§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he is aware that there is great scarcity of seed potatoes, oats, and barley in many parts of the highlands and islands; and whether the Government will cause inquiry to be made with the view of affording such assistance as may be necessary?
§ SIR G. TREVELYANReports have been received of the great scarcity of seed in Shetland and parts of the Hebrides. These Reports have been corroborated by the Board of Supervision, but they advise that the most satisfactory mode of giving relief is not by making advances for the purchase of seed, but by starting public works on which the poor may find employment and earn enough to buy seed for themselves. In pursuance of this policy, besides the grant of £15,000 made for the Carloway-road in the Lewis, which has been begun, £10,000 have been specially allotted for road construction in the poorer districts of the highlands.