§ SIR J. RANKIN (Hereford)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, having regard to the unsatisfactory results of the present method of dealing with the disease of sheep scab, he will consider the advisability of adopting a system of obligatory dipping of sheep at certain seasons of the year?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. W. H. LONG, Liverpool, West Derby)Local authorities are already empowered to require sheep affected with or suspected of sheep scab to be treated with some suitable dressing or dipping, or other remedy for the disease, and I do not think it would be practicable to go beyond this and to make it compulsory upon every owner of sheep, whether the sheep be affected with or suspected of disease or not, to apply such a dressing or dipping at certain stated intervals throughout the year, however useful or desirable such treatment may be, and in any case legislation would be necessary for the purpose.