§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Chief Secretary to the 445 Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that a scheme has been outlined for the growth of sugar beet in the South of Ireland; and whether, seeing that foreign beet growers generally obtain 9 per cent. of saccharine matter and a tonnage of twelve per acre, whilst it has been proved that beet grown in county Cork showed 19 per cent, of saccharine and a tonnage of twenty per acre, in view of these circumstances he will recommend the Department of Agriculture to support the commencement of sugar beet growing in Ireland.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The Department are aware that a scheme has been formulated for the growth of sugar beet and the manufacture of sugar in the South of Ireland. They are informed that the percentage of sugar in beet and the yield per acre on the Continent are much in excess of the figures quoted for foreign sugar beet in the Question. Roots with as much as twenty-four per cent of sugar have been grown on the Continent; and in some districts in Germany the whole crop will average seventeen to twenty per cent. of sugar. For the reasons given in answer to previous Questions on this subject, the Department are not prepared to recommend the growing of sugar beet in Ireland.