1921] 



735 



own finances, and pays to the county committee an annual' 

 affiliation fee of 2d. per member with a minimum of 2s. 6d. 



Insurance Premiums and Compensation. — A large amount 

 of the business of local clubs is connected with insurance. The 

 rules provide for the appointment of two or more inspectors 

 whose duty it is to inspect and approve all pigs before they 

 are accepted for insurance. The inspectors have also to inspect 

 and report on pigs in cases of illness or death within 48 hours 

 after receiving notice. In the case of a sick pig the inspectors 

 may also decide whether the pig shall be killed or treated by 

 a veterinary surgeon. Two classes of pigs are accepted for 

 insurance under the rules: — Class A — Store pigs, the premium 

 payable on these being 2s. 6d. per head from 8 weeks old until 

 they are killed or sold, up to a value of £15. Class B — Breed- 

 ing sows and boars, the premium for which is 10s. per head 

 per annum up to a value of £20. The secretaries of affiliated 

 clubs must send at the end of each month to the secretary of 

 the Gloucestershire Pig and Potato Production Committee, a 

 list of the pigs insured during the month, together with half 

 the amount of the premiums, in return for which the county 

 committee becomes responsible for two-thirds of the amount of 

 the compensation payable in the case of a loss, the compensa- 

 tion payable to the owner of the pig being at the rate of four- 

 t fifths of the assessed value or 16s. in the £. When an insured 

 pig dies or has to be slaughtered, the inspectors report the 

 matter to the club committee, who examine the facts with a 

 view to assessing the amount of the compensation, which is 

 based on the value which the pig would have realised in the- 

 market before its death. In the event of the carcass or part 

 of it being sold for any purpose, the amount realised is deducted 

 from the sum payable in compensation. It will be observed 

 from this that the insurance scheme is mutual in two ways. 

 In the first place members of local clubs contribute one-third 

 of the compensation which the club has to find in the case 

 of a loss, and secondly, clubs help each other in providing 

 through the county committee two-thirds of the compensation 

 for which this body is responsible. Since the scheme was 

 established in 1918, and down to 31st March, 1921, over 11,000^ 

 pigs belonging almost entirely to cottagers have been insured, 

 and the share of the compensation paid out by the county 

 committee in respect of pigs that have died amounts to nearly 

 £500. This represents the loss that would have been suffered 

 by the owners of the pigs if no insurance scheme had heeu. 

 in existence. 



