We are now happily at the end of the great war all over Europe and each country will be planning its economy for the years to come. We will be engaged in considering our policy for future years and in doing so I hope that all of us, on every side of the House, will approach it, not in the spirit of making cheap points against one another, but in the spirit of trying to arrive at some conclusion for the general betterment of the country. It is agreed without any great argument that agriculture is our chief industry and that it behoves us on every side of the House to consider what practical steps we can best take to further our economic policy as soon as we have decided on it. This country differs a good deal from other countries, in that there is no other small country which has such a variety of types of agriculture. For instance, in the South of Ireland we confine ourselves to dairying; in the central and south-eastern counties to a large extent it is tillage; in some of the districts in Leinster it is devoted practically or entirely to fattening or feeding of stock; and if we go to the West of Ireland we find that Galway is the centre of the sheep-raising industry. There is in no one district an attempt to combine the various types of agriculture.
This practice has grown up during a century and, perhaps, it is all to the good. Experience probably taught the farmers in various districts what particular type of agriculture was best suited to them. The farmers in Limerick, North Cork, Tipperary and part of Kilkenny decided from experience that dairying and cattle breeding better suited their land than any other form of agriculture. The farmers in Wexford and the Midlands found they could not get along without a very large area of tillage, while the farmers in the very poor lands around Galway found the land was not suited for tillage or dairying and developed sheep raising to a great extent, so that Galway eventually became one of the best sheep-raising counties in these islands. I think over one-third of the sheep of Ireland were at one time raised in the County Galway. We have a greater diversity in the matter of agricultural production in this country than in any other country. When we are considering what our policy will be, we shall have to arrange it so that it will not react to the disadvantage of the various districts.
Deputy Dillon, towards the end of his speech, referred to general tillage and to corn production. It is necessary that we should know what our future policy will be in regard to those items, whether we will continue, as a definite policy, the compulsory growing of wheat, or whether we will allow agriculturists to get back to the old groove and grow what they consider suits them best. We have also to consider what our exports will be, whether they will be composed of the products of an intensified tillage campaign, or a composition of grain and other agricultural products. We shall have to consider whether we can do these things on a greater scale or whether we will develop the export of live stock and live-stock products. That is what we should concentrate on instead of trying to make cheap political points at one another's expense. Anything I say in this debate will be helpful rather than critical.
I believe, and great numbers of people in the country also believe, that our general agricultural prosperity is centred in the production of live stock, and by that I mean cattle, primarily, and their products. I represent a dairying district and possibly I may be biased in advocating an extension of the dairying industry and the products of the dairy farms. It is better to consider this matter dispassionately and without bias. I think I am justified in saying that the prosperity of this country depends on the success of the dairying industry. Our most important exports in the past came from the cattle breeding districts, the dairying districts, and consisted of live stock, butter, milk in its various forms, bacon, poultry and other items of agricultural production. These things were largely the responsibility of the dairy farmers. Our largest export hitherto has been cattle and, unless there is a revolutionary change in our agricultural policy, the export of that type of live stock will remain our largest export.
If we are to continue as an exporting country and make it possible to import the things we cannot economically produce here, it is desirable that we should make every effort so that the numbers of our live stock are increased to the greatest possible extent and that the quality will be of the high standard of past years, when it was regarded as probably the best in the world. Speaking as the oldest Deputy here, with a long experience of agriculture, I have come to the conclusion —and this is borne out in conversations with various persons in the cattle industry, whether buyers, producers or middlemen—that the position of our live-stock industry is not as we would like it to be. We have heard various arguments in the course of conversations with different people concerning the position of the cattle industry. Take dairying as one example. We are asked why we are short of butter and why we do not produce the quantity of butter we used to produce; why we do not produce enough butter for our own people apart altogether from surplus quantities for export.
