Agricultural Advisory Board. 25 



diseases, and the question arose: who was to pay for it? If the 

 Board favoured this policy, were they prepared to recommend means 

 by whicli it coidd be financed ? 



Discussion turned upon the eradication of scab, the Secretary for 

 Agriculture describing the additional services which the Department 

 was asked to give, involving a considerable increase in the vote for 

 scab control, and drawing attention to a recommendation which had 

 been made by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament for 

 defraying the expenditure on scab eradication. 



The Minister asked the Board to go into the question raised in 

 so far as it affected scab and East Coast fevei in order to see if a 

 feasible scheme could be devised on the lines suggested, and at a later 

 stage an important resolution was accordingly presented, which will 

 be dealt with, in a later issue of the Journal. 



Citrus Canker. — The Board discussed very fully the position of 

 citrus canker, the position being that three farms were infected, that 

 Government was being urged to spend a large sum in destroying the 

 infected orchards, and that Government hesitated to do this, because 

 there was no guarantee that with this destruction there would be an 

 end to expenditure of this nature. In this case also the Board post- 

 poned a decision, and at a later stage brought up the following 

 resolution : — 



1. That Government be asked to immediately destroy all infected 

 or suspected orchards, the estimated cost being based at £4 per tree, 

 the total cost being estimated at about £70,000. 



2. On condition that Government agrees to immediate destruc- 

 tion the growers and exporters of the Union shall contribute one-half 

 the cost by one or other of the following means — - 



(a) That a tax be levied on all citrus and deciduous trees per 

 1000, the tax on deciduous to be half that on citrus. 



(6) If Government considers this method too cumbersome, it 

 is proposed that a tax be levied on all fruit exported per 

 ton in the same proportions as in (a). 



3. That the tax be spread over a period of two or three years. 

 Branding Laws. — On a resolution dealing with branding the 



questions stated were (1) whether it was advisable to bring in a 

 uniform law, (2) whether it ought to be compulsory, and (3) whether it 

 should be laid down by law or regulation the place where a brand 

 should be put. The last point arose out of complaints of deteriora- 

 tion of value of hides on account of brands being put on the more 

 valuable parts. On this subject the Board was informed that a Draft 

 Bill was in existence, and copies are to be circulated among the 

 members. 



Veterinary Surgeons. — The need for an increased number of 

 veterinary surgeons raised the question of public expenditure again, 

 and a suggestion being made to make the profession in South Africa 

 more attractive by allowing private practice, the Board confirmed a 

 proposal to appoint as an experiment Government veterinary surgeons 

 in two or three districts, who would be allowed to attend to non- 

 scheduled diseases when called upon by private individuals on a 

 schedule of fees to be fixed, the fees to be paid into revenue. 



East Coast Fever. — A resolution requesting further investiga- 

 tion into the tick as a carrier of East Coast fever, curative measures 



