The disastrous outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease unfortunately shows little signs
of abating. Forty-eight new outbreaks were confirmed on Monday. On that day a conference was held at Crewe between representatives of the Ministry. of Agriculture, the National Farmers' Union, and the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, at which it was decided to continue -the policy of slaughtering for the present. The Cheshire farmers held another meeting in the same building at the same time, at which they pro- tested bitterly against wholesale slaughtering. The question is a highly technical one, and we do not wish to express a definite opinion on it. The figures which we quoted last week show that it would be very rash hastily to abandon slaughtering ; on the other hand, it is obvious - that if the disease shows no signs of being brought under control, a point must be ultimately reached at which slaughtering becomes impracticable. Just when that point has been reached is the difficult thing to decide, and we do not see that anyone but the Ministry of Agriculture, which has all the figures before it, can do so.
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