§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTasked whether the Board of Agriculture had official information showing that no case of glanders or farcy in horses had occurred in Ireland since November, 1907; and whether, in view of the fact that there had been no material diminution during the last few years in the large number of horses attacked by the disease in Great Britain, the Board would confer with the officials of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland as to the best methods of eradicating the disease in this country?
§ Sir E. STRACHEYThe reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. No useful comparison can be made between Great Britain and Ireland. Our regulations are more stringent than the Irish. In Great Britain last year there were only 536 outbreaks as compared with 1,066, 854 and 789 in the years 1906–7–8. A comparison of the number of horses "attacked" prior and subsequent to 1908 does not afford any guide as to the prevalence of the disease, inasmuch as "reactors"under the provisions of the Glanders or Farcy Order of 1907 are included in the Returns for 1908 and subsequently, but not previously. The officers of the two Departments are in continuous communication with one another both on this and other matters in regard to which they have similar duties to perform.