TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR JOHN GILMOUR, BART., D.S.O., M.P., HIS MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND. SIR, In terms of the Act 1 & 2 Geo. V. c. 49, we, the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, have the honour to present this our Sixteenth Report, being for the year ended 31st December 1927. We have the honour to be, SIR, Your most obedient Servants, ROBERT GREIG, Chairman. JAMES WOOD. JAMES MATHER. CHAS. WEATHERILL, Secretary. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE FOR SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH, 30th April 1928. I. FINANCES OF THE BOARD. 1. PARLIAMENTARY VOTE. The Account of the Parliamentary Vote of the Department for the financial year ended 31st March 1927, as audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, is printed in the Appropriation Accounts for 1926 (H.C. 3), p. 247. The total amount provided by Parliament for the service of the Board in the financial year was £583,111, exclusive of grants from the Development Fund referred to below and other Appropriations in Aid. The total net expenditure for the year, including sums amounting to £294,624. 2s. paid over to the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund in terms of Section 5 (b) of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, and Sections 26 (3) and 27 of the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919, was £556,695. ls. 10d. Expenditure from public funds for the maintenance of Agricultural and Veterinary Colleges during the year was as follows: From the Board's Vote From the Education (Scotland) Fund £69,607 0 0 The amount provided for expenditure by the Board in the financial year 1927, exclusive of grants from the Development Fund and the Empire Marketing Fund, was £553,213, as compared with £583,111 voted in the previous year. The decrease was due mainly to reductions in the amounts provided for (a) grants towards the cost of drainage schemes for the improvement of agricultural land and (b) grants in respect of the maintenance expenditure of Agricultural Colleges. AGRICULTURE (SCOTLAND) FUND. The audited Account of the Fund is printed in the Appropriation Accounts for the year 1926, pp. 254-5. The moneys borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners for the purposes of land settlement, in terms of the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919, and the special grant provided under Section 3 of the Corn Production Acts (Repeal) Act, 1921, for the purpose of promoting agricultural development, are administered as part of the Fund. The total grants paid into the Fund in 1926 were :(1) Local Taxation (Scotland) Account. [Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, Section .... .... 51 (3) Further Grant in Aid of Improvement of .... (4) Grant to cover Approved Annual Loss on £15,000 175,000 15,000 104,624 £309,624 = As explained in the Board's last Report the power to issue sums from the Consolidated Fund to the Public Works Loan Commissioners for the purpose of loans to the Board in terms of Section 26 (2) of the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919, as amended by the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1921, ceased to be effective at 31st March 1926, and increased provision for expenditure on land settlement during 1926 was therefore included in the grant-in-aid of the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund shown above. The total loans advanced to 31st March 1926 amounted to £2,158,185, and this sum is repayable by annuities over periods varying with the nature of the security on which the moneys are borrowed, viz., Land, 80 years, Buildings and Equipment, 20-60 years, Ingoings and Farm Management, 5-11 years. During the year annuity payments to the Public Works Loan Commissioners amounted to £174,169. 9s. 8d., making together with previous repayments a total of £1,116,096. 4s. 2d., capital and interest, since the commencement of the borrowing period. Subsidiary Accounts of the Board's intromission with borrowed moneys for the year 1926, which bring out the loss incurred in terms of Section 26 (3) of the Act of 1919, are printed in the Appropriation Accounts for that year, page 256. Agriculture.-Ordinary agricultural services are financed from the Parliamentary Vote. Expenditure out of the special fund of £150,000 referred to above, provided under the Corn Production Acts (Repeal) Act, 1921, and paid into the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund during 1921-22, amounted during 1926 to £18,507. 7s. 6d. The total sums expended to 31st March 1927 amounted to £124,327. 8s. 2d. Land Settlement.-The gross expenditure and receipts on land settlement during 1926 amounted to £293,144. 9s. 2d. and £217,297. ls. 11d. respectively. A portion of this expenditure consists of loans to holders for buildings, stock, etc., and is recoverable over varying periods of years. Loans for Stocking in terms of Section 29 of the Act of 1919 were advanced to a total of £22,684, of which £22,351 was in respect of sheep stock acquired by the Board and resold to holders by means of loans repayable in 10 years. The receipts during the year in respect of repayments of Stocking Loans amounted to £11,735. The rents from properties acquired under the Small Holding Colonies Acts, 1916 and 1918, and the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919, amounted to £36,429.18s. 3d., and a further £5,602.7s. 5d. was received from the Highland Estates taken over from the Congested Districts Board, and from the two properties of Borgie and Gariochsford gifted to the Board. Rural Housing.-Loans amounting to £22,378 were advanced in 1926 to existing holders under Section 9 of the Act of 1911 for the erection of new buildings and the improvement of houses and steadings, while receipts from repayments of loans amounted to £6,096. Further sums amounting to £34,365 were expended in the purchase of building materials for the stores established at various centres in the Congested Districts, and in freight charges on materials supplied to borrowers. Receipts from sales at these stores amounted to £29,477. 3. AGRICULTURAL CREDITS (SCOTLAND) ACCOUNT. One advance, amounting to £100, was made in 1927 to an Agricultural Credit Society in terms of Section 2 (2) of the Agricultural Credits Act, 1923. Receipts during the year in respect of repayments of instalments of loans and interest amounted to £340. 14s. 8d. The period, as prescribed by the Treasury, during which advances might be made to agricultural credit societies in terms of Section 2 (2) of the Act expired on 31st March 1927, and the balance standing at the credit of the Agricultural Credits (Scotland) Account at that date was surrendered to the Exchequer. 4. VOTE FOR BEET SUGAR SUBSIDY, GREAT BRITAIN. During the year under review, payments under the British Sugar (Subsidy) Act, 1925, in respect of sugar and molasses manufactured in Scotland amounted to £165,402. 10s. 10d., of which £40,745. 14s. 7d. was in respect of the 1926-27 manufacturing season and £124,656. 16s. 3d. in respect of the 1927-28 It is estimated that the total payments to Scottish manufacturers in respect of the 1927-28 season will amount to approximately £167,552. season. 5. EMPIRE MARKETING FUND. During the financial year ended 31st March 1927, expenditure by the Board out of grants from the Empire Marketing Fund was as follows :- |