§ 50. Mr. De la Bereasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will take steps to test the claims made by leading industrial chemists that a small quantity of the new drug aureomycin, when mixed with a ton of animal feed, produces a 50 per cent. speed up in the growth of farm stock, and, so far as is warranted, make supplies available to livestock rearers throughout the country.
Mr. T. WilliamsThe hon. Member no doubt has in mind the addition of vitamin B12, in residues of aureomycin and streptomycin, to animal diets deficient in animal protein. Such deficient diets lead to a retarded growth rate in non-ruminant animals, and the addition of the vitamin in this way appears to enable the growth rate to return to that normally obtained from feedingstuffs containing animal protein. This matter is already under investigation, more particularly at the National Institute for Research in Dairying. The results will be made known as soon as they prove of value to the agricultural community.