§ Sir W. PRESTONasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his Department keeps a record of the number of horses, including ponies, in the United Kingdom; if so, how many horses and ponies there were in the country on the last date on which he has a record; and is the number stationary or is it decreasing?
Mr. GUINNESSMy Department obtains an annual return of horses on agricultural holdings in England and Wales. Similar returns are obtained by the Agricultural Departments for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These returns show that the number of horses on agricultural holdings is declining.64W A census of all horses in Great Britain and the whole of Ireland was taken by the Board of Trade in 1917 and in Great Britain alone in 1920 and 1924. The total in 1924 amounted to 1,892,205, or 189,252 less than in 1920.