§ MR. RUNCIMANI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether there hag been any increase in the area under sugar cane in the united provinces of India since the passing of the Act for countervailing foreign bounty fed sugar imported into India; and what was the area under cultivation last year as compared with the year 1898–9.
§ * LORD GEORGE HAMILTONThe answer to the first part of the Question is in the negative. The aggregate area under sugar cane in the provinces in which this crop is of importance was 2,502,000 acres in 1898–9, and 2,206,000 acres in 1901–2. Since 1898–9 the seasons have been so abnormal, owing to shortage oi rain, that no reliable conclusions can be drawn from the figures.