The West of Ireland stockbreeders deplore the present quality of our cattle. They say that it has declined. These matters are discussed among the farmers. As the oldest Deputy in this House, I am definitely of the opinion that our live stock has depreciated in quality. I believe that that depreciation in quality is to a large extent responsible for the shortage of milk and butter. I believe it is also responsible for the shortage of first-class stock in the market either for export or home consumption. There are one or two reasons for this. If I am right in my contention, it behoves us all to lend a hand in remedying the situation. I have experience of agriculture for at least 55 years. I remember the period when there were no creameries in this country, when the farmers in the South of Ireland made their butter at home, packed it into firkins and exported it or sold it for home consumption. I remember at that period the production per cow in Limerick and Tipperary was about three firkins of butter, about 210 lbs. a cow. The production of butter in proportion to the milk was about 1 lb. to the three gallons. We have not advanced from that position; rather have we gone back.
The principle of cow testing was advanced as a solution. I have said time and again in this House that cow-testing is a good practice and if properly worked would help greatly in solving the problem of improving the yield of our cattle. Up to the present, unfortunately, it has not given the results one would have hoped for. From the figures given in the Interim Report of the Committee on Post-Emergency Agricultural Policy, we find that, over a period of 20 years, the average production of milk per cow has remained almost steady. There has been practically no increase in 20 years, notwithstanding all the efforts of the cow-testing societies. Something is wrong, and I suggest that my contention in this respect is correct—that, on the basis of the stock we have, an improvement is not possible.
I am arguing that our live stock have deteriorated in quality in the last 30 or 40 years and I blame primarily the policy pursued over that period of introducing into the dairy counties, and into the country generally, non-milking stock of the Aberdeen Angus, Hereford and, to a lesser extent, other breeds. The Irish Dairy Shorthorn Breeders' Society has done a good deal to advance the breeding of the Shorthorn beast, but though one would think from its name that this body would confine itself to the production and improvement of the Shorthorn type of cattle, we find that it lends itself to the introduction of these other breeds. I have seen some of these breeds sold at the annual sales of this society. One goes to the premier shows in this country—the R.D.S. shows—and it is lamentable to see sold almost as many bulls of the Aberdeen Angus and Hereford breeds as Shorthorns.
This is a very small country—its entire area would not constitute a district in some of the agricultural countries of the world—and it is not possible to have a number of varieties such as Shorthorns, Hereford and Aberdeen Angus without these various breeds mixing. You cannot breed Aberdeen Angus in Kilkenny, Shorthorns in Limerick and Herefords in Waterford without finding in a few years that the cattle from these three counties are mixing, and I believe that is what has happened. The Shorthorn type of animal which we old people knew has disappeared and we now have a type which is not altogether a pure Shorthorn—a type produced by the intermingling of these various breeds in the last 30 years.
One finds evidence of that at fairs and markets. I remember going to the auctions of dairy stock in Limerick and Tipperary and being almost horrified by the scarcity of really high-class Shorthorn cattle. One sees 100 head of dairy heifers for sale, not 20 per cent. of which are of a really suitable type. You see there a number of what I call scrub heifers in calf—some all colours of the rainbow, some with white faces and some showing black noses and black inside the ears, while others show the characteristics of other breeds. What we have is a mixture of all breeds in one and one does not know exactly what type of cattle one is breeding from.
I defy anybody to walk into the dairy cattle market in the City of Dublin and define the breeds of 90 per cent of the heifers and dairy cows exposed there for sale. It cannot be done, because they are a combination of all breeds and we have now arrived at a position at which, in the last 20 years, we have come down from the cattle which gave 600 gallons—if I am right in that figure, as I believe I am—to cattle which give less than 400 gallons. The Irish Dairy Shorthorn Breeders' Society and the cow-testing societies have done their best to remedy that state of affairs in the last 20 years and evidently they have failed because production has remained steady. There has been no great increase from 1922 to 1943. I have the statistics here before me and they show that production varied between 500 gallons, 550 gallons, 570 gallons in one year and 528 gallons in the last year. These figures are not in respect of the production of average herds but of cow-testing societies' herds, based on the working of these societies over a number of years. It has failed to give the increased production we all hoped for. One reason probably is that the farmers have not kept the best type of heifers, but I think the main reason is that the heifers were not there for them to keep, that we destroyed the breed of dairy heifers by inbreeding outside stock like Aberdeen Angus and Hereford.
