658 Journal of the Department op agriculture. 



good quality of easy access to farmers ; (b) prevention of the introduc- 

 tion of contagious disease among live stock, also inquiry into a 

 scheme of national insurance against tuberculosis ; (c) the spread of 

 knowledge among farmers as to the best methods of feeding stock ; 

 (d) the provision of slaughter-houses and auction marts and sale- 

 yards under the direct control of farmers and the sale of stock by 

 dead-weight at co-operative slaughter-houses ; (e) where cattle are not 

 sold by dead weight, but on the basis of live weight, all cattle exposed 

 for sale to be weighed and the weights notified before sale ; (/) 

 better sanitation for markets, slaughter-houses, and shops, and better 

 provision for transport, etc. 



PUODLCTION IN THK ()v1:K.SKA DOMINIONS. 



" We regard the control or supervision of meat production in 

 the Dominions as a matter for them alone, but in order to ensure 

 unity of action by the several Governments, we advise that there 

 should be frequent inter-communication on this subject by conference 

 or otherwise. As an example of action in regard to which general 

 consideration might be desirable, we would refer to the recent New 

 Zealand Act for the licensing of meat exporters. 



" Meat production in the Dominions may be expected to continue 

 to progress rapidly, and the existence of a ready market in the 

 United Kingdom for the bulk of their exports is the best guarantee 

 of such development. Some further aid can, however, be given by 

 assisting them to secure new markets. 



" (a) We recommend that diplomatic action be taken to obtain 

 the removal of all unjustifiable restrictions on the importation of 

 Dominion meat into foreign countries, including the surtaxe 

 d^ entrepot on meat transhipped from the United Kingdom. Further, 

 if any action is to be taken for the feeding of the countries ravaged 

 by the war, we consider that every effort should be made to secure a 

 share of the trade for the Dominions. 



" (6) We also recommend that Government contracts for meat 

 should be confined to British producers in the United Kingdom and 

 in the Dominions." 



The Union's Hesponse. 



The beef export of the Union is still in its infancy, and much 

 has to bs learnt from our own and also the experience of other export- 

 ing countries regarding the requirements of the oversea market, 

 involving such weighty considerations as breeding, feeding, 

 slaughtering, preparation for market and shipping. Other British 

 Dominions have established their market, but the Union is still a 

 pioneer, and has yet to create a trade in beef of a quality and attrac- 

 tiveness equal or superior to that of other exporting countries, where 

 the meat industry has become a highly specialized one. In the build- 

 ing up of such an industry the farmer has to lay the foundation. The 

 country looks to him to produce the article of best quality by the care- 

 fully considered breeding and feeding of his stock. Tliis is the first 

 and greatest essential, but its ultimate success depends upon the 

 slaughterer and the packer, branches of the industry which call foj 

 special knowledge and e5;perience, Haphazard methods on the part 



