MAKE FRUITFUL THE LIVESTOCK*
(Reprinted from The Veterinary Record, Vol. 53, No. 17, April 26, 1941)
T HE Survey Committee's report and the ensuing discussion have dealt almost
exclusively with the most pressing problems that call for solution by our
profession at the moment. Much impressed by a recent pamphlet 1 published
by an agricultural scientist of outstanding eminence, Sir George Stapledon,
entitled ' Make Fruitful the Land,' the present writer ventures the opinion
that a much larger view is now demanded than has prevailed generally in the
mind of the veterinary profession. To quote Sir George Stapledon : ' The
truth is that unless, here and now, we do in all earnestness set about the re-
habilitation of rural Britain—we cannot hope to do anything of startling
magnitude in the way of war-time food production. ' To conceive and operate
a good short-term policy to meet the dire needs of the present he maintains
that we must be constantly planning for and dreaming of the future. Granted
a long-term agricultural policy coupled with good farming he believes that
the gap in our current needs in animal feeding-stuffs, that has hitherto had to
be filled by importation, could be largely closed ; and we could still produce
greatly increased quantities of potatoes and wheat. He rightly contends
that after the present war, with a half-starved Europe, disorganized shipping
and industrialized dominions, this country may be largely thrown on its own
resources for food production.
In the submission of the present writer, the time is now opportune for
our profession to exert all its endeavours in no small measure to ' Make Fruit-
ful the Livestock ' of this country. To this end, it is evident that in the
first place we must strive to equip ourselves with all the necessary knowledge
and gain the experience required for the work. Here and now, therefore,
we ought to press for far-reaching changes in the teaching and organiza-
tion of our profession. The writer realizes that, but for the misfortune of the
present war, advocacy of such changes, for which the profession owes an
incalculable debt of gratitude to your journal, would not have been suspended.
To take a much larger view of our prospects than is implied in the success-
ful launching of the Survey Scheme—indeed, to envisage the whole future
success of veterinary science—a two-fold problem presents itself : firstly,
to increase the quota of information which the research worker can place
at the disposal of the veterinary practitioner ; and, secondly, to increase the
competence of the veterinary practitioner to implement this information.
At the present time there is a tendency for more and more research to be
executed under direct Government control at specialized institutions. The
dangers of excessive Government control of research have been stressed in a
recent address by a distinguished authority in the person of Dr A. V. Hill. 2
* This letter to the Editor of The Veterinary Record (Vol. 53. No. 17, 26 April 1941)
is reproduced here because, though it describes conditions prevailing in England, it
contains much that is applicable to India—Ed.
1 Make Fruitful the Land ! A policy for Agriculture. Sir R. George Stapesdon,
pages 63, Kegan Paul, 1941.
2 Vet. Rec. (1941), 53, 141.
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