20 OCTOBER 1928, Page 17

Country Life

STOCK EXPORTS.

In the course of a discussion on the quite remarkable " boom " in the export of British stock, a Scandinavian farmer, now resident in England, said to me in effect : " I regret the sale of every animal in the list." The causes of his regret, for he spoke as a British patriot, are worth some analysis. Now it is a commonplace that the Americas, Australasia, South and East Africa—a considerable part of the world's land surface—continually come to Britain to buy animals, especially bulls, rams, and boars, that shall maintain and improve the quality of their herds. With the help of our climate we in this island have become in- comparable " fanciers," in the better sense of that useful word. We make and continuously improve pure breeds, many of which are recognized as the best the world over. More than this, most breeders overseas can seldom continue the improvement or even maintain the level of quality without returning to the original source.

* *