§ MR. SOARES (Devonshire, Barnstaple)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether, in respect of the persons prosecuted for selling butter containing more than 16 per cent. of water, he will say whether 689 any farmers were so prosecuted; and, if so, in what counties and in what month of the year the offences were committed.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. HANBURY,) PrestonNo complete information is available as to the number of prosecutions instituted in respect of the sale of adulterated butter since the 15th May last, when the Sale of Butter Regulations came into operation. In only one out of the thirty-five cases which have come under our notice has the defendant been described as a farmer. In that case the butter was sold in Lancaster on the 31st May last.