§ MR. J. McKILLOP (Stirlingshire)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that a numerously signed petition has been addressed by the Kippen Farmers' Club to the proprietors of the auction mart at Stirling, asking them to make arrangements for the sale of cattle there by live weight, and that no satisfactory reply to this request has been received; whether trade has in consequence been diverted elsewhere; and whether he will take steps to secure that the wishes of the club should be carried out at the mart in question?
§ *THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD or AGRICULTURE (Mr. WALTER LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyI am aware that a petition asking that arrangements may be made for the sale of cattle by live weight at the auction at Stirling has recently been addressed by the Kippen Farmers' Club to the proprietors of the mart, but I am informed by those gentlemen that they have received representations in the contrary direction from a large number of their principal consigners, and that so far from their trade being diverted elsewhere, their business in fat cattle has been steadily increasing. It is, of course, incumbent upon the auctioneers to provide and maintain sufficient and suitable accommodation for weighing cattle, but I have no power to compel them to conduct their sales in any particular manner, and in the circumstances I am afraid I cannot be of any assistance to my hon. Friend.