The severe outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which is at present
afflicting British agriculture, shows little signs of diminution. Unfortunately, this has given rise to a certain amount of opposition to the Ministry of Agriculture's policy of wholesale slaughtering in order to stamp out the disease. British official policy and the policy of European countries is at variance over this disease. In England outbreaks of the disease are periodic, but they have up till now always been stamped out by drastic slaughtering ; on the Continent, on the other hand, the disease is always present among livestock, but is treated by isolation and disinfection. The slaughtering which is at present going on, though severe, must not be exaggerated, for it has only reached as yet .4 per cent. of the total livestock of the country. How dangerous it would be to abandon the Ministry's policy is shown by the figures given in the Times. During the last. 31 years foot-and-mouth disease has cost Great Britain one million pounds ; while loss from the same cause in France was five million pounds in one year. It seems essential to give the Ministry another chance to stamp out the disease before abandoning their policy, drastic though it may seem. On the other hand, there is an allegation that the Ministry is unwilling even to consider curative methods. Surely this, if true, is regrettable, for if some effective method of cure were discovered, then it might be possible to abandon the policy of slaughtering.
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