142 
Contemporary  Agricultural  Laic. 
highway  authorities  in  respect  of  the  construction  of  new  roads 
or  the  improvement  of  existing  roads,  and  also  themselves  to 
construct  and  maintain  any  new  roads  which  appear  to  the  Board 
to  be  required  for  facilitating  road  traffic  (sec.  8)  ; they  may 
acquire  land  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a new  road,  and 
may,  in  addition,  acquire  land  on  either  side  of  the  proposed  road 
within  220  yards  from  the  middle  thereof  (sec.  11).  There  is  a 
saving  provision  as  regards  commons,  open  spaces,  and  allot- 
ments, which  may  not  be  acquired  under  the  Act  compulsorily 
except  by  provisional  order  confirmed  by  Parliament,  except 
where  the  order  provides  for  giving  in  exchange  for  such  land 
other  land  not  being  less  in  area  certified  by  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  and  Fisheries  to  be  equally  advantageous  to  the 
persons,  if  any,  entitled  to  commonable  or  other  rights,  and  to 
the  public  ; but  this  provision  does  not  apply  to  the  acquisition 
of  common  land  for  the  purpose  of  forestry,  if  the  order  pro- 
vides for  the  granting  to  the  public  of  reasonable  access  to  the 
land,  for  air,  exercise,  or  recreation,  or  to  the  acquisition  of  any 
common  land,  for  the  purpose  of  the  construction  of  a new 
road  or  the  improvement  of  an  existing  road  within  a rural 
district  (sec.  19). 
There  are  also  two  minor  enactments  of  the  session  of  1909 
which  affect  agriculture.  One  is  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
and  Fisheries  Act,  1909  (9  Ed.  7 c.  15),  which  gives  power  to 
appoint  a second  secretary  to  the  Board  who  “ shall  not,  by 
reason  of  his  office,  be  incapable  of  being  elected  to  or  voting 
in  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament.”  Sir  Edward  Strachey 
has  been  appointed  parliamentary  secretary  of  the  Board  under 
this  Act.  The  other  is  the  Diseases  of  Animals  Act,  1909 
(9  Ed.  7 c.  26).  which  requires  local  authorities,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  Diseases  of  Animals  Acts,  1894  to  1903,  to  pay  to 
veterinary  surgeons  or  veterinary  practitioners  a prescribed  fee 
not  exceeding  2s.  6rf.  in  respect  of  every  notification  of  disease 
made  to  the  local  authority  or  to  any  officer  of  the  local  authority 
in  pursuance  of  an  order  under  those  Acts  requiring  notification. 
In  connection  with  i-ecent  legislation,  the  case  of  ex  parte 
Ringer  (7  L.G.R.,  1041  ; 73  J.P.,  436)  is  of  considerable 
importance,  and  may  here  be  noticed  as  showing  the  arbi- 
trary effect  of  the  provision  for  the  compulsory  acquisition 
of  land  in  the  Small  Holdings  and  Allotments  Act,  1908, 
which  is  repeated  in  the  Housing,  Town  Planning,  &c..  Act, 
1909.  Mr.  E.  H.  Ringer  held  Whissonsett  Hall  Farm,  in 
Norfolk,  which  had  been  occupied  by  himself  and  his 
family  for  many  years.  It  comprised  363  acres  of  heavy 
land,  on  which  it  was  impossible  to  keep  sheep  during 
the  winter  months.  In  April,  1908,  he  bought  a farm, 
containing  181  acres  of  light  land,  suitable  for  sheep,  and 
