§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1)—whether his attention has been called to the fact 1442 that the Irish Land Commission have, in a circular widely distributed by them describing the advantages of spraying potatoes with "Bordeaux mixture," drawn attention in particular to one variety of it manufactured by a Mr. Strawson; (2) what their reason for this singling out one English manufacturer in this way is; (3) whether he is aware that in the recent report of the Land Commission as to the experiments in spraying potatoes made by them, they stated that besides Mr. Strawson's preparation they also used two others, viz., Harrington's powder and Harrington's paste, made by a Cork firm, and that no advantage could be traced to the use of any of these preparations as compared with the other, and that the Cork preparations were cheaper; and (4), whether under these circumstances, he will request the Land Commission either to withdraw the circular in question or to amend it by putting all manufacturers on an equal footing?
§ MR. W. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)Before the right hon. Gentleman answers this question, might I ask him if it is not the fact that Mr. Strawson's mixture was recommended to the Irish Land Commission by the late Chief Secretary the Member for Montrose (Mr. John Morley) and tried very successfully for three years, and whether the other mixture was not tried for the first time last year?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe circular referred to was first issued by the Land Commissioners in May 1895, and before the preparations of the Messrs. Harrington of Cork were placed upon the market. The Commissioners, in this circular, directed attention to the powder known as "Strawsonite" for the reasons indicated in the circular, and because at that time they were not aware that any other similar specific preparation which had been submitted to practical test by agriculturists was generally procurable by the public. In their Report, recently presented to Parliament and largely circulated otherwise, the Commissioners referred to Messrs. Harrington's powder in the terms mentioned in the the third paragraph. It is now too late to act on the suggestion contained in the last paragraph, but the Commissioners, in the event of the issue of similar circulars or 1443 Reports hereafter are of opinion it would probably be undesirable to refer specifically to any of the various compounds which may be offered for sale.