§ MR. SPEAR (Devonshire, Tavistock)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture if he proposes to issue during the present year the daily meteorological reports for the guidance of farmers.
§ *MR. AILWYN FELLOWESAs my hon. friend may be aware, arrangements were made in 1893 and 1894 for the experimental exhibition at telegraph stations in certain parts of the country of the daily weather forecasts issued by the Meteorological Council during the hay and corn harvests. It was found, however, that the areas to which the forecasts apply were too wide to allow of anything like close accuracy in any particular locality, and the experiment was therefore abandoned. The Meteorological Council recently established a special service of afternoon forecasts during the summer months for the benefit of agriculturists, and they will telegraph these forecasts each day to any persons who will pay the cost of the telegrams. I may add that the expense of the arrangement suggested by my hon. friend is considerable, and I am afraid that there is no prospect of my obtaining the necessary funds for the purpose unless a very strong case for the proposed service can be made out.
§ GENERAL LAURIE (Pembroke and Haverfordwest)Has the right hon. Gentleman ever studied the methods by which meteorological notices are distributed in Canada and the States by placing them on trains, so that the farmers in the districts through which the trains run may know what weather to expect?
§ *MR. AILWYN FELLOWESI will make some inquiry as to that.