§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTasked the President of the Board of Agriculture (1) whether the departmental committee on swine fever have been conducting any experiments or research as to the period of latency and the communicability of this disease; whether any exact knowledge of the above matters has resulted therefrom; whether and when the committee propose to issue their final Report; (2) what is the total amount of public money expended upon compensation and administration in connection with outbreaks of swine fever during the last three years; how does this expenditure compare with that similarly incurred during the previous three years; and (3) how many outbreaks of swine fever occurred during the 12 months ending the 31st May last, and what was the number of animals slaughtered during this period as being infected or exposed to infection; and what are the corresponding figures for the previous 12 months?
§ Mr. RUNCIMAN(1) The scope of the inquiries which are being conducted is set out in paragraph 7 of the Interim Report of the Committee, but it is impossible to draw any conclusions until the inquiries have been completed. The Committee are not yet in a position to say when their Final Report will be issued. (2) £252,824 was expended during the three years ended 31st March, 1909. (3) During the fifty-two weeks up to the 1st instant 2,878 outbreaks occurred and 37,609 swine were slaughtered. The corresponding figures for the previous year were 2,061 outbreaks and 21,437 swine slaughtered.