Legislative , Assembly

Hon. Daniel J. MacDonald: I’m not one hundred percent sure if there are any bulls

«yer at the factory now or not but I do know that the farmers in P.E.I. are not overly exc1ted over the Charlebois cattle. It’s been here years ago.

Henry W. Wedge: Do you think, Mr. Minister, now that they have made great

advances in contraception that this feature will probably be extended to other areas in insemination.

Hon. Daniel J. MacDonald: This is our plans so we can inseminate....

Henry \V. Wedge: Yes, I understand that they’re making the pill now from the urine of pregnant cattle and we don’t know what’s coming next.

Hon. Daniel J. MacDonald: No, you’ve got to be careful.

Henry W. Wedge: And I was just wondering whether you were going to expand this system of insemination, Sir, to other areas.

Hon. Daniel J. MacDonald: We’ll take this under consideration, Sir. I know it’s a very precarious situation. People running around inseminating people. We were again involved, Mr. Speaker, in a small way in the farm consolidation program. Fourteen farmers made use of this plan during the year with many more asking for similar assistance. Under this program the Government buys land near a farmer in need of more land to make his holdings an economic unit. This land is then rented to the farmer on the basis that he will pay 5% interest on the monies in- volved and any taxes on the property during the leasee period. Written into the lease is an option clause which will allow him to purchase the land during the period of the lease. On our Forestry Division during the winter months all mach- inery was taken apart, cleaned, parts replaced where necessary, painted and reas— sembled. 77 tons of peat moss from Johnsons River marsh were hauled for the seedlings and the plantings to keep up the demand for planting stock and to assure that we have an adequate supply of seedlings. Forty seed beds were prepared and sown. Twenty-six pounds of seed were gathered locally and stored. Over five hun- dred people obtained planting stock from our nursery last spring. In addition, fif- teen towns and villages took advantage of trees supplied free of charge by our nur- sery to beautify public buildings, churches, schools and road sides. Over 108 acres of non-agricultural crown land were planted in the land the Honourable Leader of the Opposition would want to put back in forest, so we’re already started. Almost 600.000 plants will be available for planting this coming spring. Over eighty acres of Government owned woodland were improved during the summer and fall months. This consists of removing the dead and dying trees, the unsightly and undesired species, and cleaning out dense patches. Due to a wet, cool spring and a warm, humid summer the number of fires in P.E.I. wood lots was the lowest ever. About twenty wood land fires occurred during the early spring but these were promptly exting- uished resulting in very little fire loss. In the past year assistance was given in forestry 4H Clubs, forestry courses to Girl Guides, Scouts, Club Leaders and young peoples groups. Assistance and advice was also given to wood lot owners on the management of acres-of—and care of the wood lot and many other aspects of fores- try. The staff of the Women’s Institute Branch continued its services to women of P.E.I. once again in 1967. These services were carried out in close co-operation with the Executive of the P.E.I. Women’s Institute. Progress included safety program, rural beautification, community halls and recreation, 4H Clubs and many others. Many requests were answered by telephone and mail and a bi-weekly column was started in the Guardian and Journal-Pioneer. The late spring season caused us some concern at Bunbury Nursery but we were able to look after the majority of the demand. Information regarding insects, disease control, nursery stock and the order- ing of same, was provided to those who sought information. Importation of nursery stock into the Province did not vary much from 1965 and the revenue of the nur- sery will, we feel, reach its highest figure in this fiscal year. A word or two on farm labor, Mr. Speaker. The revisions of the Federal Provincial Farm Labor Agreement were again used to recruit farm labor, especially for the potato harvest. It is apparently becoming more difficult each year to recruit the type of 1abor_we require for farm work. With the changes in technology on a farm the labor required today differs from that needed a few years ago. Every effort wasmade by the employment office to secure the kind of worker required. Now, crop Insurance, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have a word or two to say about that. In co-operatlon With the Crop Insurance Agency in Ottawa, a new Crop Insurance Act was passed at the last ses-

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