MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he will arrange that in future the Annual Report of the Board of Agriculture, as to the distribution of the grants for agricultural education, will be issued before the close of the Parliamentary session; whether 1478 his attention has been drawn to the very satisfactory results achieved through the distribution of the grants in Wales by the two collegiate centres at Bangor and Aberystwith; and whether, in view of the great interest manifested in Wales in this branch of agricultural education and the pressing necessity for an extension of such educational facilities, he will consider whether the Welsh grants can in future be increased.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyEvery effort will be made to expedite the issue of the Report to which the hon. Member refers; but I am afraid that it cannot always be published before the close of the Parliamentary session. The work of the collegiate centres at Bangor and Aberystwith is certainly of a very satisfactory character; but the same observation applies to the English centres, and I am afraid that increased grants in the one case would be followed by demands for a similar favour in the other, with a result which would be somewhat serious from a Treasury point of view. But I will, of course, carefully consider any representations I may receive on the subject.