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No. 16. New Zealand, No. 89. My Lord,— Downing Street, 23rd March, 1912. I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a letter from the Board of Agriculture on the subject of the provision of a quarantine and testing station at which animals intended for exportation from Great Britain might be tested before shipment for tuberculosis and other diseases by the veterinary officers of the Board. 2. I shall be glad to learn the views of your Ministers on the question raised in the third paragraph of the letter from the Board. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, K.C.M.G., D.5.0., &c.

Enclosure. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Sib,— 4 Whitehall Place, London S.W., 16th March, 1912. I am directed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to state, for the information of the Secretary of State, that the Board contemplate the provision of a quarantine and testing station at which animals intended for exportation from Great Britain might be tested for tuberculosis and other diseases by the veterinary officers of the Board before shipment. The Board propose that the station shall be conducted on lines which would secure that animals intended for export would be completely isolated in the station from all other animals for a minimum period of, say, thirty days, during which period "they would be tended by stockmen in the employ of the Board, and be kept under the immediate supervision of officers of the Board. After the expiration of the isolation period the animals would be tested with tuberculin at the station by a veterinary officer of the Board, and if the test showed that the animal was free from tuberculosis a certificate would be issued by the Board to that effect. At the outset, at any rate, the Board would propose to use the quarantine-station only for cattle, and with a view particularly to the carrying-out of the tuberculin test prior to export. They could, however, make arrangements whereby the officers of the Board would also carry out the immunization of animals intended for export against red-water, abortion, and other diseases. The Board are very anxious to promote by every means in their power the exportation of livestock from Great Britain to the colonies, and with this object in view they are desirous of ascertaining to what extent the establishment of such a station as that above described would be of practical benefit to those concerned in the trade. The Board would therefore be obliged if Mr. Harcourt would be so good as to cause the above proposals to be communicated to the Dominion Governments of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and to the Governments of Newfoundland and other colonial possessions importing cattle from this country, such as West Africa and British East Africa, and to ascertain whether those Governments would regard arrangements of the character above outlined as satisfactory from their point of view, and whether they would be prepared to grant special facilities for the importation, free from any restrictions, quarantine, or testing on arrival, of cattle brought from Great Britain accompanied by certificates issued under the conditions above described prior to shipment. The Board understand that under the existing regulations of the Governments of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, cattle imported from Great Britain are required in every case to undergo quarantine on their arrival, and in many cases to be also tested with tuberculin before their release; and the risk of loss to the importer due to failure of any such cattle to pass the quarantine or testing required by those regulations with satisfactory results would probably be obviated by an arrangement of the nature proposed, whilst at the same time the importer would be assured of securing animals which are free from tubercular disease, and animals which by immunization have been rendered better able to survive when brought into contact with the infection of diseases indigenous to tropical and subtropical countries. The Board believe that both importers and exporters would be ready to avail themselves of such an arrangement designed for their mutual advantage, and the Board would be glad to do what they could to meet the wishes of the colonial Governments as regards the measures to be adopted in this country for the purpose indicated. I am, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. T. H. Elliott, Secretary

No. 17. New Zealand, No. 90. My Lord, — Downing Street, 25th March, 1912. I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a letter from the Board of Trade on the subject of the alteration of the form of declaration of ownership required by section 9 of