enable the actual results of the harvest in the various districts to be obtained, and to reduce as far as possible the number of cases in which estimates of the harvest results have to be accepted." *