360 



Council of Agriculture for Wales. [July, 



months, and, in the course of his remarks, referred to the anxious 

 times through which the agricultural industry had been passing 

 after the comparative prosperity of the war period. The situation 

 was rendered more difficult as a result of the outbreak of foot- 

 and-mouth disease, which was the severest visitation of the 

 disease that this country had experienced since 1883. On the 

 other hand, the reduction in the wages of agricultural labourers, 

 which was inevitable having regard to the fall in the prices of 

 agricultural produce, had afforded some compensation to the 

 farmer. He expressed gratification over the fact that the 

 necessary adjustment in wages had been made in a spirit of 

 conciliation and goodwill, which was essential in order to ensure 

 peace on the farm, without which it would not be possible to 

 secure prosperity. The Ministry had, on its part, taken prompt 

 measures to meet the Corn Claims, which, with the exception of 

 those in regard to which queries had been raised, were all paid 

 in the early part of January. 



Dealing with the report of the Committee on National Expendi- 

 ture, the Minister stated that he had been able to prevail upon 

 the Government, in spite of the recommendations made by the 

 Committee, to preserve the Live Stock Scheme, with the excep- 

 tion of the sections relating to Heavy and Light Horse Breeding. 

 It had been found possible also to retain, in addition to the Grant 

 of ^850,000 provided under the Corn Production Acts (Eepeal) 

 Act for the promotion of agricultural development in England 

 and Wales, the full provision already made for aiding agricultural 

 education and research. He explained in detail the position as 

 regards the proposed allocation of the fund of .-£850,000 to 

 different services and emphasised the fact that no money would 

 be allocated from the fund for the completion of schemes for the 

 establishment of Farm Institutes pending a decision as to the 

 amount required for research into animal diseases. 



Proceeding, the Minister called attention to the benefits 

 derived by the agricultural industry from the land drainage 

 schemes adopted for the alleviation of unemployment and to the 

 steps taken by the Ministry to secure a settlement of the difficulty 

 as regards milk prices. Amongst other things he referred to the 

 relief given to the farmer in the Budget that had been recently 

 introduced, which provided for assessments under Schedule B 

 for income tax purposes to be made in future on the basis of the 

 annual value. In conclusion, while admitting that the rating 

 question remained to be dealt with and that under the present 



