454
National Nutrition Conference
time in advising upon the achievement and maintenance of health and upon
the prevention of disease, cannot regard himself as other than archaic. It is
necessary to state categorically that if this country is to make the most of its
peculiar agricultural advantages so far as livestock is concerned, its farmers
must take a far more active interest in health than they have hitherto.
We are entitled to regard home-produced animal products as a superior
asset in national health, but the facts are that owing to individual economic
insecurity, faulty planning of farm policy whereby animals cannot receive
adequate feeding, droughts and shortage of grazing, and various other factors,
a proportion of the home-fed beef cattle, fat sheep and lambs, and sometimes
even bacon pigs, reaches the market in a wasteful unfinished condition, and
it is equally certain that much of the home-produced beef, mutton and
bacon could be produced possessing far higher nutritive values than is
the case at present. What then are the steps necessary to improve the
supply of good quality and safe food of animal origin to the public ?
Farm Buildings.—Firstly, animal habitations should be built to ensure
maximum efficiency, economic working, adequate shelter and the provision of
the general essentials of hygiene. Quite 60 per cent of British farm steadings
are inadequate, badly constructed, incapable of being cleansed and disinfect-
ed, uneconomic in working, and unhygienic in every respect but especially in
so far as light, fresh air and drainage are concerned. General health of
animals suffers, disease is quick to spread and hard to eradicate, accidents
and injuries to workers occur, time and labour is wasted because of bad
arrangements, and the rearing of young stock is made more difficult. A greater
use of food preparing machinery on farms would ensure fresher meals, etc.
and would enable surplus home-grown cereals and legumes to be utilized
more cheaply and economically.
A greater use of electric light and power, proper and adequate water
supplies, better farm roads, and improvements in shelter from severe weather
by open sheds or shelter-belts (which also act as ' double fences '), are badly
needed on many farms and are complementary improvements which would
also do much to improve the efficiency of farms and the health and quality
of livestock bred and fed on them.
Breeding.—The quality of most British pedigree stock is excellent, the
quality of the average commerical stock on the general mixed farm is poor.
A marked improvement has followed the Improvement of Livestock (Licensing
of Bulls) Act in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but similar improvement
has not yet widely occurred in England. Some system of inspection of females
should be explored and measures should be taken to prevent breeding from
unsuitable and uneconomic types of all farm stock. Cross-breeding or more
correctly ' mixed breeding ' farther than the half-bred or in some few cases
the quarter-bred should be actively discouraged.
There is a very fundamental general mistake being made in the breeding
of much of the modern farm livestock. With perhaps the exception of
mountain breeds of sheep, too much attention is paid to selection for high