230 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



Is Further State Aid Eequired ? 



Would it be advisable for the State to devote larger funds than are 

 granted at present to the improvement of live stock ? 



My opinion is that, as the money which has already been applied to 

 this purpose has proved so reproductive, and as the live stock breeding 

 industry is so important to the whole community, it is questionable if 

 funds expended in any other way could produce anything like the same 

 returns. 



Here I may quote from evidence given in January 1923 by Mr. T. P. 

 Gill, who for over twenty years was Permanent Secretary of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Dublin. He stated before the Commission on 

 Agriculture, appointed by the Irish Free State, that— 



' By the infusion of pure bred blood and better methods of keeping, 

 feeding and management, producing an animal which matures more 

 quickly, fattens more cheaply and yields more beef and milk, the intrinsic 

 value independent of price fluctuations of Irish cattle has been increased 

 since the department started in 1900 by about £5 per head. This is 

 based on the estimates of the British Salemasters who handle this import 

 as well as of the most experienced Irish cattle traders. On the number 

 of cattle exported last year, counting the exports only, this would mean 

 an increased annual income of approximately £5,000,000 for an expendi- 

 ture of £20,000, or a return of 250-fold.' 



If we calculate that the increased value was only £3 per head, it means 

 £3,000,000 per annum, or a return of 150-fold. 



Some will think, perhaps, that I have laid too much stress on the 

 importance of the pedigree sire in the improvement of stock, but the 

 improvement which has taken place in the stock of the Argentine Republic 

 gives us food for thought. In 1848 the first Shorthorn bull was imported 

 into that country. At that time only native breeds existed, animals 

 which from our standard were of very inferior quality and extremely 

 slow-growing. The Rural Society founded in 1875 was the chief agency 

 in bringing about improvement in the live stock of the Argentine chiefly 

 through the importation of pedigree sires and through the shows of live 

 stock held by the Society. 



In 1895 native cattle constituted 50 per cent, of the total in the province 

 of Buenos Aires. In 1914 this had declined to 3-5 per cent. The cross- 

 breds and half-breds increased during this period of twenty years from 

 49-2 per cent, to 93-9 per cent., and the pure-bred or pedigree cattle from 

 0-6 per cent, to 2-5 per cent. 



Similar progress in the case of sheep has been recorded. In 1895 

 native breeds constituted 16-5 per cent, of the total ; in 1914 they had 

 fallen to 2-3 per cent. The cross-breds increased during this period from 

 83 per cent, to 95-6 per cent., and the pure-breds from 0-5 per cent, to 

 2-1 per cent. 



In the other provinces an equally noticeable improvement has been 

 efiected. 



Between 1895 and 1922, 41,519 pedigree bulls were exported from the 

 British Isles to the Argentine. 



To-day the best quality Argentine chilled beef ranks next to the best 



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