119
Witness.
Mr. J. E. Shaw, County Clerk,
County of Ayr
Mr. Hugh Begg, F.R.C.V.S., County Veterinary Inspector, Lanarkshire Mr. H. A. Pritchard, Town Clerk, Leicester (Chairman of the Law Committee of the Association) Mr. J. K. Allerton, Town Clerk,
Worthing
Mr. Brennan de Vine, F.R.C.V.S., Chief Veterinary Officer, Birming- ham
Mr. P. W. Margetts, Secretary of the Law Committee of the Association Dr. W. Allen Daley, Principal Medical Officer in charge of the General Public Health Division of the Public Health Department Mr. T. E. Birtwisle, Chairman Mr. H. T. Perry, Senior Vice-Chair-
man
Mr. T. Topping, Member of the
General Council
Mr. E. Whone, Member of the
General Council
Mr. W. B. Jepson, Secretary Dr. E. G. Anuis, Chairman of the Pure Milk Committee of the Institute, and Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich
Dr. G. W. N. Joseph, Medical Officer
of Health for Warrington Mr. H. E. Bywater, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Officer for West Ham Professor H. E. Armstrong, D.Sc.,
F.R.S.
Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.B., F.R.S.
112
Description of witness.
Representatives of the Association of County Councils in Scotland.
Representatives of the Association
of Municipal Corporations.
Representing
Sir
Frederick Menzies, K.B.E., County Medical Officer of Health, London County Council.
Representatives of the Sanitary Inspectors' Association of Eng- land and Wales.
Representatives of the Pure Milk Committee of The Royal Insti- tute of Public Health.
(b) List of institutions and persons from whom written, but not
oral, evidence was received.
Agricultural Economics Research Institute, University of Oxford. Animal Diseases Research Association, Moredon Institute, Gilmerton,
Midlothian.
Viscount Astor.
Professor J. Basil Buxton, F.R.C.V.S., D.V.H., Director, Institute of Animal
Pathology, Cambridge.
Dr. E. P. Calder, M.B., Ch.B., D.Ph.
Cumberland Agricultural Committee.
Mr. Arthur Gofton, F.R.C.V.S., Chief Veterinary Inspector, Edinburgh.
Mr. John Golding, D.S.O., F.I.C., National Institute for Research in Dairying,
University of Reading.
The Graham-Enock Manufacturing Company, Limited.
113
Mr. G. H. Johnstone. Dr. H. D. Kay, Director, National Institute for Research in Dairying,
Reading.
Dr. E. C. V. Mattick, M.Sc., Ph.D., National Institute for Research in
Dairying, University of Reading.
Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh.
Royal Sanitary Association of Scotland.
Dr. Evelyn Sprawson, M.C., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.D.S., Director of Dental
Studies and Lecturer on Dental Surgery, the London Hospital. Mr. A. M. Trotter, M.R.C.V.S., Chief Veterinary Inspector, Glasgow. West of Scotland Agricultural College.
APPENDIX 2,
The average life of dairy cows.
THERE are three sources from which estimates of the average annual wastage of dairy cattle have been made:-
(i) from the investigations carried out by milk recording societies into
the number of animals drafted out of recorded herds;
(ii) from the age distribution of a large sample of cows;
(iii) from the annual agricultural census carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Scottish Department of Agriculture.
(i) The investigations of milk recording societies.
There have been two large-scale investigations by milk recording societies which bear upon the annual wastage of dairy cattle, undertaken respectively by the School of Agriculture, Cambridge University, and by the National Institute of Research in Dairying at Reading. The results of these two investigations are surprisingly difficult to interpret. It appears that only about 80 per cent. of the actual number of disposals are reported by farmers. This deficiency is said to be largely accounted for by the fact that dry cattle which are awaiting disposal on the 1st October, the date at which the annual register is opened, are not entered in the register and their disposal is not subsequently noticed. In addition, some disposals are overlooked, as a result, e.g., of transfers between herds belonging to the same owner.
In view of the discrepancies resulting from these causes, those responsible for both these investigations have taken the number of new entrants as being the better measure of wastage. In one case (Cambridge), the size of the herd has been based upon the number registered at the beginning of the year (which excludes dry cows being fattened for sale); in the other (Reading), the closing number has been chosen. As the opening number presumably corresponds with the two classes cows and heifers in milk" and "cows in calf, but not in milk," adopted for the yearly agricultural census, it has been used in the sequel.
44
The principal source of error in this method of calculation is to be found in increases or decreases in the numbers included in the herds during the period under review. The cow population of England and Wales does not vary greatly; but it is possible for variations to take place in the herds in question which would sensibly affect the results.
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