§ MR. KEAY (Elgin and Nairn)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether the Reports of the crop experiments conducted throughout India have been communicated to the Secretary of State from time to time; whether any Abstract is prepared by the Government of India, or by the India Office, showing the average yield of crops per acre throughout the different districts as deduced from the crop experiments or from other sources; and whether he will lay upon the Table any Papers containing information on this subject?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Sir J. GORST, Chatham)My answer to the first question of the hon. Member is, Yes; the answer to the second question is, No. But a suggestion has been made to the Secretary of State to the Government of India that a table of the average yield of the principal crops in the various districts should be prepared. In reply to the third question of the hon. Member, I may say that the information is contained in many Annual and Special Reports, such as are noticed at pages 122 and 123 of the last Moral and Material Progress Report. The Secretary of State does not think it necessary to lay these Reports en masse on the Table.