Quarantine Ground

Mr Douglas M'Lean moved an addition to the resolution adopted in the afternoon relative to the quarantine grounds—"That the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association be requested to enquire into the present quarantine regulations and the condition of the grounds at Quail Island, with a view to recommending any necessary alterations, and also suggesting a reasonable scale of charges."

The motion being carried, Mr Ritchie obtained permission to say that the grounds at Lyttelton had been lately very materially improved, and more subdivisions made and shelters for stock provided. The Department was now preparing to have the spaces between the double fences planted with macrocarpa and other trees, which in a short time would increase the shelter and make the various paddocks very secure. Some important improvements had also been effected at Soanes' Island, Wellington, which he described. He would also mention that it had been resolved to suggest considerable alterations in the regulations of the Diseased Cattle Act, and he proposed asking the Minister when these were embodied in a measure to be brought before the House, to have them sent to the Agricultural and Pastoral Associations for their perusal. As regarded the charges, Mr Ritchie explained that the Department was revising the scale of charges, and they would be considerably reduced. They had no wish to make a profit out of the charges, which would be kept to the lowest possible limit.

Mr Ritchie was thanked for his statement.