M.— AGRICULTURE. 229 



the scheme, he receives as a premium each year an amount equal to the 

 instalment he pays, so that in the end the bull costs him nothing. To 

 take an example, if a bull costs say £15, it is sold for £15 to the applicant, 

 who pays £5 when he gets possession of the animal in February or March. 

 The following October he pays the second instalment of £5 and the third 

 is paid in October the next year. 



The owner receives a premium of £5 in October of the year in which 

 he purchases the bull, and a second and third premium, each of the value 

 of £5, in October of the two following years. 



Loans are also given for the purchase of premium bulls. 



Assistance to Breeders of Pedigree Stock. 



One of the most noteworthy features of the Bull Licensing Act is its 

 indirect effect in increasing the demand for pure-bred sires. The supply 

 must be forthcoming if progress is to continue and confidence is to be 

 promoted. In countries such as England and Scotland, where large 

 pedigree herds are maintained and pedigree stock exported, an increased 

 demand for pure -bred sires can be quickly met. Pedigree breeders in 

 Northern Ireland are as a general rule small farmers with very limited 

 herds, and, however willing, they are financially incapable of competing 

 for the high-priced pedigree sires. 



In order to overcome this difficulty a scheme has been put into opera- 

 tion whereby if three or four breeders of pedigree stock who have between 

 them sufficient cows to mate with one bull will co-operate in the purchase 

 of a high-class pedigree bull, the Ministry will pay two-thirds of the cost 

 up to £500, and will give a loan for two-thirds of the balance to be paid 

 ofi in three or more instalments. By this means encouragement is given 

 to small breeders of pedigree stock who otherwise could not afford to 

 purchase high-class sires. 



Fears not Eealised. 



Breeders of pedigree stock were apprehensive that if a licensing scheme 

 were introduced stock sires not up to the standard in appearance would 

 be rejected and no attention would be paid to the animal's pedigree. 

 Since the Act came into operation no pedigree stock bull has been rejected 

 for a licence. A breeder may have a pedigree stock bull of plain shape, 

 and perhaps not up to licensing standard, but as this sire may represent 

 the best obtainable where the choice was narrowed by such considera- 

 tions as a particular pedigree or a special line of blood related to the 

 breeder's own herd, the bull is licensed. If, however, the young bulls 

 produced by this sire are not up to licensing standard, they will be rejected, 

 and the owner will at once get rid of the stock bull, as no breeder of 

 pedigree stock will keep a stock bull which is leaving unremunerative 

 progeny. 



The fears expressed at one time that the Act would encroach unduly 

 on the farmers' liberty of action have likewise proved groundless. In 

 actual practice the measure interferes only with the farmer who, by keeping 

 an inferior sire, would counteract the efforts of the State and of local 

 authorities to improve the live stock of the country. 



