§ MR. JEFFREYS (Hants, Basingstoke)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he has noticed the alarming increase of sheep-scab in Great Britain; whether the number of fresh outbreaks in January last amounted to 714; whether he is satisfied with the efforts made by the local authorities to counteract the disease; and whether he will consider the necessity for the Government to take steps to stamp it out?
§ *THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. WALTER LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyI am happy to say that there is no cause for any serious anxiety on this subject. It is true that there were 714 outbreaks in January as compared with 453 in December, and 233 in November, but there has always been a sharp rise in the number reported in these months, followed by a corresponding decrease as summer approaches; and notwithstanding the increased attention recently given to the subject, the returns for the past three months have, as a whole, been lighter than usual at this season. I think that in some cases the measures adopted by the local authorities are capable of improvement, and I have recently issued a circular letter calling attention 876 to the subject, a copy of which I shall be glad to supply to my hon. Friend. But the character of the disease is such as will always render its extirpation mainly dependent upon the action taken by the local authorities and flockmasters themselves, and there is not much room for any executive work on the part of the central authority.
In reply to a further Question, Mr. Long stated that the number of outbreaks in 1895 was 3,092, in 1896, 5,336, and in 1897, 2,191. In the month of December, 1895, there were 771 outbreaks, and in December, 1896, 1,207.