Another evidence in favour of my argument is that not alone has our average milk supply gone down in the last 40 years, but the type of Shorthorn one sees in the market has deteriorated. Whether that was advisable or not is another matter, but if we are to continue dairying as the primary industry, it behoves us to select a particular breed which we believe will be the best. It has generally been assumed, and the contrary has not been proved, that the Shorthorn offered the best solution of the problem of combining a fairly good milking breed with the production of excellent live stock. That is why I am more or less confining myself to the question of the production of high-class Shorthorns rather than the cross-breeds we have been producing for the last 20 or 30 years.
Anybody who is familiar, as I am, with the markets, must see that the number of really high-class Shorthorn cattle offered for sale at fairs and markets or at the big public sales in Dublin has deteriorated to a very great extent. In my middle age—I need not go back to my youth—the farmer went to a fair in October or November and probably bought 50 young cattle—yearling cattle or cattle a year older—in one day. Probably he could get the requirements of a big farm in one day. Take the average high-class Shorthorn yearling that, in the month of May, any good judge of cattle would stand over, and that a lot of farmers would like to see on their farms. This is the middle of May. I believe that, if a man to-day wanted to buy 100 really first-class quality yearlings of the Shorthorn type, he would probably have to attend 20 or 30 different markets before he would succeed in picking them up. I think I am justified in saying that. I remember that, 45 years ago, the Dwyers of Roscrea, who at the time were the largest buyers of Shorthorn stock in the country, or the O'Connors of Charleville, could buy between them at one fair over 1,000 yearling Shorthorn cattle. I say further that every one of those yearlings would, in the opinion of any expert, be regarded as first-class quality stock. In fact, for years these two exporters made a name for themselves in the high quality of the yearling Shorthorn stock that they were able to send to the Scottish market. It was a type of stock that could not be improved upon. We are not producing cattle of that quality to-day.
I am of opinion that the policy pursued of introducing black cattle and the Herefords, and a cross between all breeds was not the best solution. We have now to consider our policy for the future—whether I am right in my view or whether the general practice of mingling the breeds was the right one, or, further, whether there should be a compromise between the two points of view. So far as the dairying districts are concerned, we should decide as to whether our policy should be to return to the breeding and selection of purely Shorthorn stock, and then confine the breeding of Aberdeen Angus to another part of the country, and the breeding of Herefords to some other part. We have to consider whether such a policy as that would be suitable in a small country. We have to consider the policy pursued by generations of our farmers of confining ourselves to, and developing, the breeding of Shorthorn cattle, or, alternatively, of going in for a purely milking strain and breeding Freisian cattle. I do not think anyone would suggest such a solution as that, in view of the fact that we have to depend to such a large extent on the export of our live stock. It remains for us to decide whether, in the dairying districts, we are going to produce Shorthorn cattle or breed a mixture of Shorthorn, Aberdeen Angus and Herefords. I direct the Minister's attention to these points. I believe that our best policy would be to stick to the Shorthorns and to develop its milk-producing capacity on the lines indicated by the cow-testing societies and the Irish Dairy Shorthorn Breeders' Society. If that policy is not pursued, then the great work done by these societies will be rendered practically useless.
On the question of tillage in the future, Deputy Dillon spoke on that and, as most Deputies know, I have been rather in agreement with his views on the policy of wheat production in peace-time. I may have been wrong in that. We all make mistakes. Still I believe that I was right. In approaching the question now we ought not to be out to score cheap points off one another. We ought to put our heads together and try to arrive at some agreement as to what is the best policy for the future. I may be wrong in thinking that it will not be easy to get farmers to continue in wheat production five or ten years hence. At any rate, it is important that the farmers should know what our future policy is going to be, whether there is to be a continuance of the policy of compulsory wheat growing, or whether compulsion is to be withdrawn as soon as it is conveniently possible. I think myself that farmers should be allowed to get back to whatever tillage policy suits them best. I believe that the midland counties, Wexford and other counties where, at all times, it had been customary to do a good deal of tillage, ought, in the future, to be able to carry on a greater percentage of tillage. If we are to develop our export trade in live stock, then the tillage counties will find a profitable output for their production. The most profitable output for the produce of our tillage land in peace-time will, I think, be found in the feeding of first-class cattle. That is the policy that I believe ought to be pursued. It is not likely that we shall ever be able to export cereals. I think that our most profitable export will be found in cattle, pigs or other animals. I think that we can continue and increase our tillage if we get back to the position that we have a successful industry in the export of our live stock. The most profitable thing, in my opinion, for farmers is to feed their grain and root crops to live stock on the land and export them in that manner.
