[Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911.

  • Great Britain. [Royal] Commission on the Irish Milk Supply.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: [Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    834/1108 (page 24)
    Recommendation. Drennan, 32880, 32943. Staunton, 22390, 22399. acres; 2 acres are allowed for each cow, so that it is expected the needs of nine families will be provided for. The rent charged is about 30s. a year per cow; it covers the cost of the annuity payable by the trustees to the Estates Commissioners and the poor rates. If advisable, a small charge will also be made for fencing, fertilisers and insurance of the cows. The men selected are in every case occupants of a labourer's cottage, having an acre of land on which a certain proportion of the food of the cow can be grown. As the tenancy of each labourer is a yearly one, the trustees retain ample control over the plot, and they can ensure among other things that it shall be used solely for the purposes for which it was intended—namely, the- supplying of milk for the district. Thus the following conditions can be guaran- teed .-—the punctual payment of the rent, the keeping of milch cows, the use of the milk for domestic purposes in the district, and such other conditions as the trustees may think desirable, as, for example, the erection of proper byres. In our opinion the reservation of such plots whenever possible is most desirable. It can be made the means of ensuring in a manner not always otherwise practicable- a supply of milk for the household use of the locality. For instance, suppose that by careful selection in breeding the milk yield of cows is increased, or that by the stimulus of financial reward an increased production of winter milk is secured; there is no guarantee that that additional supply will go to the householder rather than to the creamery. But where the labourer is allowed to graze his cow on a commonage such as we are now speaking of, it can be made a condition of his tenancy by the trustees that the milk of his cow shall be first for the use of his family, and after- wards, if there is a surplus, for the use of his neighbours. We are satisfied fronii the evidence of the witness representing the Estates Commissioners that the polic;^ of reserving a cow-plot whenever practicable will at all times receive their sympathetic consideration; and we feel sure that it will receive equal consideration: from the Congested Districts Board. Recommendation. Unfortunately, at present, the cow-plot as a means of relieving the scarcity of milk can only be secured when an estate which is sold to the Estates Commissioners or to the Congested Districts Board for resale contains untenanted land—and this! class constitutes only one-eighth of the sales. The other seven-eighths are] sales made direct by landlords to tenants, through the intermediary of the Estates] Commissioners, and the Commissioners have no power to acquire any portion ofl any tenant's holding to provide a cow-plot. We strongly recommend that everyl possible encouragement should be given to the extension of this cow-plot system underj the present regulations, and that no opportunity for providing one should be over- looked ; and further, in view of the forthcoming land legislation, we recommend thatl increased powers should be given to the Estates Commissioners for the provision ofl cow-plots where they are able to negotiate for the same during the process ofl transferring an estate directly from landlord to tenant. There is, of course, nothing to prevent any public-spirited landowner doing foi] his locality what has been done by Father Barry by means of the Land Acts, and wd hope the prominence we have given to the subject will induce some of our more] leisured and affluent citizens to take up the matter. Labourers and Co-operative Grazing. (47) On the other hand, it might seem at first sight as if a group of labourera might themselves combine to take a field for the common grazing of cows enough tcl supply their requirements. There are, however, almost insuperable difficulties. Aparll from the question (by no means an easy one) of getting a number of such labourers! to agree upon the details of a scheme, and of securing a committee from among theiil number that are capable of working it, and of undertaking the necessary financial and other responsibilities, there is a still more formidable obstacle. The full competition rent of the field would have to be paid by any such group of men, ancj since this may run to as much as three times the bare commercial value of the grazingl the contribution of each labourer would have to be unduly large; while the merJ fact that the tenure of the land would obviously be uncertain would alone deter an^ group of labourers from risking their money in the purchase of cows.