§ *MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Cork County, N.E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the amount of profit realised from the sale of the produce of twenty acres of tobacco, grown on the estate of Colonel Everard last year, under the auspices of t e Board of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, after deduction of all costs of cultivation and curing, including also the estimated rent of land, rates, taxes, and interest on the capital sum of 1397 £1,728 expended on the erection of a tobacco barn by the Department.
§ MR. WALTER LONGThe Department are not yet in possession of the necessary information to enable this Question to be answered. I shall be glad to send the hon. Member a specimen of the tobacco.
§ *MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAMSeeing that nearly £5,000 has been spent on these tobacco-growing experiments in Ireland, I think some information should be available.
§ MR. WALTER LONGCertainly. But, as the hon. Member knows, the experiment was carried out with considerable difficulty, and it is not desirable we should communicate results until we have reached a more definite stage than at present.