The one great problem with farmers, no matter what branch of agricultural activity they are engaged in, relates to distribution and transport. The farmer is flabbergasted at the difference he finds between the cost at which he is forced to sell his produce and what the consumer has to pay. The fact that there is such a difference may be due to a lack of co-operation amongst farmers themselves. In a number of instances it may not be possible to get all the co-operation that is desired. As regards this difference, there is one sole exception, and that is in regard to dairy produce. I believe there is less disparity between the price which the farmer gets for his butter and the price which the consumer eventually pays for it than in the case of any other agricultural commodity. I think there is less profit for the middleman in that one item than in any other item than I can think of. That is due to intensive organisation and co-operation in dairying. We have an organisation controlling the manufacture and the sale of butter in this country and we find that the producer gets a fair crack of the whip; he gets a fair proportion of the price of the article. That does not apply to most other articles of agricultural production. That is due to the fact that there is not a proper method of distribution. That will come about, I suppose, only by co-operation. I hope co-operation will be achieved.
Another factor affecting prices is transport. I venture to say that in some respects the transport problem in this country differs greatly from the transport problem in any other country. Delays in transit of many articles of agricultural production are deplorable. Reference has been made to it frequently in this House. Questions have been asked. I hope, now that transport has been reorganised and that the Government have assumed a certain responsibility for it, better arrangements will be made for the transport and distribution of agricultural commodities, that an effort will be made to expedite the transport, not only of live stock, but of all agricultural produce, from remote districts to the central market, Dublin, and that transport costs will be reduced as much as possible. That would help production in the various counties.
I should like now to refer to the matter of veterinary treatment and animal diseases. This country has suffered more severely, particularly in respect of dairy herds, from the prevalence of certain diseases than most other countries. Many small farmers have sustained tremendous losses, apart altogether from such diseases as contagious abortion, mastitis, and mammitis. I have at certain times appealed for the expenditure of more money on veterinary research. I am glad that the Minister announced on this Estimate the expenditure of an additional sum in veterinary research, but even that is not sufficient. Ten times the sum already spent could be usefully spent on veterinary research. We, as an agricultural country, depending almost solely on agriculture for our exports, should set a headline to the world in veterinary research. We have the brains. We have in our colleges students as clever as any students in any country in the world. They should be given a chance to develop in their own country. In the last 20 years many brilliant students of the colleges here have been forced to leave this country to seek employment elsewhere because there was no opportunity for them here. We could produce the greatest veterinary scientists if there were an inducement to remain here. We should pay them well. I do not mind what initial salary a good scientist is paid. If we have not got them, let us import them. Let us get the best brains the world can produce, to start veterinary research here. Whatever the cost, it will be cheap in the end. Let us keep the best brains that our universities can produce until we set up eventually a body of veterinary scientists equal to any in the world. Any expense under that heading would be justified and the country would benefit enormously by it.
As I have said, my interest is mainly confined to the dairying and live-stock branches of the agricultural policy. I have directed the attention of the Minister to what I believe are the reasons for the decline in milk production and in the type of cattle generally in the country. It is necessary that that matter should be considered and I dare say the Minister has considered it. It is only by pointing out, in this House, with good will, what we believe are the defects in our agriculture and suggesting possible means of remedying them that we can get anywhere. I have tried to be as helpful as I can in the debate.
