§ 18. Mr. Farrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish his conclusions on the current series of narcotic bait layings in England and Wales.
§ Mr. John MackieThe operations involving the use of stupefying baits for the control of wood pigeons will not be completed until after the end of August. When the operations have been completed, we shall need some months to assess the results.
§ Mr. FarrAs the last series of tests worked out at a cost to the taxpayer of £1 per pigeon killed, does not the hon. Gentleman think that it might be better to return to traditional methods, such as shooting, for the destruction of these birds, and bring to an end this indiscriminate spreading of poison round the countryside?
§ Mr. MackieThe experiment—and it was an experiment—was closely controlled by our officers. When all the costs were totalled and divided by the number of pigeons killed, that would be the cost but, as I say, it was an experiment and was not done on a commercial basis. The new experiment is being done on a much wider scale, and the cost per bird should be much less. We, and the N.F.U. have been in touch with the shooting organisations with a view to promoting the use of the more traditional methods to see whether they will be more successful.