§ MR. HERBERT LEWIS (Flint Boroughs)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether it has been brought to his notice that up to a 1242 recent date the number of samples analysed under the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1893, exceeded 10 in six counties only, that in each of eight counties only one analysis has been made, and that in 10 counties there has been no analysis at all; and whether, in view of the complexity of the Board of Trade regulations prescribing the procedure for the taking of samples and for other matters under the Act, the regulations will be simplified, with a view to preventing agriculturists from being deprived of the advantages which the Act confers?
§ MR. WALTER LONGDuring the two years in which the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1893, has been in operation, the number of samples analysed in Great Britain has exceeded 10 in 37 counties, whilst in nine counties only one analysis has been made, and in 29 counties there have been no analyses. I should be very glad to receive and consider any suggestions for the simplification of the regulations under which samples are taken, but it should be remembered that the analysis may become the basis, not only of civil but of criminal proceedings, and it is, therefore, essential that no mistake should be made in regard to the sample, and that it should accurately represent the article supplied.