DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Etc., FOR IRELAND. 277 



;^ 1 0,000 is to be devoted out of the Department's income to the develop- 

 ment of Irish Fisheries, and a special advisory committee has been 

 appointed by the Department to help in this work. A Bill has been 

 introduced into Parliament to extend the Department's powers in con- 

 nection with trawling, and 'n consequence of the necessity of having a 

 steamer to carry out fishery investigations and general marine superin- 

 tendence (work which m Scotland keeps three cruisers belonging to the 

 Fishery Board busily employed), the steam yacht Helga, a very speedy 

 steel twin-screw, schooner-rigged boat, with a tonnage (yacht measure- 

 ment) of 345 tons, has been purchased. 



3. The powers and duties of the Registrar-General for Ireland and of 

 the Irish Land Commission with reference to the collection and publica- 

 tion of agricultural and cognate statistics, and the powers and duties of 

 the Land Commission under the Market and Fairs Acts of 1887 and 

 1 891. These Acts impose upon the Market authorities the duty of 

 keeping machines for weighing cattle (except when exempted by the 

 Central Authority), and of furnishing certain returns as to the animals 

 sold in each market. 



A Statistics and Intelligence Branch has been formed by the Depart- 

 ment, as recommended in the Report of ihe Recess Committee, to deal 

 with all Irish agricultural and industrial statistics. The Branch carries 

 on the compilation of the general Agricultural Statistics which have 

 been collected by successive Registrars-General, with the assistance of 

 the police, who act as enumerators, for over half a century. A prelimi- 

 nary report is published in the autumn, which shows by provinces and 

 counties the area under each crop, and the number of live stock. A 

 return is publisheii later showing the estimated rate of produce, and 

 finally, the complete report, which contains information as to the 

 division of land, the acreage under crops and pasture, the extent of 

 woods, plantations, bogs, and waste land, and the number of occupiers 

 and the size of their holdings. It gives also details of the produce of 

 the crops and of the number of live stock in the country, and of other 

 matters relating to agriculture. This Branch also prepares the statistics 

 of the imports and exports of live stock, which are embodied in the 

 report of the Veterinary Branch. An annual report upon the 

 Migratory Labourers, a report upon the average prices obtained 

 at the chief markets for live stock, and certain kinds of 

 agricultural produce, and two half-yearly reports upon the banking, 

 railway, and shipping statistics of Ireland are also issued. The 5th 

 section of the Act authorises the Department to make, or aid in making, 

 any mquiries, experiments, and research, and to collect any information 

 that may be deemed important for the promotion of agriculture and 

 rural industries, and this is carried out chiefly by the Statistics and In- 

 telligence Bra-nch, which is in touch with similar institutions in the 

 Colonies and abroad, and which disseminates the information acquired 

 by means of leaflets and other publications, including its Quarterly 

 Journal of which eight numbers — forming Vols. I. & II. — have already 

 appeared. The Vice-President of the Department, in his opening speech 

 at the inaugural meeting of the Council of Agriculture, laid particular 

 stress upon the importance of the Intelligence Branch. " Not less im- 



