Edition Bobbett1. Texts by Elizabeth F. Bobbett: 1.1.3. Correspondence, Letters to newspapers

1950 Elizabeth Bobbett: Letter to the Irish Independent, 28.03.1950

Bran Supplies

Elizabeth F. Bobbett, General Secretary, Irish Farmers’ Federation, Wicklow, in the course of a letter, writes: I would like to thank Mr. P. A. Sweeney, MRCVS, for his excellent letter of February 27. Mr. Sweeney makes a very good suggestion, “that while supplies are limited, it would be beneficial to stockowners if a quota were allocated to distributors to supply owners of sick animals on the production of a veterinary surgeon’s prescription,” and “only when the requirements of the farmer for sick or healthy animals are supplied should any bran be allocated to manufacturers of compound feeding stuffs.”

Speaking as a farmer, and in my work as General Secretary of the Irish Farmers’ Federation having constant discussions with farmers from the various counties, I would go farther and say that if farmers had more supplies of pure pollard and pure bran, there would be far fewer sick animals.

Another matter that needs to be rectified is that retailers say they have such small profit on the sale of bran that it does not pay them to sell it in stones, and they sell it all by the cwt. This is a great hardship on the small feeders and cottagers who feed a pig or a few fowl, or the person who wants a stone for a sick animal.