§ MR. P. A. McHUGH (Leitrim, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether in the horse-breeding schemes of the Irish Agricultural 953 Department hackney and Welsh stallions are still used; and, if so, how many are there and where are they located; and "whether the employment of hackney stallions in the congested districts has been attended with such results as to justify their further use in these or other districts of the country.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) Hackney and Welsh stallions are not used in connection with the Department's general horse-breeding scheme. Of the stallions transferred from the Congested Districts Board in 1904, several are still in use, viz., three of the hackney breed in Donegal, three in Mayo, and one in Leitrim; while of the Welsh stallions, one is located in Mayo, and four in Gal-way. Opinions differ widely as to the suitability of the hackney breed for congested districts, but, while the Department do not encourage this breed, they have not seen their way to deprive farmers in congested districts of all the sires located there by the Congested Districts Board.